Hussam Qarain
Siraj al-harash
The political participation for
the Jordanian women is
described as being poor,
regarding her improvements in
the economic and social role. In
addition to the democratic
changes that occurred in Jordan
in the last two years, but on the
other hand this improvements
did not affect the political role
of the Jordanian women and she
has not been taken into
consideration in the
government, parliament,
political groups, and other
organizations.

The political struggle of the Jordanian woman asking for her
rights had started since 1952 , the year that witnessed the
launch of the Association of vigilance women, which
demanded women's rights campaign and ran for office
municipal and parliamentary, and has demanded that
women in Jordan shall gain their political rights and
through memoir that were submitted to both house of the
ministry and the Senate, and those efforts have yielded in
1955 by a decision held by the Council of Ministers which
gave the educated women the right of election. By that
decision a widespread reaction occurred for the uneducated
women rows asking their rights for elections. That struggle
has been continued through memoir and women committee
which based in 1974, and in the same year Jordanian woman
got her right for election and nomination to Parliamentary
and municipal councils.

As a result of the political situation in Jordan at the time
marked by the absence of the parliament because of the
occupation on the West Bank in 1976, the Jordanian women
remained deprived of the exercise in voting and election . In
1978 King Hussein established the National Council
consultant which contained three women , and in the second
period of the National Council consultant in 1980 it
contained four women.
In the last ten years, the political participation of the
Jordanian women was unstable, however in the decade of
the prime minister Faisal Al Fayez there were four women
as ministers, and in the government of Adnan Badran there
were three three women as ministers , but unfortunately the
number of women as ministers decreased to one in the
decade of Maarouf Al Bakhit.

The GFJW was established in 1981 as a national
non-governmental organization of women’s
associations and societies to enhance the
political, economic and social status of women
in Jordan.
The Federation′s membership includes 135
women’s organizations which are registered at
the Ministry of Social Development.

It has headquarters in each of the 12 governorates
and offers educational opportunities and guidance
in family welfare and health. It also advocates for
legislative reform that favors women and initiates
income-generating activities.
The GFJW has been a member of Jordanian
National Commission for Women since its
establishment, in addition to its membership in
JNCW′s NGO Coordinating Committee.
The Federation offers training programmers' for
women in various trades to help improve their
social, health and economic standards

The Jordanian National Commission for Women
(JNCW) ,initiated and headed by HRH Princess
Basma, is a semi-governmental organization which
advocates and promotes for women’s diverse
issues. It was established by a cabinet decision in
1992 and has since gained recognition as the
authority on women’s affairs in Jordan’s public
sector while it also represents the Kingdom at
regional and international levels in matters
pertaining to women.

JNCW′s mission is to support the mainstreaming
of a gender-equality perspective in all policy areas
and to narrow the gap between formal
acknowledgement of women′s rights as detailed by
legislation and the actual societal attitudes towards
women.
Its purpose is to engender positive tangible
transformation in the status of women in order to
eliminate all forms of discrimination against them
and to achieve their effective and equal
participation with men in all political, economic,
social and cultural arenas.

In December of 1995, Princess
Basma established the Jordanian
National Forum for Women
(JNFW).
The Forum grew out of the
mobilization efforts of the
voluntary committees of
women, set up in 1993 to
sensitise local communities to
the National Strategy.

Chaired by Her Royal Highness,
JNFW is the most wide-spread
grassroots women′s movement
in the Kingdom, advocating for
women′s rights and increased
women′s participation in
decision-making processes.

Much of JNFW’s strength lies in the diverse
economic, social and cultural backgrounds of
the women that are involved in the JNFW; this
accurate representation of women assists in
molding the forum’s activities to suit women’s
real needs and aspirations.
Motivating women to integrate in the process
of building the future of Jordan is the Forum’s
main mission, this cadre of women actively
promotes women contributing to the economy
and taking key decision making positions.

JNFW works to realize these goals through spreading
awareness about the National Strategy for Women,
while offering effective training and capacity building
programmes that are designed to cater to the needs of
women while taking into consideration the different
areas in which they live.
The forum specifically targets women who are
marginalized economically, politically and socially,
whilst seeking to empower them to engage in public
life.
The activities are managed through local offices and
concentrate in rural and remote areas in all of the 12
governorates of Jordan, urban areas are also included.