Bani Mustafa presents update on women’s empowerment at UN special session

AMMAN — Jordan is among the countries keeping up to date with the most recent best practices regarding women's empowerment, Minister of Social Development Wafaa Bani Mustafa said on Friday.

Bani Mustafa delivered a speech on Jordan’s progress in women’s empowerment at the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on the Fourth World Conference on Women and the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly on gender equality, development and peace for the 21st century, held in 2000 in New York, during which the Beijing Declaration was launched.

Bani Mustafa, who is also head of the Ministerial Committee for Women Empowerment, added that Jordan has conducted a comprehensive national review of the progress made towards implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, with the participation of a large number of experts in all sectors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

She noted that Jordan has always been keen to provide a decent life for Jordanian citizens free of discrimination, as His Majesty King Abdullah has launched a three-part modernisation and reform plan, that began with the modernisation of the political system and resulted in constitutional amendments and amendments to the election and political party laws. 

The minister pointed out that all amendments included substantial opportunities to enhance the political participation of women, youth and people with disabilities.

She said that the strategy for women’s economic empowerment was launched, which includes initiatives based on a study on women’s conditions in all governorates, taking into account the intersection of supply and demand in the labour market with the number of graduates distributed among university majors.

Bani Mustafa also participated in the "Women in Islam: Understanding the Rights and Identity of Women in the Islamic World" conference, which was organised by Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN CSW 67th session.

The Jordanian delegation to the UN CSW 67th session also met with Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bahous.

The meeting covered the Kingdom's efforts to promote equality and empower women.

Also on the sidelines of the UN CSW 67th session, Bani Mustafa held a meeting with the Singaporean Minister of State in the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sun Xueling.

Both ministers discussed ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of social development.