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NATIONAL WOMEN ORGANIZATIONS:The Women NGO Movement in Jordan, an historical review:The first women society was established in Jordan in 1944 under the title of the "Women Solidarity Society". The society, which had no headquarters and held its meetings in members’ houses, played a prominent role in relief work for Palestinian refugees. In 1945, "the Women Federation Society" was founded as part of the Arab Women Federation. It aimed at improving the status of women in society culturally and socially, in addition to focusing on healthcare, child care and programs for impoverished people. In 1949, the two women societies merged into one, under the name of the "Jordanian Hashemite Women Society." The 1950s and 1960s in Jordan are considered the decades of voluntary movement in general and of women societies in particular and led to the establishment of the Union of Voluntary Societies in 1959. In 1950 the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), whose motto is "With love, serve one another", was founded to serve women and the community without social religious or racial discrimination, to promote the standard of women culturally economically and socially and to implement leadership training programs for women. The YWCA was followed two decades later by the Young Muslim Women’s Association (YMWA), which was set up in 1972 under the patronage of HRH Princess Sarvath El Hassan and has founded the YMWA Center for Special Education, a community college for women, a hostel and a workshop to provide employment for the disabled. In 1952, the "League to Defend Women’s Rights" was founded to raise Jordanian women’s awareness of their political role and the need to defend their socio economic rights. This laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Jordanian Women’s Union in 1974 as a non-governmental grassroots organization that advocates women’s and children’s rights, political and awareness and poverty alleviation. In 1954, the first Women Federation in the Kingdom was announced and became a member of the International Women Federation; the main goals of the "Arab Women Federation" were the eradication illiteracy, building ties between Arab women and women of the world, the advancement of peace and promoting women’s political rights. The present General Federation of Jordanian Women, which is under the presidency of Her Majesty Queen Noor, is the largest women’s NGO in Jordan encompassing membership of women associations, societies and clubs.
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The
General Federation of Jordanian Women (GFJW) |
Queen Noor distributes certificates
to the graduates of the Productive Culinary
Project, established by the GFJW in Irbid. |
The Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPWC)
Queen Noor is the Honorary President of the National Federation of BPWC, which was established in 1976. The National Federation, in co-operation with the Noor Al Hussein Foundation, initiated small business counseling, which offers business advice and financial support for women entrepreneurs, as well as a legal consultative service office for women and an information and documentation center for women’s studies. 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. The club's activities are not only restricted to women, as men actively participate in BPWC's programs and event, particularly in seminars, lectures and training courses.
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Queen Noor, the Honorary President of the National Federal of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (BPWC), participates in the annual Candle Light Ceremony was initiated 50 years ago by the International Federation of BPWC to "symbolize the ambitions and endeavors of dedicated women in many lands"; the International Federation unites more than half a million women in 95 countries around the world. |
On 28 July 1997, Queen Noor opened the BPWC's business incubator service for women, the first of its kind in Jordan and in the Arab world. The "incubators", which are situated in the BPWC’s new headquarters, consist of a private work space area providing computer, phone, fax and photocopying facilities, and are in close proximity to the club’s Information and Documentation Center for Women, which collects and disseminates up-to-date information with particular emphasis on subjects related to women entrepreneurs, professionals and managers. These facilities, available at minimum cost, will relieve the entrepreneurs from a heavy cost burden. To facilitate receiving loans, BPWC will guarantee any approved loans and eventually hope to start their own credit system. A business advisor is also available to help with small business management skills such as taxation, marketing, accounting and legal problems. For more information on the BPWC and their activities, please e-mail them at bpwcamm@go.com.jo
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