Her Majesty Queen Rania held a virtual meeting with beneficiaries of income-generating projects on Wednesday, to learn about how their projects were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Founder of the Community Centres Association (CCA) Sari Nasser, and CCA President Firyal Saleh briefed Her Majesty on a survey carried out by the CCA to assess the impact of the pandemic on the performance of these projects, and explained the methodology used to reach these findings, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

Originally implemented by the CCA, with the support of a royal grant and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the projects were launched in various vocational fields including agriculture, raising livestock, handicraft work, sewing, construction, and beauty treatments and services, among others.

Speaking to the beneficiaries virtually, Her Majesty announced an increase in financial assistance to 100 income-generating projects across the Kingdom, in order to expand their impact in local communities. 

She highlighted that despite difficult circumstances, what counts is people’s ability to create opportunities out of challenges and come up with strategies for using the crisis to their advantage.

Additionally, Her Majesty stressed the importance of adhering to workplace health and safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and safeguard the beneficiaries and their families.

The income-generating businesses receiving support will be identified by the CCA following a detailed assessment, and offered one-time grants to support ongoing projects and mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic on their owners.