VZCZCXRO5291
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #2945/01 3010612
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270612Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3731
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002945 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF ECON PGOV KPAL KWMN JO
SUBJECT: INFLATION PUSHES WOMEN IN JORDAN'S PALESTINIAN 
 
REFUGEE CAMPS INTO THE WORKFORCE 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 2366 
     ¶B. AMMAN 1724 
     ¶C. AMMAN 1725 
     ¶D. AMMAN 1744 
     ¶E. AMMAN 1753 
     ¶F. AMMAN 1466 
     ¶G. DIANE SINGERMAN - "AVENUES OF PARTICIPATION: 
        FAMILY POLITICS AND NETWORKS IN URBAN 
        QUARTERS OF CAIRO" (1996) 
     ¶H. AMMAN 2582 
 
AMMAN 00002945  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Poloff recently met with forty women in 
the Wahdat and Zarqa Palestinian refugee camps to talk about 
the impact inflation is having on their daily lives.  While 
the conservative culture of the camps is still a barrier to 
employment, economic necessity is pushing an increasing 
number of women in the camps into the workforce.  Most women 
in the camps who work have home-based businesses such as 
sewing and catering -- sectors which face quite a bit of 
market volatility.  In managing their household budgets, 
women in the camps are cutting back on essentials.  Inflation 
has even changed the calculus of marriage for young women in 
the camps.  Local savings cooperatives and UNRWA-provided 
microcredit are still the financial tools of choice in the 
camps.  End Summary. 
 
Inflationary Pressures Push Women Into the Work Force 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) "The economy is pushing women to work," says 'Adli 
Al-Sharaqa, the director of the women's program center in 
Wahdat camp.  "The income generated by women is now needed 
just as much as the income generated by men."  The women we 
spoke to in Wahdat and Zarqa camps agreed that JD 200 (USD 
280) per month is the prevailing wage for unskilled male 
labor in the camps.  Depending on the type of home-based 
employment they pursue, women can add up to JD 120 (USD 168) 
extra to that figure -- the equivalent of a minimum wage 
salary. 
 
¶3.  (U) While the educational level of women in the camps 
varies widely, they are united by a conservative culture 
which places restrictions their ability to enter the labor 
market.  A law student from Wahdat camp feared that all of 
her hard work towards obtaining a degree would go to waste in 
the end, as she would be unable to pursue her legal career 
outside of the strict watch of her relatives.  "We have lots 
of talent, but most of it is going unused," she complained. 
 
¶4.  (U) Yet as economic burdens increase, culture is giving 
way to necessity.  The women we spoke to were unanimous in 
their assertions that lack of child care, not cultural 
conservatism, is the primary factor which prevents them from 
pursuing jobs outside the camps.  "In principle, the 'culture 
of shame' is still there, but it's becoming less important in 
the face of economic pressure," Sharaqa asserts.  Women in 
Zarqa camp told poloff that they are increasingly pursuing 
seamstress jobs in the nearby Qualifying Industrial Zone 
(QIZ) despite low wages (90 JD/126 USD per month on average) 
and the potential for loss of face with relatives and the 
community at large. 
 
Home-Based Businesses Struggle 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) As the social and economic world of the camps is 
generally cut off from the rest of society, it can be 
difficult for women in the camps to make the initial foray 
into home-based businesses (Ref C).  Most budding 
entrepreneurs in the camps start off by producing for each 
other or looking for sub-contracting work, gradually gaining 
a reputation among their established peers who have links to 
go-betweens in the broader economy.  Once that reputation is 
established, women can then pursue business relationships 
with outsiders based on recommendations from others in the 
camps.  In Wahdat camp, businessmen in the textile industry 
frequently appear at the UNRWA women's center and use it as a 
clearinghouse for labor.  Many women in the camps try their 
hand at custom sewing or embroidery.  Others run catering 
businesses which focus on labor-intensive foods for sale to 
local eateries or hotels.  Service as domestic workers is a 
far less popular option, but one that more and more women in 
the camps told us they are turning to. 
 
¶6.  (U) Female entrepreneurs in the camps are especially 
vulnerable to volatility in the market for labor and goods. 
Women in Wahdat camp said that when someone builds a 
successful home business, they often face sudden competition 
from other women who flood the market with similar goods. 
They also spoke about the impact of technology in the textile 
 
AMMAN 00002945  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
sector, where computer-generated patterns and cheap imports 
are reducing the demand for handmade products.  Since 
inflation has impacted all of Jordanian society, women in the 
camps are also noticing that orders for the luxury items they 
tend to produce are falling off.  Meanwhile, UNRWA is working 
to broaden the employment horizons of women in the camps who 
work by offering training courses in graphic design and other 
computer-related industries which can be pursued remotely. 
 
Stretching the Household Dinar 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (U) Even as they search for sources of supplemental 
income, the women of the camps are stretching their family 
budgets further and further.  Women in Wahdat camp agreed 
that meat was now generally absent from their diets, as it 
has become largely unaffordable.  Spending on even the most 
basic foods is being scaled back;  women talked about 
substituting bread for rice in many of their dishes, as it 
was a marginally cheaper alternative.  Several remarked that 
they no longer saw bags of old bread thrown out with the 
garbage, as families in the camps are using every crumb 
available to them.  Inflation has even hit mujadara, the mix 
of carbohydrate staples typically seen as the cheapest way to 
fill a family's stomach.  Women talked about adjusting their 
recipes so as to scale down the use of lentils (whose price 
has increased by 155 percent in the last year) and pasta 
(whose price has increased 43 percent).  Families in the 
camps also told us that, with increasing prices of cement and 
iron, they are increasingly unable to perform routine 
structural maintenance on their homes. 
 
