H. E. Ms. Salma Nims, Secretary General of Commission for Women, Jordan
• ~
oi,. -.A-1 1u •9 ,~,_ .-.~.·.. .1 ~_. lJ l ll li...•..u ..b.A,..1 1~ 1•
The Jordanian National Commission for Women
High Level Political Forum
on Sustainable Development 2017
New York, 10 - 19 July
Session 8: Review of Implementation: SDGS
12 July, 2017
Sa/ma Nims
Secretary General
Jordanian National Commission for Women
Page 11
[1f_;§ytijfog.'_9~_!!~tion_s;af!~±iiP-Pll~~I:: __ _
• Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, what progress has been made in ending
discrimination against women and girls in laws, policies and practices and what are good
practice examples by governments and other stakeholders to achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls?
1. Legal Amendments:
• Parliamentary Elections Law (2016) which increased the percentage of seats allocated
for women from 10% to 11.5%. Following the elections the percentage of elected
female MPs reached 15.3%, which is also the same percentage in the King appointed
Senate.
• Decentralization Law (2015} allocated 10% of the elected seats for women on
governorate boards and one third of the 15% appointed seats.
• Amendment to the Military Retirement Law (2015) giving women equal rights in
appointment and career advancement.
• Regulation governing the Maintenance Loan Fund, in 2015 which aims at expediting the
payment of adjudicated maintenance in case of non-payment.
• Regulation governing Shelters for Women in Danger,
• Regulation allowing working flexible hours, part time and from home which benefits
men as well as women giving care to family members (children, elderly or with
disabilities.
• People with Disabilities Rights Law (2017} and
• Protection from Domestic Violence Law (2017); both laws were proposed to replace
earlier laws in order to provide more effective protection for people with disabilities and
older members of the family, women, girls and children.
• The parliament is currently reviewing a proposed amendment of the Penal Code
submitted by the cabinet which includes: 1) the abolishment of article 308 which
allowed the rapist to avoid persecution and/or evade punishment when he marries his
victim and 2) the amendment of article 98 to exclude those committing murders in a fit
of rage to benefit from mitigating penalty if they claim that "rage" is caused in the name
of honor.
2. Institutional frameworks:
• The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC} is the leading the
process of the localizing of the SDGs targets with the UN Resident and Humanitarian
coordinator in Jordan. The Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW} is
recognized as the principle body charged with policy coordination for gender equality.
• In order to ensure improved alignment, and to emphasize a commitment to all SDGs
within national priorities, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda builds on existing
framework and mechanisms, which are further refined to allow for better
harmonization as needed.
• The Jordanian National Commission for Women is already a member in the Higher
Steering Committee headed by the Prime Minister which endorses long terms plans
Page 12
such as "Jordan vision 2025" and operational plans such as the Executive Development
Programmes, and also endorses outputs from the National Higher Committee for
Sustainable Development.
• The National Higher Committee for Sustainable Development was established in 2001
following the announcement of the MDGs and is headed by the Minister of Planning and
International Cooperation. In March, 2017, to improve alignment with Agenda 2030, its
membership was expanded to include the Secretary General of the Jordanian National
Commission for Women in addition to other relevant independent organizations such as
the National Center for Human Rights and Coalitions of Civil Society organizations and
youth organizations.
• Also two additional working groups where established in addition to the 17 workings
groups on the Executive Development Program: 1) The Gender Equality and
Mainstreaming Working group headed by the SG of the Jordanian National Commission
for Women and 2) The Civil Liberties and Human Rights Working group headed by the
General Commissioner of the National Center for Human Rights.
• As per the recommendation of JNCW and MOPIC the Gender Equality and
Mainstreaming Working group included relevant ministries, national organizations, main
women civil society organizations, CSOs that have initiated efforts on SDGs and
specifically SDGS and the General Budget Department and the Department of Statistics.
The working group will lead the coordination efforts for the adoption of SDGS and the
integration of all targets related to gender equality and the empowerment of women
and girls within the Executive Development Program, and monitor implementation and
progress.
