Be-Atzmi: Riyadiya / Eshet Chayil

Riyadiya/Eshet Chayil (“Woman of Valor”) program: This Ministry of Welfare program provides employment training to Arab women who have 10-12 years of education. Originally developed by JDC in the 1990's for Ethiopian-Israeli women immigrants who had never participated in a modern workforce, the program was one of JDC-TEVET’s first to be adapted for Arab society. Known as “Riyadiya” in Arabic, the program provides participants with employment skills (Hebrew, basic computer skills), soft skills, guidance and accompaniment, and stresses immediate entry into employment. At a later stage, job clubs for working women aim to secure the participant’s long-term retention and advancement in the workplace. The program was formally fully adopted by the government and is currently implemented in 13 Arab localities and, as recommended by the Trajtenberg Committee, is being scaled to 36 more locations. In early 2013, the non-profit “Be-Atzmi” (“On My Own” in Hebrew) won the Israeli government tender to implement the model in communities across Israel.