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The Marion Fund

AboutIn NumbersStoryWhy Women

About The Marion Fund

Stand For Women launched The Marion Fund initiative in the memory of Marion Hochar Ibrahimchah, who was among the innocent victims who passed away on August 4,2020 the day of the Beirut port explosion. The aim of the Marion Fund was to help more than 200 women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the blast and to honor Marion’s legacy.

The fund was disbursed in priority to the most vulnerable women, to help them rebuild their businesses. The focus was on the following 3 categories of women owned businesses:

  1. Very small businesses like grocery shops, pharmacies or tailors.
  2. SMEs that maintain or create jobs and employ more than five people like supermarkets or restaurants.
  3. SMEs that preserve Beirut’s heritage and culture like designers, jewelers or guest houses.

The Marion Fund in Numbers

We have vetted till August 2022 270 women-owned businesses and supported 140 that are completed or in-progress:

 

– 295 SMEs Assessed

– 170+ SMEs Supported (Reconstruction, In-Kind, In-Cash)

– 190 SMEs Invited to Workshops (Business Development, Capacity Building, E-commerce, I am Remarkable)

The story behind Marion Fund

Stand For Women launched The Marion Fund Initiative in the memory of the beautiful woman Marion Hochar Ibrahimchah.

Influential, positive, passionate, and radiating is what we recall from Marion who was among the 187+ innocent victims of the devastating blast. And it all started there.

Passionate about arts, music, and design, she was led a successful career in the advertising field. In fact, Marion was the number one supporter of women economic empowerment.

Together with her husband Georges, they raised two wonderful sons Alexandre & William, who want her to be remembered for her faith, patriotism, honesty, exigence, intelligence, humor, joy, passion, beauty, humility, and Love with a big L.

So, we, at Stand For Women, implemented this fund to help women-led SMEs affected by the blast.

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The Story of us

How it all started

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Why Women?

According to many studies, during crisis women are less likely to recover and are often neglected.

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When women are economically independent they are better able to mitigate and leave violent situations, and their children are more likely to live a life free from poverty.

Rachel Dore-WeeksHead of UN Women Lebanon