• The Terms of Reference for the Working group was developed in consultation with the
ESCWA and UNWOMEN to ensure the effectiveness of its work. Technical support by
UNWOMEN and ESCWA will be provided to enhance the capacity of the team and
relevant sub-teams in order to be able to carry out their mandate.
• With the technical assistance of ESCWA, UNWOMEN JO CO and UNWOMEN Arab States
regional office a series of consultation sessions around goal 5 and the 11 other goals
which include gender targets will be carried out. The participatory process involves
governmental organizations, and civil society organizations including youth and
vulnerable groups. The outcome of this exercise would feed into the government setting
of the Jordanian National targets within the 2030 Agenda as well as the review of the
National Jordanian Women Strategy (2013 - 2017).
• The process will serve two purposes: first adopting the same gender indicators that
were adopted through the 2030 agenda and aligning the strategy targets which are
usually reviewed every 5 years with the timeline for the agenda. In this manner, the
engagement of the civil society in setting the National women strategy and its
monitoring and evaluation frame work will by default feed into the national monitoring
process for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Page I 3
•
• As a first step towards integrating the Agenda 2030 within national planning
frameworks, the Jordanian National Commission carried out a mapping exercise for
SDGS and other relevant targets in Agenda 2030, across its international commitments
(namely CEDAW and Beijing Platform}, and the main relevant national planning
frameworks namely the Executive Development Program (2016 - 2019), the National
Women Strategy (2013-2017), the National Comprehensive Human Rights Plan (2016-
2025) and the draft National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCr1325.
• The exercise served as an important tool to:
1. Link Jordan's international commitments within one framework to simplify the
process of monitoring progress in preparation for the different reporting cycles,
2. Identify gaps within the main development planning frameworks and women
related strategies and plans.
3. A master document for consultation and consensus building with the civil society
and the government.
4. A master document for adopting the relevant national indicators on SDGS and
relevant targets.
• JNCW in collaboration with the Department of Statistics has worked on categorizing
SDGS indicators following the guidelines provided by UNDESA. The work is still in
progress as this is a process that is still in process at the global and regional level.
• These indicators are serving as baseline indicators for national efforts and were also
used by the Government of Jordan in preparation for its Voluntary National report to be
presented at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development {HLPF}.
What are key recommendations to ensure the gender-responsive implementation of the
2030 Agenda and how can accountability for gender-responsive implementation of the SDGs
be enhanced?
• Institutional arrangements that empower key national machineries for women within
national planning mechanisms to mainstream Goal 5 and other gender target within the
other goals, within National Plans, strategies and policies, and to lead the process in
monitoring progress and reporting.
• Institutional arrangements for monitoring implementation and progress should be
inclusive and sustainable with cross national and sub-national representation from civil
society organizations and local groups, specifically women and youth groups.
• Adopting the SDGs 2030 at the sub-national level through an inclusive and genderresponsive
approach. Jordan is embarking on its first decentralization elections in
August, where Governorate boards will be elected. It is planned to pilot the adoption of
SDGs 2030 including Goals in a number of Governorate Development Plans. JNCW in
cooperation with UNWOMEN will be supporting building the capacities of those boards
on gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
Page 14
• Strengthening national statistical system that includes gender indicators as adopted by
the SDGs and improving data collection tools and surveys to be able to provide needed
gender data and sex-disaggregated data.
• Developing a unified national monitoring and evaluation system that reflects the
alignment of national plans and strategies with the SDGs.
• Allocating financial resources towards gender-responsive implementation through
Gender responsive budgeting as well as mobilization of international donor resources
towards achievement of Goals.
• Adopting inclusive and participatory methods that ensure nation-wide awareness and
knowledge of the SDG Agenda 2030 as well as building a sense of national ownership.
• What are successful multi-stakeholder partnerships at the global, regional, national and
sub-national levels for accelerated gender-responsive implementation of the SDGs? What
made the partnerships successful?