¶8.  (U) As the added expenses of the school year, holiday 
season, and winter loom on the horizon, women in the camps 
are increasingly worried about the future.  Even as the 
Ministry of Education has eliminated tuition fees for public 
schools for the coming school year (Ref H), school supplies 
and clothing still represent a burden for many.  The holiday 
season also comes with increased costs, including more 
extravagant evening meals and gifts for children.  All of the 
women we talked to were using savings cooperatives (outlined 
below) to save for Ramadan.  The people of the camps are 
already concerned about how they will pay for heating during 
the winter.  Subsidies for natural gas canisters used in 
heating, although slated for elimination, have remained in 
place in recognition of high inflation and other economic 
challenges.  Still, people in the camps continue to see this 
necessity as too expensive. 
 
Marriage Market Volatility 
-------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) One of the most prominent social impacts of rising 
prices in the camps is the inability of young couples to 
marry (Refs C and D).  Women we spoke to in Wahdat camp 
agreed that the average cost of a wedding ceremony and 
accompanying dowry is around JD 5,000 JD (USD 7,000), a 
gigantic expense for couples that may earn as little as JD 
320 (USD 450) per month combined.  While expectations of 
flashy ceremonies among the young maidens of the camps have 
not yet caught up to the full realities of inflation, there 
are ways to cut corners.  The women of Wahdat camp indicated 
that much of the "gold" jewelry in dowries these days is less 
than authentic.  They also noted that real estate, typically 
the first purchase a couple makes with the proceeds of their 
wedding, is now out of reach.  Couples in the camps who can 
scrape together enough to get married are now living with 
their parents, or building additional stories onto existing 
homes rather than constructing a house from scratch.  "My son 
wants a house for him and his fiancee.  In the past, I could 
have afforded it, but not now," complained one woman from 
Zarqa camp. 
 
¶10.  (U) Several women in Zarqa camp said that the 
conventional wisdom about when a girl should marry has been 
dramatically altered by the impact of inflation.  Poorer 
families whose daughters have little hope of an education are 
now seeking to marry them off at an earlier age.  Reduced 
bride prices for younger girls allow suitors to avoid the 
enormous sums necessary to marry, and help the bride's family 
lower the number of mouths they have to feed.  "I married my 
daughter off at seventeen to get rid of her," said a woman in 
Zarqa camp.  On the other hand, educated women who can fetch 
a larger bride price are now waiting longer for suitors who 
have the means to give them what they are worth.  In 
recognition of the extra income and educated spouse can 
provide, bride prices for educated women are now double that 
of an uneducated younger woman. 
 
Jama'iyya - The Banking System of Choice 
 
AMMAN 00002945  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) As in much of the Arab world, women are the managers 
of household budgets in the camps.  Yet of the forty women we 
talked to, not one of them had a bank account.  The general 
belief is that traditional banks are "unIslamic" as they lend 
money at interest.  Since most banks in Jordan require an 
initial JD 200 (USD 280) minimum balance, the women in the 
camps see a savings account as an luxury.  They prefer to 
keep their assets within the community, and have limited 
savings goals which would gain little from an interest 
bearing account at any rate. 
 
¶12.  (U) All of the women we talked to used "jama'iyya" or 
local savings cooperatives, a common way of saving money in 
the Arab world in which members pay into a common fund 
monthly, and each month one of the members is selected to 
receive the proceeds on a rotating basis (Ref G).  The women 
we talked to said they were involved in overlapping 
jama'iyya, with outlays of varying amounts which correspond 
to the price of big ticket items like weddings, appliances, 
or cars.  Most were contributing between JD 10 and JD 25 (USD 
14 - 35) per month. 
 
¶13.  (U) Many of the women we talked to were also taking 
advantage of UNRWA microcredit programs.  Since banking 
institutions in Jordan are ill-equipped to deal with the 
needs of poverty-stricken Palestinian refugees (whose 
collateral is limited by the fact that they do not own the 
land their houses are built on; Ref D), it is difficult to 
find the initial investment necessary for most women to start 
their own businesses.  Maha Al-Rantisi, who heads UNRWA's 
social services programs in Jordan, says that block grants of 
JD 5,000 (USD 7,000) have been allocated to all women's 
program centers to help entrepreneurs get their start. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) All of Jordan has been hit hard by inflation and 
high fuel and commodity prices, but the impact is felt deeply 
in the camps where general living conditions were already 
worse than the national average.  Women from the camps, who 
previously only entered the workforce previously as a last 
resort, are now finding that their labor is a necessity 
rather than a luxury.  Families in the camps have 
historically relied on their close-knit communities as a 
social safety net in tough times.  Kinship bonds could 
usually be called upon to right a faltering business, cover a 
loan payment, or invest in a new venture.  Yet in the current 
environment, inflation has hit the entire community, drying 
up these pools of capital.  It remains to be seen whether 
women will retain their positions as breadwinners if the 
economic situation improves.  The women we talked to found it 
difficult to visualize any time in the near future when their 
added income would no longer be needed. 
Beecroft