Women in Jordan, a synopsis

WOMEN IN JORDAN, A SYNOPSIS:

According to the Jordanian constitution, all Jordanians are equal before the law, have the right to assume public office and the right to work.
Women were given the right to vote and the right to run for general elections since 1974.
The government of Jordan signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in December 1980, which was ratified by parliament in 1992.

From 1978 to 1984, a 75-member National Consultative Council was established to assist the government in legislative issues. Three women were appointed to the First Session (1978-1980) and four to the Second and Third Sessions (1980-1982 and 1982-1984)
In 1989, Jordan held general elections, in which 12 women ran for office, none of whom succeeded in getting elected to Parliament. One woman was appointed in the Upper House of Parliament, or Senate.
In 1993, only three women ran for office, and one succeeded in becoming the only Jordanian women to be elected to the 80-member Lower House of Parliament. Two women were appointed to the Senate in that same year.
In the 1997 elections, 17 women ran for parliament, but none were elected. Three women were appointed to the Senate in that same year.

Women have the right of candidature and election to the membership of municipal councils
In 1980, a woman was appointed to the 12-member Amman Mayoral Council and was re-appointed in 1986 to the 50-member Greater Amman Mayoral Council where she is still serving at present.
In the 1995 municipal elections, 10 women won seats on municipal councils throughout Jordan, one of whom was elected as Jordan’s first Mayor.
In the 1999 municipal elections, 8 women were elected, but Jordan's first woman Mayor lost her seat.

In the 1979 cabinet, one of 23 ministers was a woman -- the Minister of Social Development became the first female incumbent of a ministerial post in Jordan.
In 1984, a women became Minister of Information in a 25--member cabinet.
In the period 1985-1992, in six successive governments, no woman was appointed to a ministerial post, until a woman became Minister of Trade and Industry in the 29-member cabinet of 1993.
In 1994 two women were appointed to the cabinet assuming the posts of Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister of Social Development.
In 1996, 1997 and 1998, one woman retained the post of Minister of Planning.
In May 1996, Jordan’s first woman judge was appointed.
In September 1996, a National Committee for Women was formed to draw up general policies related to women in all fields and to define the priorities, chart plans and programs for women in the governmental and non-governmental sectors and to follow and work towards the modernization and development of the implementation of the national strategy on women.
According to UNICEF's 1997 Progress of Nations, women in Jordan make up 6% of top level government positions, while the regional average for the Middle East and North Africa is 2% and the world average is 7%.
In 1999, the first woman Deputy Prime Minister was appointed and who also has the important portfolio of Minister of Planning.

The government’s labor law, which went into effect in June 1996, includes an article on working mothers that prohibits employers from terminating their jobs or giving them notice about termination if they are in the 6^th month of their pregnancy or maternity leave. It also allows mothers 10 weeks paid maternity leave compared to the previous allowance of 8 weeks, an hour a day for breast-feeding during the first year after delivery and a year’s unpaid leave to care for their newborns. The law is based on international conventions set by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The participation of women in the labor force has more than doubled rising from 7.7% in 1979 to 15% in 1993. The 1994 Population Census placed the ratio of women in the work force at 16%.

Illiteracy among women decreased from 53.2% in 1972 to 14% in 1996.
Roughly equal number of females (compared to men) enrolled in primary and secondary schools, community colleges and universities.

The Ministry of Health launched its first maternal and child health program in 1955 in Amman, which has now expanded to 287 centers and 22 government hospitals located throughout the Kingdom.
Jordan’s maternal and child health services have witnessed a perceptible improvement over the past years; child vaccination rates are above 90%, child mortality rates decreased from 40 per 1000 live births in 1985 to 24 per 1000 in 1997, the percentage of women who receive neonatal care rose from 58% during 1978-1983 to 89% during 1992-1996 and the percentage of women who gave birth under medical supervision also rose to 97% during 1990-1997. The percentage of mothers receiving postnatal care however, remains low at 25%.
Life expectancy of women has increased from 64 in 1980 to 70 in 1994, infant mortality has dropped from 64 / 1000 in 1980 to 21 / 1000 in 1994 and fertility rates have decreased to 5.2 births per woman in 1997 compared with 7 in 1976.