Daman 2020: A campaign helping Jordanian businesses recover from COVID-19
“Everything was falling apart. Revenues were decreased to the minimum and we had to lay off staff who had been with us since the beginning. We were living with uncertainty until we received this grant from Mercy Corps. The grant gives us a slice of hope to start again,” says Nusaiba, owner of a tourist restaurant in Ajloun.
The COVID‑19 crisis has led to a dramatic disruption in people’s livelihoods across Jordan. While Jordan’s government is taking preventive measures to control the outbreak of COVID‑19, the impact of the pandemic on businesses across the kingdom has been huge.
Border closures, lockdowns, curfews, restrictions on movement, and guidelines for businesses have been preventing businesses from selling their goods and services. This has led to many businesses facing the risk of downsizing or permanent closure. This has enormous effects on the business owners as well as their employees.
Mercy Corps conducted a rapid assessment in October 2020 to explore the impact of COVID‑19 as well as government response measures on businesses in Jordan. The report findings showed that there is a general level of anxiety among most business owners with a great deal of uncertainty related to how long the restrictions will be in place and the long-term impacts on their businesses.
“I have never imagined that I will stop working at this restaurant, but COVID‑19 overwhelmed me and I lost my job. I stayed for seven months at home, I lost the hope to find an opportunity in this chaos,” says Omaima, an employee of a tourist restaurant.
Based on the assessment finding Mercy Corps Jordan launched three campaigns to support the businesses during these tough times. Mercy Corps launched Ma’assal campaign, Shagher 2020, and Daman 2020.
Daman 2020 is supporting 25 at-risk businesses from all Jordan’s governorates with one-time grants to facilitate market re-entry, including staff rehiring. The selected businesses benefited from grants ranging from 3,000 JOD to 7,000 JOD. The total amount supporting the (25) businesses is (125,000 JOD).
The supported business operates in diverse sectors, including agriculture, education, healthcare, manufacturing, restaurants, retail and tourism. The market assessment was used to nominate 40 businesses heavily affected by the pandemic. The Mercy Corps team then applied the selection criteria to choose the final 25 businesses.
Mercy Corps worked with the selected businesses on the basis of a clear growth plan that was developed by each business. The support is used to pay for costs such as paying rent, advertising campaigns, purchasing new equipment needed for improving the business, and rehiring employees who lost their job due to the crisis.
“It was an unbelievable moment when the restaurant owner called me and told me about the grant by Mercy Corps and U.K. embassy. She asked me to come back to work and I am super grateful for the Mercy Corps and the U.K. embassy,” says Omaima, an employee of a tourist restaurant.
This campaign is part of the Leadership and Community Development program funded by FCDO (UKaid) and implemented by Mercy Corps Jordan.
Funded by FCDO