At the global level:
• The United Nations approach in leading global production and exchange of knowledge
and experience is playing a major role in supporting countries like Jordan in adopting
appropriate measures, mechanisms and processes for implementing the SDGs at
national and subnational levels. UNWOMEN as a global entity is providing technical and
financial support to JNCW through its regional and country offices to carry out its
mandate and specifically in relation to the implementation of Goals and gender
mainstreaming within the other SDGs.
At the regional level:
• The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in collaboration the
UNWOMEN Office for the Arab States and the Women and Family Directorate, the
League of Arab States, is playing a key role in the Arab region by providing advisory
services and technical support to member States, particularly in the elaboration and
implementation of national development plans addressing sustainable development in
all its dimensions. During the Seventh Meeting for the Women Committee in ESCWA
(consisting of all national women machineries in the Arab States) a sub-committee for
"Achieving Gender Equality through Agenda 2030) was established.
• ESCWA has been providing technical assistance to strengthen the knowledge and
capacities in the field of development in the Arab region in general, and in relation to
gender equality in particular. The Jordanian National Commission for Women is a
member of the sub -committee on gender equality and has attended all relevant
capacity workshops provided by ESCWA in the past year.
• ESCWA and UNWOMEN JO CO continue to support JNCW in its efforts to build national
capacities for the implementation of GOALS and mainstreaming gender in the other
SDGs; and support the establishment of sustainable mechanisms for inclusive planning
and monitoring of implementation.
Page IS
At the National level:
• JNCW is working closely with the government and civil society organizations to ensure a
representative and inclusive adoption and implementation of SDGs 2030 within national
planning frameworks. The National Committee for Sustainable Development includes
relevant ministries, semi-governmental organizations, civil society coalitions and
organizations, independent commissions, and parliamentarians. While the structure is
allowing diversified representation at the national level, it is also involving main
technically responsible authorities for planning, providing data and costing in the
process at all levels.
• The Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Working group is also representative of all
relevant governmental and technical organizations as well as civil society organizations.
The working group will: 1) coordinate with the other 17 working groups to ensure the
successful mainstreaming of gender within their work, 2) work through its Department
of Statistics representation with the special unit within DOS on the categorization of the
SDGs indicators, provision of gender indicators and sex-disaggregated data and
improving data availability and quality. 3) work through its General Budget Department
representation to continue the cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to ensure the
adoption of Gender responsive budgeting and linking it to the SDGs within the Executive
Development Program, in addition to mobilization of resources towards implementation
of GOALS and 4) Ensure the inclusive monitoring of implementation and progress.
• Partnership with civil society organizations (Women, youth and Human rights) will be
further fostered through the creation of sub-committees, which include representation
of civil society organizations and relevant governmental gender focal points whom have
been trained on mainstreaming gender in planning and policy making, with technical
support provided by an appointed gender expert who will facilitate peer support and
review to ensure their effective contribution to the process at the governmental level.
• In the context of the 2030 Agenda, it is recognized that many Arab Countries are facing
unprecedented challenges caused by armed conflicts and political instability. Thus,
considering the consequences of war on women and girls are expected to be taken into
consideration in strategies towards the 2030 Agenda. This does not only apply to
conflict-stricken countries, but also those hosting large number of refugees. Thus, as the
Agenda places significant emphasis on security under SDG16 which clearly mentions
UNSCr1325 on Women, Peace and Security and refers to refugees as a vulnerable group
of people that should be protected, Jordan is in the final stages of endorsing its National
Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCr1325 which aims at achieving 4 outcomes
relating to increasing women participation in peace and security, providing genderresponsive
services and protection for refugee women and girls as well as enhancing
women capacity and contribution towards efforts of prevention of violent extremism.
Page I 6
• Social attitudes/practices and stereotyping of gender roles within the household and
public/private spheres as well as dominant informal institutions are all affecting abilities
to achieve change at the legislative, institutional and social levels. Thus, national wide
policies for changing social attitudes and stereotyping of women need to be adopted
through education, media and cultural production and interaction in collaboration
between the government, the private sector and civil society organizations. Religious
leaders and female religious lecturers (wai-that) are also targeted to be effectively
engaged with men and women in local communities towards changing social attitudes.
