VZCZCXRO7577
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHAM #1523/01 1401301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191301Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2656
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 5980
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 2852
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3652
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 3880
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0887
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 1952
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1188
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5026
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 001523 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND G/IWI 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KWMN ELAB SOCI EAID JO
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S ROLE IN JORDANIAN ECONOMY GROWING, SOME SAY NOT 
ENOUGH 
 
REF: AMMAN 1149 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Significant financial, cultural, and social challenges 
face women who seek employment in Jordan, resulting in less than 15% 
of Jordanian women being active in the formal economy.  Traditional 
roles within the family heavily affect a woman's decision to work. 
Many businesses and human development organizations, however, have 
found ways to provide women the support and resources necessary to 
overcome these challenges.  The progress that has been made through 
labor legislation, and the development of government strategies to 
promote female employment, suggests that the environment for the 
Jordanian working woman will be more supportive in the future.  In 
addition, trends in Jordan's economy have made it imperative that 
women begin to work, leading to a necessary change in perception 
towards the role of women as they enter the workforce.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Employment Stats for Women: Room for Improvement 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2.  The 2007 Department of Statistics employment survey shows that 
only 14.7% of women over the age of 15 in Jordan, compared to 64.4% 
of men, are economically active. NOTE: "Economically active" is 
defined as those who are currently working, or are unemployed but 
seeking work.  END NOTE.  In comparison, economic activity rates for 
women in the region neared a 33% average, with Kuwait leading at 49% 
according to the UNDP 2007 Indices of Human Development and the 
International Labor Organization's (ILO) 2008 "Global Employment 
Trends for Women" report.  Out of the economically active women, 
25.6% are unemployed, compared to only 10.3% of men.  Among 
economically inactive women, one-fourth cite cultural and social 
challenges as the main reason for not participating economically, 
while others believe there is no work available or they are not 
qualified to work. 
 
¶3.  Women who have entered Jordan's workforce come from all 
socio-economic classes and from both urban and rural environments. 
DOS statistics show that women work across industries, the top three 
being education (40.9%), health and social work (15.1%), and 
manufacturing (8.1%).  While they also dominate the "informal 
sector," meaning businesses in or related to the home, there are 
many successful women making their marks in male-dominated sectors 
as well, such as information technology, government, and finance. 
Entrepreneurship among women is low, with women-owned businesses 
accounting for only 4% of all businesses. 
 
Effects of social and family attitudes 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Employment challenges facing Jordanian women appear to be 
largely based on social and family attitudes regarding gender roles. 
 Jordan is traditionally a patriarchal society, in which men hold 
the power in the workforce and in the household.  Arije Al-Amad, 
General Manager for Microfund for Women (MFW), pointed out that the 
ability for the woman to go out and seek employment is ultimately 
the decision of her father, husband, or even brother.  There is also 
a tendency in this culture for the woman to be regarded solely as a 
homemaker, with the husband acting as breadwinner.  In fact, 
according to a recent study by the National Centre for Human 
Resources Development (NCHRD), women tend to predominate in jobs 
that are closely associated with their more traditional roles in the 
household, such as sewing, food production, or "care" provision 
jobs, such as nursing and teaching. 
 
¶5.  Dr. Musa Shteiwi, Director of the Jordan Center for Social 
Research, explained to emboff that socially, the daughter is a 
protected entity.  Many families follow their daughters through 
schooling, employment, and marriage, making the daughter's decisions 
for her along the way.  According to Shteiwi, the desired result is 
that the daughter gets married and takes care of the family.  There 
are laws and regulations that preserve this cultural norm, such as 
the Passport Law No. 2 that women cannot obtain a passport without 
the expressed consent of her guardian.  Even with the current 
Provisional Law No. 5 that allows women to obtain a passport and 
travel without this consent, a recent report by Freedom House 
asserted that the government still honors the old law, making it 
difficult for women to travel freely.  Doha Abdelkhaleq, Founder and 
 
AMMAN 00001523  002 OF 004 
 
 
CEO of ESKADENIA Software, stated that these old laws act as a 
barrier to a woman's entry into the workforce, by forcing women to 
take jobs that are socially acceptable and pass up potential 
opportunities.  She remarked that an overprotective society holds a 
woman back from being truly successful in business. 
 
¶6.  Many employment programs are looking to the family dynamic to 
create positive perceptions of women working.  One such project is 
USAID-Siyaha, a project that develops awareness for the tourism 
industry and positioning it as the premier sector for employment, 
especially among women.  According to official figures, only 10% of 
all tourism employees are women, mostly due to the fact that the 
tourism industry often requires women to have direct contact with 
male hotel guests and restaurant clients, something that is socially 
unacceptable for a significant segment of Jordan's population.  In 
an effort to bring more women into this industry, Siyaha invited 
rural and urban students and their families to information sessions, 
which included visits to top hotels.  After the event, 90% of the 
families positively supported their daughters' interest in entering 
the field.  Today, 83% of students enrolled in vocational training 
courses in hotel and tourism programs are women. 
 
High Turnover Among Married Women 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  It is difficult for women to overcome certain gender-specific 
perceptions, such as the alleged "unreliability" of married female 
workers.  It was found that most women do not sustain long-term 
careers, with the majority of the female workforce under 29 years of 
age, and 48.3% of working women being single.  Therefore, it is a 
common perception that women are disloyal employees who will quit 
when they get married.  68% of employers demonstrated a marked 
preference in the NCHRD study for hiring unmarried female workers 
specifically due to this reason.  The study also stipulated that 
there is discrimination against married women in terms of promotions 
due to the general belief that they will not be as committed to 
their jobs as married male employees.  The study asserted that as a 
result, employers offer lower wages to women than men for the same 
jobs, a move that deters women from entering the labor market. 
 
