Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
ADC visits JRF headquarters
AMMAN (JT) — The Arab American
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) paid a visit on Monday to the Jordan River
Foundation (JRF) headquarters for an overview of the JRF's role in supporting
women to improve their quality of life.
The visit to Jordan is part of the ADC efforts to promote the national and
international endeavours to promote the role of women on a local and regional
scale in the Arab world, according to a JRF statement released yesterday.
JRF Director General Maha Khatib presented an outline of the work of the
foundation and its initiatives in creating and supporting sustainable social,
economic and cultural programmes, as well as empowering communities, especially
women, based on their needs and priorities.
One programme highlighted by Khatib, was the Community Empowerment Programme (CEP)
which aims to empower communities to participate in creating their own economic
opportunities.
A component of the CEP is three handicraft projects of Bani Hamida, Wadi Al
Rayan and the Jordan River Designs, that seek to enhance the skills of women in
underprivileged communities.
This is done by training the women to produce traditional handicrafts which, in
turn, are sold through the foundation. JRF's ultimate goal is to hand over the
three production centres to the local communities to manage and sustain. The
foundation also provides the women with sufficient business training, and
develops their skills and knowledge in micro- and small enterprise management.
The JRF, established in 1995 and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania, is a
nonprofit NGO whose mission is to promote the development of a dynamic Jordanian
society.