Women struggle for more rights to continue - activists
By Rana Husseini

January 1, 2008 (Jordan Times) AMMAN - Women activists praised the tangible improvements in women's rights in the Kingdom in 2007, but noted that more lobbying was needed to change discriminatory legislation.

"There were many remarkable achievements for women this year, including the appointment of four female ministers and seven senators, as well as the victory of one woman, through direct competition, in the parliamentary elections," Jordanian National Commission for Women Secretary General Asma Khader said.

Deputy Falak Jamaani became the first woman to win a Lower House seat through direct competition. She garnered 3,301 votes to win the sole seat in Madaba’s Second District, which 15 male candidates were vying for. Her strongest rival got 1,820 votes.

Six other women won seats through the quota that the government introduced in previous elections.

Last month, Prime Minister Nader Dahabi appointed four female ministers to assume the planning, culture, social development and tourism portfolios.

Khader also praised the fact that more than 240 women won seats in the municipal elections, including a female mayor who won through direct competition.

Twenty women won municipal seats through competition, seven were appointed to serve in the Greater Amman Municipality, while 225 won through the quota system.

"The fact that many women ran for both parliamentary and municipal elections is a clear indication that they have broken the social barrier. In addition, their voices, slogans and pictures were seen and heard in small villages and big towns," Khader told The Jordan Times.

She also referred to the first Family Reconciliation Centre in Jordan, which Her Majesty Queen Rania opened in February to help abused women and handle domestic violence cases.

Activist Emily Naffa, however, said last year’s achievements were good, but not as expected.

"We were disappointed by the outcome of the elections because we were expecting more women to win outside the quota," she told The Jordan Times.

The women's movement pressed the government to amend the quota system and double the six Lower House seats, but the "government ignored our demands", Naffa said.

This deprived many experienced women from being part of the Lower House, Naffa added.

Jordanian Women's Union President Amneh Zu’bi agreed, saying the gains for women were good in 2007, but insufficient if not accompanied by legislation that empowers women.

In addition, she pointed out that the presence of seven women in the Lower House would be useless if they could not "take advantage of their presence to achieve more gains and work on amending laws that discriminate against women".

During his Speech from the Throne at the opening of the 15th Parliament, His Majesty King Abdullah highlighted the need to pass legislation that "would implement the necessary policies and plans to realise the desired development".

Among the many laws the King mentioned were pieces of legislation related to human rights, the rights of women and children, and the protection of youth and adolescents.

Naffa pointed out that Jordan published the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women in the Official Gazette in July, but did not take the proper measure to apply many of its articles.

One of them calls for a minimum of 30 per cent representation for women in leadership and decision-making positions and for granting citizenship to families of Jordanian women, a right that is only granted to Jordanian men who marry foreign or Arab women.

The women activists stressed that future attention should focus on improving the country’s education system and called for amending all laws that discriminate against women.

These include the civil and personal status, labour, social security, and civil and military retirement laws.

In terms of education, Khader said the focus should be on the curricula, by eliminating the stereotypical image of women in school textbooks.

Naffa insisted that the struggle to fight for better laws and more rights for women would never stop.

"We have been through tougher situations in the past and we managed to overcome and continue the fight; surely we will not stop today," Naffa said.

From:http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=4692&searchFor=women\'s%20rigths