¶8.  High turnover among female employees, who leave the job once 
they become engaged or pregnant, has been a complaint of garment 
factory owners in the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZs), where 
women represent over half of approximately 15,000 Jordanian 
employees.  Many of the QIZ factories have tried to recruit more 
unskilled female workers from rural areas but have found it 
challenging.  Cultural norms again play a strong role, with some 
families not wanting their daughters or wives working in a factory 
environment.  Factories have tried to use current female employees 
in recruitment activities to ease families' concerns.  Additionally, 
many of the QIZs are located far away from the villages, and despite 
factory-provided bus transportation, the travel time and distance 
from home are a deterrent.  In order to overcome these challenges 
and encourage more female employment, the Jordanian government and 
private sector have embarked on a new initiative to set up satellite 
factories in rural areas of high female unemployment. 
 
Lack of Access to Benefits and Capital 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Jordanian women have suffered from inequality in access to 
social security and pension benefits.  As the 2005 World Bank study, 
"Economic Advancement of Women in Jordan," pointed out, pension and 
social security rules do not provide the same benefit structure for 
working women as they do for men.  For example, male employees are 
eligible for family tax allowances regardless of whether their wives 
work, whereas female employees - despite contributing at the same 
rate - must demonstrate that their husbands are deceased, old, or 
incapacitated to qualify for government benefits.  Furthermore, men 
can pass on their pensions to their families upon their death, while 
women cannot.  The study mentioned that this inequality in 
employment benefits not only acts a deterrent for some women to get 
a job, but also devalues the importance of the woman to the 
workforce. 
 
¶10.  Another perception relates to women as entrepreneurs.  Many 
women need to stay in the home, creating an opportunity for these 
 
AMMAN 00001523  003 OF 004 
 
 
women to start businesses, which could require significant funding. 
Many banks, however, regard women differently because of their lack 
of access to collateral, something that differentiates them from 
men.  Suhair Al-Ali, Minister of Planning and International 
Cooperation, noted at a recent conference promoting female access to 
capital that banks are reluctant to lend to women because they 
believe they lack managerial and business skills and experience. 
She also noted that women are viewed as high risk borrowers, due to 
their dependency status.  As a result, many banks require a male 
guardian's guarantee before a woman can receive a loan. 
 
¶11.  To overcome these challenges, Jordan has several microfinance 
institutions that cater to a woman's financial needs.  One such 
institution, MFW, is a microfinance institution that provides women 
entrepreneurs with sustainable financial and non-financial services. 
 MFW currently has 35,000 active clients, 97% of which are women. 
In total, they have disbursed approximately $32 million in loans, 
the average loan per business being $600, which can be renewed.  MFM 
boasts a 99.6% payback rate, and an 83% retention rate of its 
clients.  Other institutions with successful micro credit programs 
for women are the Jordan Micro Credit Company (JMCC), the Middle 
East Micro Credit Company (MEMCC), and the Ahli Micro Credit Company 
(AMCC).  Many of these programs began with USAID-funding and have 
since become self-sustainable.  Women have received over 50% of all 
microfinance loans distributed in Jordan since 2005. 
 
Trying to Find Jobs that Accommodate Work and Career 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶12.  Given the social challenges and traditional gender roles in 
Jordan, many women aim to work in the public rather than private 
sector.  The Jordanian civil service tends to offer competitive 
salaries and better working hours, giving women enough time to take 
care of the family and maintain a fulfilling career.  Public sector 
jobs also offer maternity benefits, which act as an incentive for a 
woman to return to work after a child is born.  Socially, the public 
sector careers in the "care fields," such as health care, education, 
and social sciences, are regarded as better for a woman, as the 
interactions with society follow a woman's traditional role. 
Shteiwi points out that the social sciences in Jordan's universities 
are "feminized and ruralized," with 90% of his students being women 
from the rural areas, where gender roles are maintained. 
 
¶13.  Other women choose to operate businesses from home, again 
factoring the family needs into economic decisions.  63% of informal 
sector businesses are owned by women.  Many of these businesses 
focus on the home and include food production, handicrafts, or trade 
of clothes and goods.  According to Winkie Williamson, Strategic 
Advisor to the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), 
however, there is a 50% chance of business failure for these women 
within six months.  In addition, she mentioned that the handicraft 
market is oversaturated, with a high supply and limited numbers of 
tourist customers.  This makes fewer opportunities for women to be 
successful in the handicraft trade in Jordan. 
 
Promoting Women in the Workforce 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶14.  Software entrepreneur Abdelkhaleq believes that there are no 
barriers to women in business, but rather a lack of points of entry. 
 Many women think that they cannot succeed in the private sector due 
to family concerns mentioned above.  She opines, however, that the 
main reason for women not entering the private sector has to do with 
the lack of positive female role models, already successful in 
business.  Many organizations, such as CISCO Systems, have 
recognized this and have implemented programs that mentor women in 
underrepresented job fields.  With the help of the United Nations 
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), CISCO created an Information 
and Communications Technology (ICT) Academy specifically targeted to 
high school and college age women.  This academy provides field 
training and mentor encouragement, and provides each student with a 
certification in CISCO computer systems upon graduation. 
 
¶15.  With inflation increasing the prices of basic commodities in 
Jordan (ref A), all interlocutors recognized the growing importance 
of a woman's income to her family. Because of the rising cost of 
living, the tendency to view a wife solely as a homemaker and mother 
 
AMMAN 00001523  004 OF 004 
 
 
is changing.  Recent survey research indicates that young people are 
increasingly concerned about economic pressures and how to make ends 
meet on just one salary.  The 2005 World Bank study points out that 
"young men realize that they are less able to afford marriage and, 
thus, seek wives who can earn an income." 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
Hale