• While Jordan is engaging in integrating the SDGs Agenda 2030, within its Executive
Development Program, it remains to be seen how Human Rights based approach will be
adopted within the program. While economic empowerment and access to education,
health and protection services are at the core of the Executive Development Program
(EDP) 2016 -2019, issues related to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women
still seem to be elusive. This needs creative solutions within the EDP or adopting them
through other binding frameworks, such as the Comprehensive National Plan for Human
Rights. Indeed, the National Strategy for Women will have such target at its core but
mainstreaming it within other national frameworks remains important.
• Availability of sex-disaggregated data as well as data specifically related to Goals
indicators remains a challenge. This is affecting the ability to provide sufficient base-line
indicators and setting targets for gender equality among the relevant goals. Jordan is
closely engaged with the global and regional efforts towards increasing the availability
of data. At the national level, the Sustainable Development High Committee headed by
the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation is working closely with the
Department of Statistics and all relevant institutions in order to provide more data and
develop nationally relevant methodologies to provide Tierlll indicators. JNCW is also
working with ESCWA and LAS in order to enhance the availability of gender indicators
and sex-disaggregated indictors.
• Funding for development remains a challenge for the Kingdom which has been suffering
from increasing budget deficit in the past decade. Jordan continues to seek international
support to increase its resilience and ensure the continuation on its development past
at the same time. Gender responsive budgeting can provide better and efficient
allocation of budget to ensure the integration of gender equality and women and girls
empowerment within the national development frameworks. It might not demand
higher allocation but more efficient and equally distributed allocation. The General
budget department and the Jordanian National Commission for Women have been
working towards adopting gender-responsive budgeting tools since 2012. While some
progress has been achieved latest assessment of the 2016 budget revealed that
allocation of budget towards women empowerment remains low and there is an urgent
need to develop the capacity of planning and budgeting teams within the ministries with
gender analysis and budgeting skills.
oi,. -.A-1 1u •9 ,~,_ .-.~.·.. .1 ~_. lJ l ll li...•..u ..b.A,..1 1~ 1•
The Jordanian National Commission for Women
High Level Political Forum
on Sustainable Development 2017
New York, 10 - 19 July
Session 8: Review of Implementation: SDGS
12 July, 2017
Sa/ma Nims
Secretary General
Jordanian National Commission for Women
Page 11
[1f_;§ytijfog.'_9~_!!~tion_s;af!~±iiP-Pll~~I:: __ _
• Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, what progress has been made in ending
discrimination against women and girls in laws, policies and practices and what are good
practice examples by governments and other stakeholders to achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls?
1. Legal Amendments:
• Parliamentary Elections Law (2016) which increased the percentage of seats allocated
for women from 10% to 11.5%. Following the elections the percentage of elected
female MPs reached 15.3%, which is also the same percentage in the King appointed
Senate.
• Decentralization Law (2015} allocated 10% of the elected seats for women on
governorate boards and one third of the 15% appointed seats.
• Amendment to the Military Retirement Law (2015) giving women equal rights in
appointment and career advancement.
• Regulation governing the Maintenance Loan Fund, in 2015 which aims at expediting the
payment of adjudicated maintenance in case of non-payment.
• Regulation governing Shelters for Women in Danger,
• Regulation allowing working flexible hours, part time and from home which benefits
men as well as women giving care to family members (children, elderly or with
disabilities.
• People with Disabilities Rights Law (2017} and
• Protection from Domestic Violence Law (2017); both laws were proposed to replace
earlier laws in order to provide more effective protection for people with disabilities and
older members of the family, women, girls and children.
• The parliament is currently reviewing a proposed amendment of the Penal Code
submitted by the cabinet which includes: 1) the abolishment of article 308 which
allowed the rapist to avoid persecution and/or evade punishment when he marries his
victim and 2) the amendment of article 98 to exclude those committing murders in a fit
of rage to benefit from mitigating penalty if they claim that "rage" is caused in the name
of honor.
