Women's rights: Interview with Al-Arab Al-Yawm [The Arabs Today Newspaper] on the occasion of International Women's Day, 8 March 1998

Transcript of HM Queen Noor’s interview with Taghreed Sa’adeh’s "Al-Arab Al Yawm" [The Arabs Today Newspaper] on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March 1998.

Please note that this has been translated from Arabic.

Q1. What do you say to Jordanian women on the occasion of International Women’s Day?

I would like to express my pride in the great strides that the women’s movement in Jordan has taken since the first women’s society was established in 1944. Our movement has grown from one pioneering society, which had no headquarters and held its meetings in members’ houses, to over 80 active non-governmental organizations working in the field of women’s development, rights and welfare. I hope that this day will highlight the extent of women’s contributions to the fields of education, socio-economic development, environmental conservation, politics, culture, arts, and most importantly as the intuitive driving force and mainstay of the family.

The Prophet Mohammed, when asked about the esteem that should be accorded to parents, replied, "Your mother, your mother, your mother and then your father." The Holy Quran prescribed the basic rights of Muslim women to education, property, inheritance and paid work, centuries before Western women were accorded them. These rights enabled Muslim women to play a prominent political role, such as Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, and even economic roles like Lady Shafa’ whom the Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab appointed as "muhtasabah" and the supervisor of city’s financial market. Other prominent Muslim women include the renowned poetess Zubaydah Bin Ja’far bin Al-Mansour, the wife of the Abbasid Caliph Haroun Al-Rashid, and the scientist Aisha bint Yusef Al-Ba’ouniyah Al-Dimashqiyah. The message of Islam is that of fundamental moral and spiritual equality of men and women, reinforced by the many sayings of the Prophet who once said, "All people are equal. They are as equal as the teeth on a comb."

In accordance with our Muslim values and legacy, the Jordanian constitution and national charter stipulate that all citizens, male and female, are equal before the law. However, women still face challenges, such as some legislation that discriminates against women. Our women’s movement has become increasingly vocal, particularly in the last decade, in advocating for changes. I hope they will unite to form a strong lobby for the enactment of new laws that will eliminate any discrimination against women in accordance with our constitution and with the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which the government ratified in 1992.

Q2. How do you evaluate the performance of women’s organizations and federations in Jordan – is there a need to unite the efforts of these organizations?

The women’s movement has matured and grown to encompass a diverse range of issues which include bank credit, income-generating projects and training, equal rights, political and legal representation, domestic violence, child care and education. Cooperation and teamwork among Jordanian women’s organizations is essential to ensure a voice for all and maximize the use of human and limited material resources in the struggle to advance women’s rights and welfare. For example, the General Federation of Jordanian Women, the largest women’s organization in the country, has recently established a National Information Center for Women. The center will be a national resource that will complement the efforts of all those who are involved in women’s affairs in the country and will provide comprehensive data on the family, cultural, economic, social and political status of Jordanian women.

Q3. Do you look for any cooperation / partnership between women’s NGOs and federations in Jordan and between women’s NGOs and federations in Europe and the United States?

Our women organizations are working to strengthen their scope of activities and affiliations both national and internationally. One example is the cooperation between the General Federation of Jordanian Women and the Women’s Federation for World Peace, a non-governmental organization with chapters in 160 countries around the world. Both Federations recently organized the first Sisterhood ceremony between Jordanian and Japanese women in Amman.

Another women’s organization is the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. It is a voluntary association affiliated with the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, which consists of one million women in 125 countries world-wide. The BPWC’s pioneering programs, which respond to the personal and professional needs of working women from all works of life, include hot-lines, service centers for small businesses, free legal aid and personal counseling and technical training for women.

In preparation for last year’s parliamentary elections, the Arab Women Organization of Jordan, the Jordanian National Committee for Women, the Jordanian National Forum for Women, the Business and Professional Women’s Club and other women’s organizations worked, in cooperation with the European Union, to promote women’s participation in political life and the democratic process. At the 1995 Beijing Conference, world women unions united to raise awareness on the role of women in all fields of life and lobbied their governments to change laws and legislation on women, remove all forms of discrimination against them and improve the status of women around the world.

Q4. Do you support what has been suggested regarding a women’s quota in parliaments in particular since the present parliament does not have any women?

This subject has been the subject of a heated debate. Prior to the latest parliamentary elections, women’s groups in Jordan were divided on the issue of quotas for women. According to an international forum on women’s political and domestic empowerment in the Arab world, that was organized by Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center last July, many women expressed grave reservations about a quota system, in which women may not wield substantial political clout. However, as a result of last year’s general elections, many women who were against the idea in principle now believe that, though it is not the best system, a women’s quota may be needed for women to reach Parliament in the year 2001. The women’s organizations in Jordan now seem in favor of a women’s quota in the Lower House of Parliament and many activists are lobbying in favor of allocating 20% of the Lower House’s 80 seats to women. I would prefer to have the various political parties in Jordan internally elect women to their higher cadres and in this way have women represent their political parties in parliament. This would ensure that women’s development issues remain a priority in the political parties’ agenda and give the women parliamentarians the necessary support in parliament.