Activists launch initiative to support women advancement in industry

AMMAN — Businesspeople and supporters recently met to discuss an initiative designed to empower women in the industrial sector and to boost their participation in the economy.

Jordan Women Industrial Community, in cooperation with Al Ahli Bank’s “Nashmiat” initiative, discussed the most recent initiative “I Build my Own Future”, which focuses on training and empowering women from governorates around the Kingdom.

Katia Abbassi, the community’s president, said the organisation has launched several initiatives and projects in rural areas and governorates targeting hundreds of women of all ages, who were introduced to potential sponsors for their projects.

Women were provided with concessional loans, grants, and financial studies and free training in different fields, mainly the ABCs of building a business, the activist said at an event held last Saturday.

The new training programme will take place in the capital in the coming weeks to provide women with the doing-business skills they need, she said.

“Our main goal is to fill all the gaps that hinder the activity of women, whether in getting hired or starting their own projects,” she added.

From Jordan Women Industrial Community, Ruba Daghmish said the initiative’s main aim is to “train girls to dream”. 

“Women in governorates have the talent… we thought of offering them the opportunity to dream, to aspire and to make their dreams come true,” she told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the event.

“Finding job opportunities in rural areas can be difficult as there are no factories and no job openings in the public sector, which is why women should work for themselves. It is not about the financial support as much as it is related to moral support,” Daghmish added.

Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Maha Ali said although the industrial sector is “not an easy field”, yet, Jordanian women have the capabilities and the education to be able to excel.

“Women’s contribution to industry is still low, even though women have reached advanced levels in education,” Ali told The Jordan Times.

She called for further cooperation between the public and private sectors to focus more on women’s participation, to “unite all efforts made to empower women” and provide them with their needs at their workplaces.

Jordan Chamber of Industry’s president, Adnan Abu Ragheb, said such initiatives should receive more support and attention from all stakeholders, particularly the government.

Secretary General of Jordanian National Commission for Women Salma Nims said industry is a main sector to increase the national output.

“Women’s participation in that sector [industry] offers more profit, it should not be gendered, but should be seen as a way to increase the sector’s income,” she added.

From Al Ahli Bank, Nawzat Qudsi, who is also the initiative’s executive director, highlighted the importance of removing challenges facing women in the workplace, citing lack of crèches at work as a top challenge preventing many women from work.

“Under the Labour Law, any institution with 20 women employees or more has to establish a crèche nearby, many business owners hire 19 women for that purpose,” she said.

Another challenge is the lack of public transport services and the society’s stereotype of the woman as the housewives.