2. Institutional frameworks:
• The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC} is the leading the
process of the localizing of the SDGs targets with the UN Resident and Humanitarian
coordinator in Jordan. The Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW} is
recognized as the principle body charged with policy coordination for gender equality.
• In order to ensure improved alignment, and to emphasize a commitment to all SDGs
within national priorities, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda builds on existing
framework and mechanisms, which are further refined to allow for better
harmonization as needed.
• The Jordanian National Commission for Women is already a member in the Higher
Steering Committee headed by the Prime Minister which endorses long terms plans
Page 12
such as "Jordan vision 2025" and operational plans such as the Executive Development
Programmes, and also endorses outputs from the National Higher Committee for
Sustainable Development.
• The National Higher Committee for Sustainable Development was established in 2001
following the announcement of the MDGs and is headed by the Minister of Planning and
International Cooperation. In March, 2017, to improve alignment with Agenda 2030, its
membership was expanded to include the Secretary General of the Jordanian National
Commission for Women in addition to other relevant independent organizations such as
the National Center for Human Rights and Coalitions of Civil Society organizations and
youth organizations.
• Also two additional working groups where established in addition to the 17 workings
groups on the Executive Development Program: 1) The Gender Equality and
Mainstreaming Working group headed by the SG of the Jordanian National Commission
for Women and 2) The Civil Liberties and Human Rights Working group headed by the
General Commissioner of the National Center for Human Rights.
• As per the recommendation of JNCW and MOPIC the Gender Equality and
Mainstreaming Working group included relevant ministries, national organizations, main
women civil society organizations, CSOs that have initiated efforts on SDGs and
specifically SDGS and the General Budget Department and the Department of Statistics.
The working group will lead the coordination efforts for the adoption of SDGS and the
integration of all targets related to gender equality and the empowerment of women
and girls within the Executive Development Program, and monitor implementation and
progress.
• The Terms of Reference for the Working group was developed in consultation with the
ESCWA and UNWOMEN to ensure the effectiveness of its work. Technical support by
UNWOMEN and ESCWA will be provided to enhance the capacity of the team and
relevant sub-teams in order to be able to carry out their mandate.
• With the technical assistance of ESCWA, UNWOMEN JO CO and UNWOMEN Arab States
regional office a series of consultation sessions around goal 5 and the 11 other goals
which include gender targets will be carried out. The participatory process involves
governmental organizations, and civil society organizations including youth and
vulnerable groups. The outcome of this exercise would feed into the government setting
of the Jordanian National targets within the 2030 Agenda as well as the review of the
National Jordanian Women Strategy (2013 - 2017).
• The process will serve two purposes: first adopting the same gender indicators that
were adopted through the 2030 agenda and aligning the strategy targets which are
usually reviewed every 5 years with the timeline for the agenda. In this manner, the
engagement of the civil society in setting the National women strategy and its
monitoring and evaluation frame work will by default feed into the national monitoring
process for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Page I 3
•
• As a first step towards integrating the Agenda 2030 within national planning
frameworks, the Jordanian National Commission carried out a mapping exercise for
SDGS and other relevant targets in Agenda 2030, across its international commitments
(namely CEDAW and Beijing Platform}, and the main relevant national planning
frameworks namely the Executive Development Program (2016 - 2019), the National
Women Strategy (2013-2017), the National Comprehensive Human Rights Plan (2016-
2025) and the draft National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCr1325.
• The exercise served as an important tool to:
1. Link Jordan's international commitments within one framework to simplify the
process of monitoring progress in preparation for the different reporting cycles,
2. Identify gaps within the main development planning frameworks and women
related strategies and plans.
3. A master document for consultation and consensus building with the civil society
and the government.
4. A master document for adopting the relevant national indicators on SDGS and
relevant targets.
• JNCW in collaboration with the Department of Statistics has worked on categorizing
SDGS indicators following the guidelines provided by UNDESA. The work is still in
progress as this is a process that is still in process at the global and regional level.
