Commission wants 25-30% quota for women in municipalities, decentralisation bills

AMMAN — The Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) on Monday called for including a 25-30 per cent quota for women in the draft municipalities and decentralisation laws currently in Parliament.

“The women’s movement met and made its comments on the draft laws that are now in the hands of Parliament," said Raeda Freihat, legal programmes coordinator at the JNCW.

Freihat told The Jordan Times that the JNCW met with legal experts and civil society representatives to examine the bills and “we expressed reservations over the draft laws because they weaken the role of municipalities and city councils and do not allow them to accomplish the development that is needed within their communities.”

According to a JNCW statement, splitting the municipalities and decentralisation laws “does not help in unifying the work of municipalities under the governorates”.

The commission also noted that the tasks of municipal and governorate councils could overlap due to the lack of clarity in identifying their duties and jurisdiction.  

Last December, the Cabinet endorsed the preliminary blueprints of the draft by-law governing the decentralisation of governorate councils and the municipalities draft law.

The government said the draft law translates the Royal vision on decentralised local government into practical steps to enable municipalities and governorate councils to improve their performance and upgrade the quality of their services.

The government's decentralisation plan is aimed at engaging people in policy and decision making related to their areas as well as achieving sustainable and comprehensive local development.

The decentralisation by-law will become part and parcel of that law and include more oversight and accountability mechanisms.

Under the proposed law, municipalities can form coalitions and implement joint projects.

The JNCW statement said the decentralisation bill works to strengthen the role and representation of bigger municipalities and tribes, and marginalise the role of smaller municipalities.

Turning to the municipalities bill, the JNCW suggested increasing the quota for women in city councils as is the case in the 25 per cent quota for women in municipal councils.

As for the draft decentralisation law, the JNCW suggested a women's quota of no less than 30 per cent in city and executive councils and for women to be represented on all committees.

The JNCW added that the government should redraft articles in both laws because they “are male-oriented and only address men without any mention of females in their content”.

A Lower House committee is currently touring the governorates to collect feedback on the current draft laws for consideration when Parliament begins deliberating them in the near future, according to Freihat.

“We hope that the deputies will also take our comments into consideration and ensure that women are represented in city councils and decision-making positions,” she said.