Kawar urges women’s rights activists to take advantage of ‘special period in Jordan’

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mary Kawar on Wednesday urged civil society and the international community to take advantage of “the special and important time the country is going through to move forward”.

“There is a strong political will in Jordan towards increased women empowerment driven by the vision and support of their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania towards issues concerning women. This is our moment. Let us take it to move forward,” Kawar said.

Kawar’s remarks were made during a panel called “Feminist Foreign and Assistance Policies: Canada’s and Sweden’s experience in Jordan” which was organised by the Canadian and Swedish embassies in Amman at the Amman Rotana Hotel.

The event was held in commemoration of International Women’s Day on March 8.

Kawar pointed to the latest achievements in Jordan regarding the amended labour draft law, which set “clear” definitions on wage discrimination and “flexible work” expected to largely benefit women. 

“This is considered a step towards pay equity and non-discriminatory practices between women and men in the workplace,” explained Kawar, who is also the chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality.

The panel discussion focused on the reasons for feminism-based foreign aid policies, the Jordanian government’s approach to advancing gender equality and challenging questions on the role of donors, the government and civil society in achieving more equal societies.

Canadian Ambassador to Jordan Peter MacDougall said his country had adopted feminist policies because “critical social, political and legislative obstacles prevent women and girls from reaping the same economic, political and social benefits as men — and thus pull down entire societies”.

In the labour market, the Canadian ambassador said, “We are supporting measures to raise the level of women’s participation in various sectors... while at the same time we are working with the Jordanian government to reduce the barriers for women at work.”

MacDougall said that programmes supported by the Canadian government are also working to help women in civil service positions and improve the presence of women in the security sector.

“The bottom line for Canada is that we fully support Jordan’s focus on bringing more women into the workforce and into positions of enhanced responsibility. We believe this is key to future growth, and we will be backing Jordan every step on the way.”

Meanwhile, Swedish Ambassador to Jordan Erik Ullenhag said he truly believes that “there is no difference between Jordanian and Swedish women because they both have the same aspirations and dreams”.

“I have been to many places in Jordan and met with young women and girls who spoke about their dreams to become engineers, physicians and ambassadors. I believe our part is to make sure their dreams come true,” Ullenhag told the gathering.

The Swedish ambassador stressed the need to empower women because “when we do so we are actually creating stronger families that will convey strong gender equality concepts to their children and communities”. 

Ullenhag added that the more “we have women at the negotiation tables in peace and conflict matters, the more we have sustainable peace and security”.

Also addressing the panel was Ziad Sheikh, the UN Women Jordan country representative, who said that his organisation would continue to advocate “to address human rights violations and support women’s empowerment in Jordan and elsewhere”.