No good being idle

According to an up-to-date report of the Department of Statistics, unemployment in Jordan stood at 15.8 per cent during the third quarter of 2016.

The figure is high under any circumstances, but in view of the turmoil that churns almost all the countries around us, of the unrest and extremism, the rate should give cause for alarm, especially when knowing that unemployed youth could be easy prey, and victims, of radicalism.

Various UN reports established a strong link between unemployment and poverty, and terrorism. This feared link is being corroborated by the reality in many countries where unemployment reached crisis level.

It should not take the UN or any other entity to prove, or convince one of, the logical outcome of listless, hopeless, youth who fail to see a brighter future.

An idle brain is the devil’s workshop, it is said. So are idle hands, so it is a no brainer to see that unemployed people, particularly young, present a society with a situation that should be taken seriously.

This is not an indictment of the country. The economic situation across the globe is difficult, and Jordan is no exception.

Moreover, the Kingdom has to deal with circumstances it had no hand in making — yes, the Syrian refugees — and the resources can only be stretched so far.

That is understood, but should not be reason for slackness. Opportunities need to be found, investors tempted to come and the country should come up with job-generating projects to absorb some of the figure above.

But Jordan has another kind of problem as well. Whereas the unemployment rate for men during the stated period stood at 13.8 per cent, among women it was 25.2 per cent, almost double.

The figures suggest that gender equality is still a distant objective, in spite of all the efforts exerted to address the problem.

Women are not truly liberated and cannot escape discrimination unless they get the same chances, when it comes to employment, but in everything else as well, as men.

Besides this form of discrimination, women seldom receive the same wages as men for work of equal value.

Jordan has made progress in raising awareness about women’s right, including to work, and ratified key ILO and international human rights conventions for this purpose, but obviously more work is still to be done.

That said, unemployment figures across the board should not be dismissed lightly or attributed to the regional circumstances.

The great human capital and potential Jordan has needs to be harnessed and put to good use. The alternatives are unpleasant.