Queen Noor visits Wadi Musa jewellery project

Queen Noor on Sunday visited the Wadi Musa Silver Production Centre outside the ancient city of Petra. Established by the Noor Al Hussein Foundation (NHF) in 1996, the Wadi Musa Silver Jewellery Project has trained more than 700 bedouin women to produce intricate silver jewellery that reflects the region’s rich history and art, according to a statement issued by the foundation on Monday. In 1999, the NHF facilitated the turnover of the project to the Association of the Nabataean Women’s Cooperative, ensuring full ownership for the project’s participants.   A new sales outlet was renovated by the NHF in 2000, allowing tourists to visit the production site and the shop, the statement said. The bject of the project is to empower women economically and socially by givingthem an enhanced sense of self-confidence and a greater role in decision making in their own households, the NHF said, noting that economically empowered women tend to be more engaged politically and take a more productive role in community affairs. Fawzeh Hassanat, the president of the Nabataean Women’s Cooperative, was cited in the statement as saying that she is a different person today because of the project, which sent her to Amman when she was 20 years old to receive specialised training at Kuzbar Jewellery. Some of the women who previously trained through the NHF are now working in gold shops or have opened their own stores, which Hassanat said was the ultimate development goal of the production centre.   Those working in the cooperative earn wages of between JD50 and JD250 per monthduring the tourist season. The NHF has pioneered numerous economic empowerment projects for women that have created jobs, generated income, and helped improve the lives of thousands of women and their families since its founding in 1985. These include innovative income-generating projects based on self-employment and home production, the statement said. HRH Princess Raiyah and HH Princess Dina Firas accompanied Queen Noor on Sunday’s visit to the centre. From JT