To identify effective strategies for enhancing women’s participation in various public domains, particularly in leadership roles, and to scrutinize the cultural, social, political, and economic barriers hindering their involvement in decision-making processes, Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), in collaboration with Tawazon – Promoting the Voice and Leadership of Women Activity, conducted a comprehensive assessment of the leadership needs of Jordanian women from January 2023 to September 2023. The objective was to assess and identify the challenges faced by women aspiring to leadership roles or seeking participation in leadership training programs.
To present the methodology and findings of this assessment, ARDD and Tawazon organized a workshop titled “Pathway to Women’s Leadership in Jordan: Unveiling Leadership Needs Assessment Findings” on November 22nd, 2023. The workshop aimed to highlight the key challenges and effective approaches for fostering women’s participation in leadership training programs. Additionally, it sought to discuss recommendations and best practices essential for designing a women’s leadership training program, culminating in the launch of the Arab Women’s Leadership Academy (AWLA) in early 2024.
During the workshop, Roselle Agner, Tawazon Chief of Party, emphasized , “The program operates in partnership with various stakeholders through an institutional coalition to achieve strategic objectives. This includes enforcing supportive legislative frameworks, building institutional capacities, promoting and adopting supportive social norms, and enhancing women’s voice and leadership capacities and opportunities for participation.”
A Key outcome highlighted by Agner was the development of a well-defined strategy and clear objectives for the establishment of the Arab Women’s Leadership Academy (AWLA). She also added that this academy is envisioned as an institutional model to cultivate proficient and qualified women leaders capable of assuming leadership positions at all levels.
Malak Suleiman, the project manager of the Arab Women’s Leadership Academy, outlined the academy’s overarching goal: to train and empower 500 Jordanian women over a five-year period through a six-month leadership training program. The Academy aims to attract women participants from diverse backgrounds, ages, and governorates, to become contributors, supporters, and activists in the public matter, in order to advance and foster women’s leadership competencies in their societies.
Suleiman noted that the focus groups during the assessment’s preparatory phase targeted both women and men from various fields and parts of the Kingdom. The aim was to form a realistic diagnosis aiding in the design, planning and implementation of women’s leadership programs. She emphasized the need to enhance women’s leadership skills and networking capabilities and to provide them with opportunities to improve their civic and political participation, and to enhance their networking efficiency at the national level.
Dr. Hadeel Maaitah, ARDD´s leadership consultant who led the assessment’s design and implementation, stressed the importance of involving men in the process of assessing women’s needs to ensure joint participation. She highlighted various challenges limiting women’s participation in leadership positions or in leadership programs, including social norms, family obligations, financial challenges, and residing in marginalized communities. Additionally, she pointed out more barriers such as weak law enforcement, nepotism, transportation difficulties, lack of communication skills, and insufficient awareness of laws and regulations.
Regarding factors enabling women’s participation in leadership programs, Maaitah also emphasized the necessity of attracting participants from diverse sectors; public, private, and non-profit sectors. In addition to, the need for men to provide psychological support, remove barriers and provide women with enabling resources. Moreover, flexibility should be considered in the design of the leadership programs, taking into account the coverage of associated training costs.
The workshop participants emphasized the importance of male engagement in women leadership training programs at a later stage. They stressed the need of ensuring a safe environment for women, enhancing their skills and tools, and integrating efforts of all the relevant institutes that support women leadership. Additionally, they highlighted the need to find solutions to issues such as early retirement for women, the inclusion of women with disabilities in the workplace, and the promotion of women’s leadership in non-traditional sectors. Furthermore, the participants discussed the challenge of replicating training approaches in leadership programs, and the need to identifying the customized requirements and skills to advance and assist women in expressing their communities needs to decision-makers, throughout the kingdom, including marginalized areas.
In conclusion, the workshop participants highlighted the need for decision-makers and policymakers to collaborate in acknowledging the importance of women’s involvement in civil, political, and economic spheres. It is essential to enhance opportunities for women, leading to positive impacts on societal development, poverty and unemployment indicators, and overall economic progress. Emphasizing the importance of addressing local needs, they underscored the necessity of designing capacity-building programs to prepare women as indispensable pillars to societal progress.
