Jordan Times
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Actual female labour
participation about half its potential - Al-Ali
AMMAN (JT) - The actual level of female labour force participation is about half
its potential, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Suhair Al-Ali
said Tuesday.
Speaking at the graduation of 94 females from Irbid and Karak in the areas of
ICT career development and capacity-building training, she indicated that
despite Jordan’s very good record of gender parity in education, only 14.7 per
cent of Jordanian women are economically active in the formal sector.
The minister attributed this to several challenges related mostly to the way the
society depicts men and women and their abilities.
Al-Ali highlighted the importance of acquired skills and knowledge that the
women received in increasing their access to employment and giving them the
opportunity to establish small businesses, thus creating additional sources of
income and raising the living standards of many Jordanian families.
She emphasised the importance of empowering women “given the increased
challenges we are facing that require the harnessing of all financial and human
resources to achieve our goals of sustainable development”.
Noting that this can not be realised without making women a full partner in
political, economic and social spheres, the minister said Jordan has laid the
foundations for gender mainstreaming efforts at policy and institutional levels,
through the implementation of a comprehensive strategy for development of the
role of Jordanian women throughout society, and the promotion of women’s
leadership at all levels in both the public and private sectors.
She spoke about several programmes that were implemented through the Ministry of
Planning and Cooperation for increasing the economic participation of women in
different areas throughout Jordan.
Drawing on her personal experience, the minister said the ingredients of success
for both the pubic and private sectors are the same. She underlined the
importance of continuing to invest in educating women in both technical and
personal skills in order to strengthen their leadership and productivity.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Jay
Knott reiterated USAID’s commitment to advancing women worldwide.
“We are working around the world to improve women’s equality and empowerment,
and share the benefits as well as the duties of development,” he said. “We are
doing this not only because it is just, but because no country can reach its
full potential unless women have equal rights and opportunities.”
He added: “You, the participants of our career development programmes whom we
are graduating today, are a living example of USAID’s commitment to fully
integrate women into Jordan’s economy. Expanding your economic opportunities
will yield economic gains for you, your households and the economy. Increasing
your participation in the economy will also increase your leadership capacity.”
Rodrigo Ortiz, Chief of Party of the Sustainable Achievement of Business
Expansion and Quality Programme said: “Such training programmes will not only
empower women and help them support their families and organisations, but will
also enable over 152 community members to benefit from such training programmes.”
“We will continue to support women’s empowerment activities to enhance women’s
role in the local economy,” he emphasized.
During the ceremony, some of the female graduates shared how the training they
received helped empower them and assisted them in gaining new skills.
One of the graduates, Manal Omar Al Qutt, said “The training helped me enhance
my communication and computer skills; it has made me a reliable resource for my
colleagues at work.”