Jordan Times
Friday, October 14, 2005
Project empowers women
to advocate for community rights
By Anne Womer
AMMAN — The dilapidated state of the Khadija Bint
Khuweilad Primary School in Jerash's Kitteh village dismayed 23-year-old Eman
Zu'bi, who had attended the school as a child. Overcrowding and general
disrepair had plagued the school for over a decade, and plans to build a new
school had been stalled for years.
When she became a volunteer with Makana, a project that teaches women how to
advocate for people's rights, Zu'bi was given the opportunity to help the
students of her former school. Over the course of eight months, Makana
volunteers paid weekly visits to the Jerash Directorate of Education, carrying a
petition signed by displeased parents. The need for so many visits because of
the slowness of the government's response was an embarrassment to local
education officials.
The volunteers' dedication and uncommon tenacity earned them the respect of the
school principal. After many years of waiting, construction of the new school is
finally under way, and she credits Makana with jump-starting the process.
A 'pioneer project'
The Makana project, run through the Queen Zein Sharaf Institute for Development
(ZENID), is scheduled to wrap up its activities this month after almost two
years of operation. Described by ZENID project manager Nuha Mahreiz as a
“pioneer project,” Makana promotes civic activism as a means of empowering women
to secure access to their rights. The project is run in cooperation with CARE,
with funding from the US Department of State, and according to Mahreiz, is the
first of its kind in Jordan.
Through Makana, teams of women volunteers have conducted community-level
advocacy work, lobbying local officials and service providers for improvements
in health centres, schools, and municipal services. They have also addressed
individual cases dealing with issues such as family violence, citizenship and
access to social services.
“The citizen's voice is needed for people to formulate pressure groups to have
change,” said Mahreiz. “When they ask for their rights for quality services and
they get it, this will give them enthusiasm to continue. This is really capacity
building for the community and the team [of volunteers].”
Building bridges
When the project began in January 2004, three teams of 20 women in the Jerash,
Madaba, and Karak governorates were selected to serve as volunteers. The women
received basic training on local laws and regulations and the rights of
Jordanians as well as courses on interview techniques, data collection,
computers, advocacy, negotiation and other skills.
Volunteers made an effort from the beginning to “build a bridge of friendship”
with their respective communities, Mahreiz said. Based out of community
development centres operated by ZENID's parent organisation, the Jordan
Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), volunteers received clients on a
weekly basis. Two “family events” were also held each month to provide a forum
for community members to voice complaints.
In deciding which issues to tackle, these consultations with community members
provided a good indication of community needs, supplementing assessments
conducted by ZENID at the beginning of the project.
Volunteers in action
Makana has had particular success in lobbying local service providers on behalf
of their communities. For instance, a pool of stagnant water in a residential
area of Muta had been a persistent problem for area residents. It had been the
site of several cases of drowning, and people's use of the pool to dispose of
dead sheep and chickens resulted in a terrible smell. Through Makana's lobbying
and coordination efforts with the Muta and Mazar municipalities, the Jordan
Valley Authority, and the Civil Defence, the water was eventually drained.
Volunteers have also dealt with various other infrastructure issues, such as
getting roads repaired or streetlights installed. They joined the Greater Amman
Municipality in waging a campaign against rat infestation in Gaza camp.
In dealing with individual cases, volunteers work with local people to raise
awareness of their rights. For example, they will often inform families of their
eligibility for National Aid Fund assistance and what this entails.
All of Makana's initiatives are guided by the idea that people can have a
greater effect on improving the quality of services if they approach service
providers with an understanding of policies and rights under the law.
“People go to the institution with knowledge of their rights. This reduces the
cost to people and effort on the part of the service provider,” said Mahreiz.
Roadblocks
Makana volunteers have also run into their share of brick walls. The hurdles to
obtaining quality services can be high. ZENID cites several obstacles that can
affect the delivery of services and impede progress on cases: Bureaucracy in
decision making, lack of coordination among relevant institutions, the
importance of personal connections, and lack of funds.
Efforts to build a septic tank in the Theban area of Muta, for example, have
proved fruitless. Although residents of the area must pay a fee to the
municipality for this service, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs lacks the
budget to build the tank in the rocky soil of Theban. Consequently, residents
are stuck paying the additional cost for private septic systems.
The issue was transferred to the Ministry of Planning, but because it does not
fall under any of the ministry's current funding programmes, the case has
languished despite the volunteers' efforts.
An unclear future
As Makana enters its final stage, the future of the women's volunteer groups
remains unclear. When the project ends, it will no longer receive support
through CARE, and it will be up to the women to continue their work with the
communities.
CARE project manager Mohammad Qaryouti believes funding will not be a challenge,
as the volunteers will continue to work through JOHUD's community development
centres. Rather, he said, it is a question of the volunteers' commitment and
whether the women's groups are able “to upgrade themselves, to find new members
to keep the momentum going.”
Another possible challenge is maintaining community involvement. Qaryouti said
that in most cases, Makana volunteers have taken the lead in advocacy efforts.
It is unclear whether communities would have the ability to initiate this type
of action without the help of the volunteers.
A woman's role
The project's benefit for women, however, is already clear, as the volunteers
have broken the barriers of women's traditionally defined activist roles. Until
recently, women were expected to limit their advocacy efforts to “women's
issues” such as reproductive health and family.
In the course of their work, Mahreiz said the Makana volunteers would often
encounter the widespread perception that “community participation is a men's
issue. When they started to deal with service providers, they were told: `It's
not your issue... why are you interfering?'”
But the volunteers have been encouraged by their achievements and, according to
Mahreiz, are confident in asserting themselves in their work.
“We felt that we achieved our goal when we noticed that our Makana team tried to
argue with decision makers,” she said.
The experience has also been rewarding for many of the women involved. Zu'bi
welcomed the challenging nature of the work and has enjoyed building
relationships and networking within the community.
Ertidal Atiat, 39, a mother of seven children, has always loved volunteer work.
When she joined the Makana team in Jerash, she was gratified to find that
through collective action, her efforts would have an even wider reach.
“It is different now,” she said. “Before I was an individual, but now we are a
team, and we are stronger.”