Silent Women: An ARDD report on harassment in the workplace
The report is one of the outcomes that are to be produced as part of the Ford Foundation project ‘Women’s Access to Economic Justice through Legal Empowerment’. It provides an in-depth analysis of harmful and discriminatory workplace practices in Jordan that are potentially hindering women from safely accessing the labour market, and works towards answering the overall project question: ‘How can refugee and host community women in Jordan be empowered to safely access the labour market and be able to confidently utilize the Jordanian legal system when rights are violated?’.
Barriers to Balance: Overcoming Obstacles to Women’s Economic Participation in Jordan
In Jordan, and much of the Global South, women face a unique dilemma. On the one hand, in the face of low rates of female labor force participation and increasing youth unemployment, women are exhorted by governments and NGOs alike to enter the labor force or else become entrepreneurs. On the other hand, a domestic division of labor, that often places unequal burdens on women, has meant that any engagement in the market economy must occur on top of the unremunerated and unequal care economy. Compounding this dilemma are the myriad barriers to paid employment: including a general lack of job opportunities, workplace discrimination, social policy (e.g., insufficient maternity leave and lack of childcare) and harassment.
Women’s Access to Justice: A Framework for Inquiry
This report analyzes the status of women’s access to justice in Jordan, with a particular focus on the Shari’a court system. Through a review of relevant laws, research, and international conventions, it identifies legal, social, and institutional barriers to women’s access to justice. At the same time, it traces gaps in the justice system related to: legal aid services; economic and human resources; and gender sensitivity. The report proposes a framework of inquiry – based on international experiences – that allows for systematic analysis of women’s access to justice in Jordan. Additionally, it offers key analytical recommendations for facilitating women’s access to justice by way of increased gender sensitivity, enhanced dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms, and quality legal support services. With continued coordination between institutional and civil society stakeholders, an enabling environment for women’s access to justice can be established with an adequate supply of institutional resources to facilitate the process and meet current demands.
Public Perceptions and Satisfaction Regarding the Justice Sector in Jordan
In 2012, the European Commission approved a long-term initiative to “Support Justice Sector Reform” that aims to improve the juvenile justice system, integrate various justice sector actors, and enhance the operational independence of key institutions (European Commission, 2012). The Government of Jordan, with the support of the European Union, constructed the Jordanian Judicial Authority Strategy Building Plan 2012-2014 and initiated a number of significant legislative reform initiatives within the justice sector. Indeed, by the end of 2014, the Jordanian parliament passed 13 laws, including the Judicial Independence Law and the new Juvenile Law – both to great acclaim. Starting in 2017, the European Union commissioned Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development – ARDD to implement the Support for Justice Sector Reform project. The overall objective of the project was to engage the Jordanian public in the ongoing justice sector reform process by raising awareness and support for ongoing reform initiatives. The project also aims to foster evidence-based social dialogue among key stakeholders of the justice sector with a view to strengthen support to Justice Sector institutions. Indeed, while much of the Jordan’s strategic plan focused on creating an independent, efficient and effective justice sector, another pillar of the plan involves building public confidence in institutions tasked with safeguarding the rule of law in Jordan.
Towards a Community Facilitator Model in Jordan
This report is a mixed methods study, having adopted a data collection approach that gathered both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was collected from a desk review that covered CF models and legal empowerment in Jordan and outside of Jordan, in particular in relation to minority and vulnerable groups, comprised of primary and grey literature. Qualitative data was gathered from the OSF pilot phase of the Syrian Refugee Empowerment Project (SREP), initiated by the Open Society Foundations in Jordan, through focus group discussions with ARDD CFs trained for the pilot, minutes of meetings between ARDD CFs and ARDD employees responsible for the pilot, progress reports produced by ARDD and Tamkeen, 65 session reports produced by ARDD CFs, and 8 observations of community facilitation sessions by ARDD, in both Zarqa and Amman.
Basic education and parents’ relations with school: Findings from a mini-survey of Jordanian and Syrian refugee households in Mafraq city
This paper presents descriptive statistics from a limited sample survey of Jordanian and Syrian refugee households in the city of Mafraq in northern Jordan. The main objective is to enhance our understanding of the communication between public schools and the households of their students through information from and the perceptions of parents. The paper answers such questions as: To what extent is there contact between the schools and the parents; how do they communicate; and who initiates the communication? Are the parents satisfied with the information? And, what kind of improvements of relevance to their children’s education would they like to see? The survey was carried out within a wider project seeking to find ways to improve the learning environment of Jordanian and Syrian refugee children in Jordan through operational interventions and legal reform. Additional research components of the project have included school visits, focus group interviews with teachers and parents in the governorate of Mafraq, and research into the legal aspects of basic education in Jordan.
