SDG Blog 3

Gender Equality in Jordan



Today, Jordan is working on meeting gender equality and female empowerment in their country in several different ways. This focus on diminishing gender inequality will allow more access to education, occupations, health services, land and property, and political decision making. This equal accessibility to these things will broaden our chance to become a much more feasible world.

According to USAID, with equal access to education, "Jordan boasts a highly educated female population with the potential to advance Jordan’s economic, social, and political development," (Gender Equality and Female Empowerment, 2019). However, although Jordan is slowly working towards this equality, there is still a gap between men and women and "constitutional rights and acceptable social norms, with traditional expectations and cultural restraints continuing to limit women’s advancement," (Gender Equality and Female Empowerment., 2019). Despite this, Jordan has partnered with USAID Mission and they are constantly helping Jordan create policy reforms to allow equal education. In fact, they have developed 59 laws and procedures that promote gender equality (Klein, 2018). These laws have helped over 94% of girls to attend primary school and 90% to attend secondary school. Furthermore, they have allowed Jordan to receive one of the highest literacy rates of girls in the Middle East (97.3%), (Klein, 2018). Several programs such as Go Girls, a national initiative that encourages the exposure of STEM subjects to girls, have also been implemented in hopes of achieving gender equality in education.

Aside from education, Jordan is also focusing on the presence of women in politics. According to UN Women, only about one sixth of seats in Jordan's Parliament are held by women (Jordan pledges..., n.d.). In regard to this, government organizations such as The Jordanian National Commission for Women are emphasizing the need for women in policy and narrowing the gap that exists today. New laws have also been implemented and have revised the past electoral law. The New Electoral Law has assigned 15 seats for women (Jordan pledges..., n.d.). After this was initiated, there has been an increase in the total number of women from 12% to 15.4% (20 women), (Jordan pledges..., n.d.).

Jordan has been able to increase gender equality by partnering with organizations, revising laws, and monitoring programs that have been created for SDG 5. Jordan's partnership with USAID, UNICEF, and other nongovernmental organizations has allowed them to become closer to their goal.


References

Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. (2019). USAID. Retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/jordan/gender-equality-womens-empowerment

Jordan pledges to align national laws with international commitments and expand support to women and girls in many areas (updated). (n.d.) UN Women. Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/step-it-up/commitments/jordan

Klein, Grace. (2018). Top 10 Facts About Girls' Education in Jordan. Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-girls-education-in-jordan/