UNDP’s ‘Heart of Amman’ winners tackle social impact, job creation through start-ups

AMMAN — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday announced the winners of the first phase of its initiative, “Heart of Amman”, which was launched in July 2019 with funding from the Government of Japan and supports projects that focus on developing Downtown Amman. 

Twenty-nine start-ups were chosen from the hundreds that applied to the initiative and went through its bootcamp. The selection committee chose start-ups with the greatest social impact and job-creation potential, according to a UNDP statement shared with The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

The start-ups’ focuses range from tourism, water, recycling, artisan work and e-commerce to healthcare products and education, with a number of them working on logistics and the Internet.

Winning start-ups were announced during an event attended by “movers and shakers” of the Kingdom’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Start-ups were granted investments of between $5,000 and $10,000, according to the statement. 

The UNDP’s entrepreneurship programme supports the improvement of the socio-economic conditions in Downtown Amman through applying effective and innovation-driven solutions that add value to the local community, revive growth and create jobs.

It also supports the setting-up and scaling-up of innovative business ideas through improving their business and revenue models as well as the growth of their strategies. This support is not only limited to the provision of investment funds, but start-ups are also receiving networking opportunities with eco-system change-makers, the statement said.

During the ceremony, Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh said: “His Majesty King Abdullah pays great attention to supporting and empowering youth and providing the appropriate environment for entrepreneurship as a driving force towards economic growth. Based on Royal directives, the Greater Amman Municipality adopts and facilitates all means to support the entrepreneurial environment,” according to the statement.

He added that the “Heart of Amman” improves livelihoods and provides job opportunities through employment initiatives in the “heart of the capital”.

UNDP Jordan Resident Representative Sara Ferrer Olivella emphasised the significant role of social enterprises as an efficient tool of inclusive economic growth.

“Social enterprises… inspire us: They have been and continue to be drivers of more inclusive development. They need our continued support and recognition,” she was quoted in the statement as saying.

 “We are expecting your start-ups to scale up your innovative ideas, and wish you a successful development of your businesses by making use of this opportunity,” said Japan’s Ambassador to Jordan Hidenao Yanagi in the statement. 

“Furthermore,” he added, “we sincerely hope that you will contribute to creating more economic opportunities for vulnerable people and make a difference in the future of downtown Amman.”

The UNDP and Japan maintain a strategic partnership to support the development process of Jordan in different areas of focus, including the improvement of livelihoods for the most vulnerable groups of both Jordanians and Syrian refugees in the host communities as well as strengthening social cohesion in the local communities to foster building blocks of sustainable development, the statement said.

Implemented in collaboration with the Greater Amman Municipality and the National Microfinance Bank, “Heart of Amman” is built around three independent components: Improving community engagement, creating sustainable self-reliance through social and innovative entrepreneurship support, and revitalising a public building and turning it into a social enterprise incubator and tourist destination. 

The UNDP will also work on establishing an innovation and social enterprise incubator through identifying and training a local founding team to be “leaders for change” within the ecosystem, the statement said.