19 March 2009

Jordan’s Women Gain Stronger Voice in Local Politics

U.S. program helps female officials learn governing skills

Women in Amman, Jordan, discuss their country’s Millennium Challenge Corporation aid agreement.

By Kathyrn McConnell
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States is helping women in Jordan increase their voice in local government.

In partnership with Jordan’s government, the U. S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are supporting a new project called the Women’s Knowledge Network that gives women opportunities to learn how to campaign for elected office and develop effective public policies.

“Women can demonstrate to the electorate their potential in the political process,” MCC official Alicia Phillips-Mandaville told America.gov. “They are taking greater responsibility for providing local services.”

“No country can reach its full potential unless women have equal rights and opportunities,” U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Robert Beecroft said at the launch of the knowledge network in Amman in October 2008.

In March, President Obama created the White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that U.S. agencies consider how their policies and programs affect women and families.

Beecroft said women are more likely than men to prioritize policies related to children, the elderly, health care, education, housing and the environment — policies that otherwise would go underrepresented. The ambassador also said women tend to be more eager to root out corruption than men.

Jordan’s parliament passed legislation in 2007 setting aside 20 percent of municipality council seats for women. More than 250 women now serve on municipal councils, Phillips-Mandaville said.

Women have been enthusiastic about the project, which offers workshops with outside experts. More than 250 women council members from 70 municipalities have attended workshops since the network was launched.

The MCC program in Jordan supports integrating women into local government councils.

Young women now see female representatives in government as role models, Phillips-Mandaville said.

The knowledge network project receives support through MCC’s two-year, $25 million grant to Jordan. The overall objectives of the grant are to accelerate reform of local electoral systems, strengthen political parties and increase transparency — objectives that Jordan’s government prioritized in applying to MCC for funding. The knowledge network is designed to become capable of finding funding from other sources.

MCC’s two-year grants, called threshold agreements, focus on helping governments reform their policies so they can qualify for longer-term grants targeting economic development.

Typically for five years, those grants fund such projects as improvements in transportation, telecommunications and agriculture.

SUPPORTING WOMEN IN OTHER COUNTRIES

MCC requires that all countries applying for its assistance outline how a project would incorporate women’s interests. USAID programs also take into account the differences between men and women.

In Nicaragua, another MCC-supported country, the corporation helped members of a women’s tree nursery cooperative learn how to grow trees on a large scale. The coop was able to gain larger contracts and pay better salaries.

MCC funding was used to build schools in remote areas of Burkina Faso. With separate latrines for girls and boys, the new schools have encouraged girls’ enrollment.

In Lesotho, MCC focuses on improving the safe delivery of babies and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy.

More information on MCC policies and USAID policies concerning equality of women and men is available on the agencies’ Web sites.