Ostathi, Operated by UniHouse, Pioneers the Middle East's First Digital Infrastructure Linking Structured Workforce Development to Verified Income

EDUCATION 07.05.2026

World Bank and Jordan Ministry of Digital Economy-Funded Programme - Delivering the Region's First Auditable Connection Between Structured Capacity Development and Verified Income

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LONDON, UK / ACCESS Newswire / May 7, 2026 / Ostathi, owned and operated by UniHouse, today announced the live national deployment of a proprietary digital ledger infrastructure in Jordan - a first-of-its-kind system across the Middle East and Africa that connects an individual's structured capacity development, competency certification, gig economy and marketplace participation, and income generation into a single, auditable digital chain, integrated directly with regulated national fintech platforms.

Ostathi Jordan - live deployment under the World Bank Youth, Technology and Jobs programme in partnership with Jordan's Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship.

The deployment is funded under the World Bank Youth, Technology and Jobs (YTJ) Project in partnership with Jordan's Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) - one of the region's most ambitious national digital employment programmes, targeting youth economic participation with a minimum 50% female inclusion mandate.

THE DIGITAL LIVELIHOOD GAP - WHY WORKFORCE PROGRAMMES ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST FAIL TO DELIVER VERIFIED INCOME

For decades, digital workforce programmes across the Middle East and Africa have struggled to produce verifiable economic outcomes due to a structural disconnect between capacity development, certification, and income generation. Participants complete programmes and receive certificates, yet the transition from structured capacity development to measurable, auditable income often remains fragmented and untracked.

UniHouse has solved this through engineering. Ostathi's proprietary digital ledger assigns every programme participant, trainer, and consultant a verified dynamic digital profile - recording competency progression, assessments, marketplace activity, and income generation in real time, linked directly to regulated national payment infrastructure.

In Jordan, this infrastructure connects to MEPS Jordan and HyperPay - regulated fintech providers with established national compliance frameworks - creating payment pathways that are fully traceable, auditable, and accessible to populations historically excluded from formal financial systems. Income is not self-reported. It is generated, recorded, and verified within the platform - producing the auditable transaction data that institutions such as IFC, EBRD, and the World Bank require for results-based financing.

Unlike conventional digital marketplace platforms, Ostathi embeds a verified escrow architecture - holding payment until service delivery is confirmed, and recording every transaction as an auditable income event within the programme participant's digital ledger. The result is a traceable, results-based chain from verified competency to verified income

FROM STRUCTURED CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT TO VERIFIED INCOME - THE WEE™ FRAMEWORK

The system is governed by the Workforce and Entrepreneurship Engine (WEE™) - UniHouse's proprietary eight-stage implementation framework spanning three phases: Mobilise, Build, and Activate. WEE™ moves programme participants from initial outreach through structured capacity development, competency certification, marketplace onboarding, and verified income generation - with every stage digitally tracked and producing measurable outputs.

The WEE™ Framework: UniHouse's eight-stage pathway connecting structured capacity development to verified income generation.

Critically, WEE™ does not stop at income generation. The framework includes structured modules on entrepreneurship, business model development, service pricing, and - uniquely - local business registration and legal formation, equipping programme participants to become registered, formal business owners from day one. This transforms the donor value proposition entirely: institutions investing in UniHouse-powered programmes are funding the creation of registered, income-generating micro-enterprises - not programme graduates with uncertain futures.

Explore WEE™ the full framework

CDEF: THE MEASUREMENT ARCHITECTURE THAT MAKES RESULTS-BASED FINANCING POSSIBLE

Underpinning the entire system is the Capacity Development Evaluation Framework (CDEF) - UniHouse's cross-cutting measurement architecture tracking competency progression, income outcomes, and gender inclusion from first outreach through to 12-month post-programme monitoring.

CDEF produces the disaggregated, longitudinal outcome data required by IFC, EBRD, World Bank, and UN Women for results-based financing, gender inclusion reporting, and programme evaluation - aligned with DOTS indicators, Transition Impact monitoring, and ODA reporting standards. Income is verified through the digital ledger, timestamped, and auditable at the individual programme participant level.