Effective Parenting for Elementary School aged Children
Violence against children has long been advocated against because of the profound implications it can have on children. According to a study conducted by UNICEF in 2007, Jordanian parents have shortcomings in their parenting styles. Parents in Jordan frequently use violence – both verbal and physical, as methods of disciplining their children. This includes methods which can sometimes be quite severe, such as beating using belts, shoes or other objects, as well as insults, shouting, and name-calling. This often happens because these are the only disciplinary methods parents know. Such disciplinary measures and lack of knowledge of alternative methods, has also been expressed in the Syrian refugee community in Jordan. An ARDD-Legal Aid report from February 2015, highlighted some of the challenges facing Syrian refugee women and Female Heads of Households (FFHs). One of the main findings was in regards to psychosocial implications, namely, unsettled self-perceptions regarding their role as “mothers.” In particular, the report describes that many of the women who participated in ARDD-Legal Aid’s psychosocial support sessions showed signs of deep stress regarding their sense of “failure” as care givers and mothers, as they lack the parenting skills and resources to communicate effectively with their children and help them navigate in these difficult circumstances.
Improving learning environments in Jordanian public schools
This report from the project “Education for the Future” provides an overview of challenges and prospects of improving learning environments in Jordanian public schools in general. Available literature and public narratives on education in Jordan since 2011 highlight the many challenges to the creation of a positive learning environment posed by the increased number of children attending Jordanian public schools, and Syrian children in particular. The report observes how such challenges have affected the learning environment of Jordanian and Syrian children in the governorate of Mafraq (northern Jordan), where the number of Syrians refugees in the main town exceeds that of the indigenous population (about 100,000 versus 80,000) (Al-Ghad, 2015). It also focuses on an often neglected dimension of the learning environment, namely parental involvement and the role of parent-school relations.
Civic Engagement: The Key for Women’s Political Participation in Karak
This report provides an evidence-based assessment intervention enhancing women’s leadership and civic engagement in the governorate of Karak that can contribute to enhance women’s meaningful political participation at the governorate and municipality level. The research sheds light into the contours of women’s political participation in Karak that goes beyond formal politics. Our work shows that there is a solid base of active and engaged women in community-based organizations (CBOs) who are deeply engaged in everyday politics, working to make a difference within their communities. In many cases they are starting on where formal politics stops on simply cannot address precisely because they are community based. The sort of activities that these women are participating in encourages the idea that what they are doing is not just charitable work but a demonstration of their political participation. Our findings support theoretical notions that consider civic engagement as a form of political participation, where the formal space of politics is compromised by structural deficiencies.
Fostering a Culture of Responsibility and Accountability Improving the Learning Environment in Jordan
At the start of the 1990s, education reform was prioritised by the Jordanian government which led to substantial investments in the development of human resources over the past three decades; ultimately resulting in a concreteoverall improvement in performance on the Human Development Index. Jordan continues to build on these achievements, which is demonstrated by its recent commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Despite Jordan’s remarkable achievements and numerous initiatives pursued by the government and different stakeholders, to reform the education sector, several challenges still persist. One major challenge is accountability within the education system. This paper seeks to provide insights into the challenges and gaps in accountability, as well as explore inter-linkages with the legal framework, and the challenges of decentralisation and governance. To this end, a review of the relevant literature, and fieldwork research were conducted to identify obstacles related to access to education and the provision of quality education and a supportive learning environment in Jordan. In addition to a learning event was held entitled “Fostering a Culture of Accountability for improving the Learning Environment for Children in Jordan” in order to discuss the findings of the project “Education for the Future:Communities of Learning among Syrians and Jordanians in Host Communities” with a wider stakeholder community. The areas highlighted are the following: The Legal framework: issues of access, quality, and equity. Communication and Accountability: communication between schools and parents,the Ministry of Education, and other stakeholders (civil society/community involvement). Decentralisation and Governance: autonomy of schools, national decentralisation, the role of the local community.