• These indicators are serving as baseline indicators for national efforts and were also
used by the Government of Jordan in preparation for its Voluntary National report to be
presented at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development {HLPF}.
What are key recommendations to ensure the gender-responsive implementation of the
2030 Agenda and how can accountability for gender-responsive implementation of the SDGs
be enhanced?
• Institutional arrangements that empower key national machineries for women within
national planning mechanisms to mainstream Goal 5 and other gender target within the
other goals, within National Plans, strategies and policies, and to lead the process in
monitoring progress and reporting.
• Institutional arrangements for monitoring implementation and progress should be
inclusive and sustainable with cross national and sub-national representation from civil
society organizations and local groups, specifically women and youth groups.
• Adopting the SDGs 2030 at the sub-national level through an inclusive and genderresponsive
approach. Jordan is embarking on its first decentralization elections in
August, where Governorate boards will be elected. It is planned to pilot the adoption of
SDGs 2030 including Goals in a number of Governorate Development Plans. JNCW in
cooperation with UNWOMEN will be supporting building the capacities of those boards
on gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
Page 14
• Strengthening national statistical system that includes gender indicators as adopted by
the SDGs and improving data collection tools and surveys to be able to provide needed
gender data and sex-disaggregated data.
• Developing a unified national monitoring and evaluation system that reflects the
alignment of national plans and strategies with the SDGs.
• Allocating financial resources towards gender-responsive implementation through
Gender responsive budgeting as well as mobilization of international donor resources
towards achievement of Goals.
• Adopting inclusive and participatory methods that ensure nation-wide awareness and
knowledge of the SDG Agenda 2030 as well as building a sense of national ownership.
• What are successful multi-stakeholder partnerships at the global, regional, national and
sub-national levels for accelerated gender-responsive implementation of the SDGs? What
made the partnerships successful?
At the global level:
• The United Nations approach in leading global production and exchange of knowledge
and experience is playing a major role in supporting countries like Jordan in adopting
appropriate measures, mechanisms and processes for implementing the SDGs at
national and subnational levels. UNWOMEN as a global entity is providing technical and
financial support to JNCW through its regional and country offices to carry out its
mandate and specifically in relation to the implementation of Goals and gender
mainstreaming within the other SDGs.
At the regional level:
• The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in collaboration the
UNWOMEN Office for the Arab States and the Women and Family Directorate, the
League of Arab States, is playing a key role in the Arab region by providing advisory
services and technical support to member States, particularly in the elaboration and
implementation of national development plans addressing sustainable development in
all its dimensions. During the Seventh Meeting for the Women Committee in ESCWA
(consisting of all national women machineries in the Arab States) a sub-committee for
"Achieving Gender Equality through Agenda 2030) was established.
• ESCWA has been providing technical assistance to strengthen the knowledge and
capacities in the field of development in the Arab region in general, and in relation to
gender equality in particular. The Jordanian National Commission for Women is a
member of the sub -committee on gender equality and has attended all relevant
capacity workshops provided by ESCWA in the past year.
• ESCWA and UNWOMEN JO CO continue to support JNCW in its efforts to build national
capacities for the implementation of GOALS and mainstreaming gender in the other
SDGs; and support the establishment of sustainable mechanisms for inclusive planning
and monitoring of implementation.
Page IS
At the National level:
• JNCW is working closely with the government and civil society organizations to ensure a
representative and inclusive adoption and implementation of SDGs 2030 within national
planning frameworks. The National Committee for Sustainable Development includes
relevant ministries, semi-governmental organizations, civil society coalitions and
organizations, independent commissions, and parliamentarians. While the structure is
allowing diversified representation at the national level, it is also involving main
technically responsible authorities for planning, providing data and costing in the
process at all levels.
• The Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Working group is also representative of all
relevant governmental and technical organizations as well as civil society organizations.