Early results from the Jordan deployment are instructive: over 1,000 applications were generated within five days of programme launch - confirming the platform's capacity to mobilise large, qualified applicant pools rapidly, even in constrained labour markets.

RECOGNISED ACROSS INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENTS, AND LEADING MEDIA

UniHouse and Ostathi have been endorsed across institutional, governmental, and media channels:

UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO):The FCDO - the UK Government's principal foreign policy and international development department - has officially featured UniHouse and Ostathi on its channels, describing the work as "linking education to economic development through international partnerships" and "transforming teachers and trainers into entrepreneurs." View the FCDO feature

UK Department for Business and Trade: UniHouse is officially listed on the UK Government's trade portal as a UK provider of education, TVET, and digital innovation services across the Middle East. Visit the official listing

Microsoft for Startups (Founders Hub): Ostathi was selected by Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub for innovation in AI-powered learning and digital platform design. Visit the announcement

The Daily Telegraph: UniHouse was featured for digital innovation and UK export excellence. Read the feature

Education Middle East: UniHouse and Ostathi were featured editorially by Education Middle East - a leading regional education publication - examining why global digital platforms fail Middle East educators. Read the article

Jordan National Media: The MoDEE-Ostathi Jordan deployment has been covered by Jordan News, Roya News, and MENAFN.

"The gap between structured capacity development and income has never been a skills problem - it has been an infrastructure problem. Across the Middle East and Africa, millions of talented, motivated people complete programmes and receive certificates that lead nowhere - because no one built the infrastructure to connect their capabilities to real income flows. We have built that infrastructure. Ostathi's digital ledger, connected to regulated national fintech platforms, means that for the first time in this region, a programme participant's full journey - from first lesson to verified, traceable, auditable income - is recorded in a single digital chain. This is what results-based workforce development looks like. And it is live today."

Aows Dargazali, Founder of Ostathi and EMEA Director of UniHouse

REGIONAL EXPANSION

Jordan is the first national deployment under the Ostathi Jordan initiative - not the last. Ostathi is actively expanding into Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkey - a combined working-age population of over 190 million - replicating the same integrated system across each national regulatory environment. Ostathi is specifically designed to operate in complex and post-stabilisation markets, where formal employment infrastructure is fragmented and verified income pathways are absent - delivering structured digital workforce activation where conventional platforms cannot function.

ABOUT OSTATHI

Ostathi, owned and operated by UniHouse, is the Middle East's first fully integrated digital workforce marketplace - connecting structured capacity development, competency certification, marketplace participation, and verified income generation in one auditable platform. Powered by the WEE™ framework and CDEF measurement architecture, Ostathi is live in Jordan under a World Bank-funded national programme and expanding across five countries. Supported by Microsoft's Founders Hub.

ABOUT UNIHOUSE

UniHouse is an international advisory firm that designs, delivers, and measures structured capacity development systems aligned with national priorities, labour market demand, and results-based development frameworks. Officially listed by the UK Department for Business and Trade and featured by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UniHouse delivers across six practice areas: Education Reform and Assessment, TVET and Workforce Development, Digital Workforce and Gig Economy, MSME Development and Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure Capacity Building, and Scholarship Programme Management. UniHouse has delivered structured capacity development systems in partnership with the World Bank, BP, the United Nations, and the UK Government across the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.

ABOUT AOWS DARGAZALI

Aows Dargazali is the Founder of Ostathi and EMEA Director of UniHouse. An Oxford EMBA graduate (Saïd Business School), Chartered Manager (CMI), Google Certified Educator, and Meta Regional Award Winner, Aows brings 25 years delivering education reform, digital workforce development, and structured capacity development systems across the Middle East and Africa - in partnership with the World Bank, BP, the United Nations, and the UK Government. Formerly Senior Business and Investment Manager at the Australian Government (Austrade) and officially featured by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).