A young Saudi beneficiary of the Bab Rizq Jameel program runs his own shop.JEDDAH: Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ), an initiative of ALJ Community Initiatives, created 12,184 job opportunities during the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 2,833 jobs compared with the same period of the last year. Job opportunities created for females represented 74 percent, against 26 percent for males. Highlighting Q1 results of BRJ in Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Al Fihaid, BRJ executive director in the Kingdom, said the productive household program created 7,002 jobs. Based on the microfinance concept, the "productive household" program provides interest-free loan of SR 5,000 to a group of 3 - 5 females to start their own micro projects, such as accessories, wedding accessories, gift wrapping, embroidery, perfumes and perfume mixtures, makeup and other fields. The program includes several stages, the first of which starts with a loan of SR2,000, and reaches SR6,000. Raja'a Mohammed Al-Hamad, one of the productive household program's beneficiaries in Ihsa, said she has started her handcraft products, such as hair bandages, to sell the products. Raja'a is planning to repay the loan as quickly as she can to move to the second stage and get a bigger loan. The direct employment program came second by creating 3,232 jobs during the first quarter. The program created 2,222 jobs for males and 1,010 jobs for females.
