Paving the way for gender equality in Jordan
Danish Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP)
Over the past 20 years Jordan has achieved progress in combatting discrimination against women by revisiting laws that keep Jordanian women out of the workforce. However, even now less than 15 percent of women in Jordan are employed and the Jordanian labour market is still characterised by large gender differences and discrimination.
To remove some of the barriers to gender equality, the National Centre for Human Rights in Jordan (NCHR) has suggested the amendment of two Jordanian laws. In July 2021 the NCHR sent the proposed amendments to the Prime Minister’s Office. Later they will be sent to Parliament for adoption.
Equal distribution of parental leave and family support
In Jordan pension and other benefits are taken away from women when they are on maternity leave. As part of the proposed amendment, NCHR suggests that women continue to receive the benefits during leave. The NCHR also suggests that both men and women receive a family remuneration, when marrying. As it stands, women in Jordan only receive this monthly economic support for the family if they are divorced or if their husbands are unable to work due to disability.
According to the NCHR, merely changing laws and policy will not change the attitudes of employers and the rest of the society overnight. Nonetheless the NCHR is convinced that the amendment of the laws will be an important step forward.
The proposed amendment was formulated in close collaboration with selected parliamentarians, governmental focal points, civil society organisations and UN agencies. The efforts to amend the laws were in response to the recommendation to ‘Take further steps to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment’, which Jordan received in 2018 when its human rights situation was assessed as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Since 2018, the Institute has guided the NCHR throughout the review process; from the initial reporting on the human rights situation in Jordan to now, as they work towards implementing the UPR recommendations adopted by the Jordanian state.