USAID Makanati, Business and Professional Women Association join forces to close national gender gap

AMMAN — The USAID Makanati Women's Economic Empowerment and Leadership Activity signed an agreement with the Business and Professional Women Association (BPWA) to support BPWA's role in coordinating the nationwide implementation of the World Economic Forum’s Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator (CCGA).

The CGGA is based on an agreement signed between the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the World Economic Forum (WEF) under which Jordan became a member of a global network of states sharing experiences and proactively paving the way for cooperation between the public and private sectors in increasing women’s economic participation, according to a USAID statement.

The objective of the one-year agreement between USAID Makanati and BPWA is to help create a more inclusive and enabling work environment for women in the private sector, thereby contributing to national efforts to increase women's economic participation throughout the Kingdom.

The CCGA initiative's action plan for Jordan is aligned with the Economic Modernisation Vision’s (EMV) women empowerment initiatives and integrated into the National Strategy for Women in Jordan Executive Plan. The EMV has set a specific target to double the women’s economic participation from 14 per cent to 28 per cent and to create one million jobs by 2033.

USAID Makanati and BPWA will work to support a more inclusive, sustainable environment for women’s economic participation by fostering partnerships, promoting diversity and inclusion, building the capacity of private sector partners, introducing policy reform in selected companies, and collaborating with national organisations, including the Jordan National Commission for Women (JNCW) to support communities to dispel stereotypes that limit or impede women's economic participation, the statement said.

"We're truly enthusiastic about embarking on this partnership with USAID Makanati, a step that propels us closer to bridging the national gender gap,” Thana’a Al Khasawneh, CEO of BPWA, noted.

“As the local coordinator of World Economic Forum’s Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator, BPWA will leverage its strong partnerships with key eco-system stakeholders to mobilise the private sector towards a more inclusive environment for women," she added.

USAID Makanati Chief of Party Nermeen Murad Garlick said: "Our partnership is taking another strategic step toward changing the narrative around women's status and role as an individual, partner and leader at the workplace. We aim to create a workspace that recognises and amplifies the valuable contributions women bring to the economy and in return we expect that women will begin to see the private sector as an attractive employment space.”

The USAID Makanati activity is funded through the US-Jordanian Memorandum of Understanding, which supports economic development programmes throughout the Kingdom.