Women leaders welcome decision to adopt National Women’s Strategy

AMMAN — Women leaders have praised a recent decision by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Women’s Empowerment (IMCWE) to adopt the National Women's Strategy (NSW) for 2023-2025.

In late March, Minister of Social Development and IMCWE Chairperson, Wafa Bani Mustafa, announced the endorsement of the executive plan during a meeting held at the Prime Ministry with the relevant entities.

During the meeting, Bani Mustafa commended the JNCW’s efforts to develop the plan following several consultative workshops and meetings with the concerned partners.

JNCW Secretary-General Maha Ali praised the IMCWE’s decision to adopt the Action Plan of the NSW 2023-2025.

“We aspire to follow up on the implementation of the initiatives listed in the action plan in cooperation and coordination with various partner agencies in a way that would contribute to achieving the objective goals of the National Strategy for Women,” Ali said.

Ali, a former minister, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that the Action Plan is considered “a reference for national priorities on women's issues”.

It was formulated based on the outcomes of various workshops and consultative meetings with ministries, government entities and different stakeholders, in addition to civil society organisations and the private sector,” Ali added.

In addition, the JNCW Secretary-General added that the Action Plan is also considered a guiding document for policy makers and donors since the distribution of budget allocations in the strategy will help in future planning as well as directing resources and funding towards specified priorities”.

“The JNCW will update the Action Plan annually so that it would reflect on the developments in terms of projects, the extent of implementation achievement and the availability of financial allocations,” according to Ali.

Former minister Reem Abu Hassan praised the IMCWE’s adoption of the NSW, stating that the executive branch, represented by the IMCWE, is fulfilling its obligation in endorsing the executive plan for the women’s strategy prepared by the JNCW.

Abu Hassan pointed out that the implementation of the strategy will be achieved successfully due to the collaboration between the JNCW and the Cabinet, which is represented by the IMCWE.

“This kind of collaboration is the backbone for success in Jordan because it works to promote equity and equal opportunities for women by transforming the norms into actions,” according to Abu Hassan.

“Being proactive and working together as institutions and as individuals is what we aspire for as Jordanian women,” Abu Hassan told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Senator Abla Amawi said the NSW is “pivotal” for Jordan, since it complements the strategy for women’s economic empowerment, which was “launched by the prime minister last year as part of the Economic Modernisation Vision”.

Overall, the JNCW's strategy aims to promote gender equality and empower women in all areas of life, and to ensure that women are able to fully participate in and contribute to the development of Jordanian society, added Amai, an international development policy advisor.

“The NSW will work to enlarge the scope of focus building on the economic modernisation vision through three main pillars, including political and economic empowerment, social protection and justice and institutional development and capacity building,” Amawi added.

Laila Naffa from the Arab Women’s Organisation also praised the NSW, stating that it is “a good sustainable continuation of the previous JNCW”.

“The fact that the JNCW’s strategy includes an executive plan is extremely important because it will specify the kind of work and activism that needs to be adopted during these years,” Naffa told The Jordan Times.

The NSW seeks to ensure a society free of discrimination and gender-based violence, where women and girls enjoy full human rights and equal opportunities towards inclusive and sustainable development.

The strategy focuses on achieving several goals, such as enabling women and girls to exercise their economic, political and human rights while living in a society free of gender-based discrimination.

Other goals include ensuring positive gender norms, roles and attitudes that support gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In addition, the strategy aims to ensure that institutions execute and maintain policies, structures and services that support gender equality and women’s empowerment in alignment with Jordan’s national and international commitments.

The Action Plan for the Strategy is the culmination of national participatory efforts between the JNCW, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Empowerment of Women and is supported by UN Women.

The Action Plan contains six pillars, including economic empowerment, humanitarian rights, political empowerment and participation in public life, combating violence against women and girls, community culture and gender mainstreaming in public and private sector institutions.