The working group will: 1) coordinate with the other 17 working groups to ensure the
successful mainstreaming of gender within their work, 2) work through its Department
of Statistics representation with the special unit within DOS on the categorization of the
SDGs indicators, provision of gender indicators and sex-disaggregated data and
improving data availability and quality. 3) work through its General Budget Department
representation to continue the cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to ensure the
adoption of Gender responsive budgeting and linking it to the SDGs within the Executive
Development Program, in addition to mobilization of resources towards implementation
of GOALS and 4) Ensure the inclusive monitoring of implementation and progress.
• Partnership with civil society organizations (Women, youth and Human rights) will be
further fostered through the creation of sub-committees, which include representation
of civil society organizations and relevant governmental gender focal points whom have
been trained on mainstreaming gender in planning and policy making, with technical
support provided by an appointed gender expert who will facilitate peer support and
review to ensure their effective contribution to the process at the governmental level.
• In the context of the 2030 Agenda, it is recognized that many Arab Countries are facing
unprecedented challenges caused by armed conflicts and political instability. Thus,
considering the consequences of war on women and girls are expected to be taken into
consideration in strategies towards the 2030 Agenda. This does not only apply to
conflict-stricken countries, but also those hosting large number of refugees. Thus, as the
Agenda places significant emphasis on security under SDG16 which clearly mentions
UNSCr1325 on Women, Peace and Security and refers to refugees as a vulnerable group
of people that should be protected, Jordan is in the final stages of endorsing its National
Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCr1325 which aims at achieving 4 outcomes
relating to increasing women participation in peace and security, providing genderresponsive
services and protection for refugee women and girls as well as enhancing
women capacity and contribution towards efforts of prevention of violent extremism.
Page I 6
• Social attitudes/practices and stereotyping of gender roles within the household and
public/private spheres as well as dominant informal institutions are all affecting abilities
to achieve change at the legislative, institutional and social levels. Thus, national wide
policies for changing social attitudes and stereotyping of women need to be adopted
through education, media and cultural production and interaction in collaboration
between the government, the private sector and civil society organizations. Religious
leaders and female religious lecturers (wai-that) are also targeted to be effectively
engaged with men and women in local communities towards changing social attitudes.
• While Jordan is engaging in integrating the SDGs Agenda 2030, within its Executive
Development Program, it remains to be seen how Human Rights based approach will be
adopted within the program. While economic empowerment and access to education,
health and protection services are at the core of the Executive Development Program
(EDP) 2016 -2019, issues related to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women
still seem to be elusive. This needs creative solutions within the EDP or adopting them
through other binding frameworks, such as the Comprehensive National Plan for Human
Rights. Indeed, the National Strategy for Women will have such target at its core but
mainstreaming it within other national frameworks remains important.
• Availability of sex-disaggregated data as well as data specifically related to Goals
indicators remains a challenge. This is affecting the ability to provide sufficient base-line
indicators and setting targets for gender equality among the relevant goals. Jordan is
closely engaged with the global and regional efforts towards increasing the availability
of data. At the national level, the Sustainable Development High Committee headed by
the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation is working closely with the
Department of Statistics and all relevant institutions in order to provide more data and
develop nationally relevant methodologies to provide Tierlll indicators. JNCW is also
working with ESCWA and LAS in order to enhance the availability of gender indicators
and sex-disaggregated indictors.
• Funding for development remains a challenge for the Kingdom which has been suffering
from increasing budget deficit in the past decade. Jordan continues to seek international
support to increase its resilience and ensure the continuation on its development past
at the same time. Gender responsive budgeting can provide better and efficient
allocation of budget to ensure the integration of gender equality and women and girls
empowerment within the national development frameworks. It might not demand
higher allocation but more efficient and equally distributed allocation. The General
budget department and the Jordanian National Commission for Women have been
working towards adopting gender-responsive budgeting tools since 2012. While some
progress has been achieved latest assessment of the 2016 budget revealed that
allocation of budget towards women empowerment remains low and there is an urgent
need to develop the capacity of planning and budgeting teams within the ministries with
gender analysis and budgeting skills.