Fifty business owners in the Taiz Governorate in Southwestern Yemen are strengthening their ability to manage, improve and grow their enterprises through a new entrepreneurship training initiative designed to generate impact beyond the participating businesses by strengthening Yemen's national capacity to support entrepreneurs, sustain enterprises and create employment opportunities.
Launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Taiz, the programme combines practical support for existing businesses with the development of national entrepreneurship trainers. This dual approach is expected to help build a more sustainable ecosystem of business support that can continue reaching entrepreneurs across Yemen.
The training is delivered under the ILO's globally recognized Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme, using its Improve Your Business (IYB) package. It builds on long-standing efforts to promote sustainable enterprises, entrepreneurship and decent employment as important drivers of inclusive economic recovery in Yemen.
© ILO
Women are playing a particularly prominent role in the initiative. Around 70-80 per cent of the participating entrepreneurs are women, while 80 per cent of the trainers are women - reinforcing efforts to expand women's participation in entrepreneurship and business development.
At the opening ceremony, Ms Arwa Alomari, Member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Taiz, welcomed the collaboration and highlighted the ILO's continued support for business development, particularly women's entrepreneurship. She also noted previous support for developing entrepreneurship training curricula oriented towards women.
The programme is designed to deliver impact at two levels. First, participating entrepreneurs will gain practical management tools they can apply directly to improve the performance and sustainability of their existing businesses. Second, candidate SIYB trainers will have the opportunity to demonstrate and strengthen their competencies under the supervision and coaching of SIYB Master Trainers.
The initiative aims to strengthen the pipeline of qualified national trainers and expand access to high-quality entrepreneurship development services across Yemen. Over time, this increased national capacity can help more entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses, protect and create jobs, and contribute to local economic recovery.
The 50 participating entrepreneurs already operate businesses and have plans to improve them. Their support will therefore extend beyond classroom training. Participants will receive structured coaching and mentoring to help them apply IYB tools within their enterprises and translate the training into practical business improvement plans.
The initiative is expected to leave behind capacity that extends well beyond the current group of participants. By connecting stronger national training capacity with hands-on support for entrepreneurs, the partnership aims to contribute to a sustainable entrepreneurship support ecosystem and help build more resilient enterprises and employment opportunities in Yemen.
Ms Samar Al-Sakkaf, SIYB Trainer, highlighted that the programme builds on continuing efforts to institutionalize the SIYB approach, strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises, create jobs during times of crisis and contribute to longer-term economic recovery.
"This training provides an important opportunity for exchange between trainers, Master Trainers and participating business owners on what works, what does not, and how entrepreneurship support can better respond to the realities and needs of businesses in Yemen," she said.
