Economic Recovery in the Jenin District

The "Economic Recovery in Jenin District" is a 4-year Drosos-funded project with an overall goal to sustainably improve the income prospects for marginalised groups in the Jenin District. In pursuit of this over-arching goal, the project presents an innovative partnership and governance arrangement to establish the first of its kind incubator, "IDEA incubator" that supports the development of small and medium enterprises in Jenin. The incubator reaches out to women, youth, and people with disabilities seeking their ideas to establish businesses that would gradually transition them from poverty. Each year, over 500 aspiring entrepreneurs submit their application to enrol in the incubator and receive its services. Around 50 and up to 100 individuals are selected to enrol in the incubator services, followed by a business pitching event that selects 25 entrepreneurs to receive seed financing for developing their businesses. This financing is in the form of investments that would return annual return to the incubator, which feeds a revolving fund that supports future entrepreneurs in the Jenin District. IDEA incubator is a registered non-profit company, with major shareholding of PCS (NGO) and the Jenin Local Economic Development Council. Demonstrating early successes in economic inclusiveness, the future vision is to scale up the model to all Palestinians, while engaging the marginalised entrepreneurs in up to 30% ownership of the incubator.