JSF paper calls for political, economic empowerment of women in Kingdom

AMMAN — The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF), in a policy brief, has called on all relevant stakeholders to look into the political and economic empowerment of females in Jordan.

The policy brief, titled “Females in Jordan: Do they Lack Opportunity,”? takes note from the  “Female Opportunity Index”, published by the German digital bank N26 in July 2021, according to a JSF statement.

The index analyses and compares 100 countries for their achievements in female leadership, management and entrepreneurship, as well as their advancements in female access to education and parental leave. 

With a score of 56.3/100 and a rank of 98/100 on the female opportunity index, Jordan’s performance “leaves a lot to be desired”, the JSF paper said. 

Norway tops the world on the female opportunity index.

On a regional level, the UAE tops the Arab countries on the female opportunity index while Jordan comes in 9th out of 10 countries.

The Kingdom’s scores are relatively low in “women legislation”, and in “salary level and gender wage gap” on the index. 

Jordan ranks a score of 70 out of 100 on the maternity leave index.

“It is unfortunate to note that the female unemployment rate during the first quarter of 2021 is equal to 28.5 per cent,” the JSF paper said.

The rate of females with an undergraduate (or higher) degree is equal to 79.6 per cent. For this, and other reasons, the female economic participation rate is equal to 14 per cent only, the JSF paper said. Based on the employment figures (2020) published by the Department of Statistics (DOS), about 70 per cent of the Jordanian working females work for only three sectors: Education, health services, and public administration. 

For male Jordanians, this ratio is much lower (around 43 per cent). 

UNICEF projects that an increase in the female participation rate by 25 per cent over the next seven years would help Jordan achieve an annual 5 per cent GDP growth, the JSF paper said citing the UNICEF report: Opportunities for Youth in Jordan – 2019.