Campaign addresses gender-based issues in politics, society and economy

AMMAN — An international NGO is working with the public and private sectors within an ongoing campaign to empower women and highlight gender-based problems in the community and the media.

“Economically, we are empowering women in different fields in collaboration with local institutions, providing them with training sessions to help them build their own business ideas,” Salam Kanaan, country director at CARE International in Jordan, said.

CARE Jordan, which was founded in 1949 to meet the needs of the local community, said the campaign covers economic, social and political aspects.

Kanaan told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of a seminar held on Monday that CARE and other entities are working in Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Mafraq. 

“In 2015, according to UN reports, only 12 per cent of women in Jordan were working in the labour market, which is a drop compared to the previous year, when 16 per cent of women were involved in the economy,” she said.

Dima Karadsheh, the gender adviser at CARE, said the organisation aims through its sessions and meetings with women to empower them in their daily practices and encourage them to participate in political movements.

“We also train women to enable them to have the courage to run for parliamentary elections, especially in rural areas,” she said.

The NGO is also combating gender-based violence, which is increasing in Jordan, according to Kanaan.

“When the government says we have around 1.2 million Syrian refugees residing in Jordan, half of them women and girls, we are talking about 500,000 people who have their own needs, other than Jordanians who number more than 6 million,” she said. 

“Media is playing a role in drawing attention to women-related problems, but, personally, I think [Jordan] still need more steps… We are approaching journalists today to announce a long-term partnership with media to cover those issues,” Kanaan said. 

During the seminar, participants explored ways to “change the method of delivering gender-based topics” and “suggest better angles” when covering events and transmitting them to the public.

Within the next month, CARE is scheduled to launch another campaign titled “Badiri”, which translates into “initiate”, to choose 20 women pioneers in Jordan and highlight their achievements through media outlets to show the reality of women in the Kingdom and celebrate their individuality, Kanaan said. 

The European Union and the Canadian, Australian, American and British governments funded the CARE campaigns and around $18 million was spent on all programmes in 2015, with around 550,000 beneficiaries from the local community and refugees, she noted.