| Country: |
Jordan |
|
Organization: |
Young Women’s Christian Association of Jordan (YWCA). |
| Address: |
P.O. Box: 5014 Amman 11183
Amman, Jordan. |
| Tel: |
(962-6) 465 5476/7 |
| Fax: |
(962-6) 465 2947 |
| E-mail: |
ywcanat@go.com.jo |
| Coverage: |
National organization with a total membership of 900 women & youth. |
| Objectives: |
1. Empowering young women through workshops on leadership, human rights, and environmental issues, in addition to training in advocacy and development work;
2. Involving young women in YWCA projects and programs to ensure the continuity of the movement;
3. Exposing young women to international affairs through exchange visits with other international NGOs. |
| Approach: |
Raising awareness; advocacy; training; financial aid. |
| Intervention Sectors: |
Education: Vocational training.
Employment: Income generating projects.
Health: Family planning; nutrition education.
Social Integration: Participation & rights of vulnerable young women.
Environment: Waste management.
Young Women’s Rights: Gender based violence.
Capacity Building: Enabling environment; leadership development. |
| Leadership: |
Young women’s participation at decision-making levels:
As board members--> 10%
As committee members--> 5%
As partners in program planning and decision-making--> 10%
As participants and volunteers--> -- |
| Networking: |
Partners at the following:
1. At the national level:
- UNICEF;
- MIZAN;
- International Organization for Women’s Solidarity.
2. At the regional level:
- EUROMED;
- YWCAs in the region.
Member of an international platform: World Young Women’s Christian Association (World YWCA). |
| Guidelines/ Participation: |
Young women’s participation:
1. As program beneficiaries;
2. As participants in training and awareness raising workshops.
Existing policies and guidelines to ensure young women’s participation:
1. Leadership Training Programs;
2. Guidelines and policies to insure young women’s integration on boards and committees;
3. Awareness raising regarding young women’s participation and rights;
4. Creating an enabling environment;
5. Launching a campaign to recruit young women;
6. Proportional representation/use of quota system: 25% . However, young women’s representation doesn’t meet the quota due to the following challenges.
Challenges facing young women’s participation in leadership:
1. Declining interest in voluntary work among young women as a result of insufficient time and competing priorities in the lives of young women: Higher education, careers, and motherhood;
2. The YWCA is stereotyped of being an organization for older women only, and as such young women are not interested in joining the organization. |
| Project: |
Vocational Training Center. |
| Objectives: |
Training young women in secretarial skills and office management, which qualifies them for employment and self-sufficiency. |
| Brief: |
The YWCA offers an 11 months program in various secretarial skills, and ensures a month of practical training in respectable institutions such as banks and foreign embassies. Students acquire certificate authenticated by the Ministry of Education and the YWCA ensures job opportunities for them in reputable institutions. |
| Duration: |
Since 1972 |
| Location: |
Amman |
| Target Group: |
Female high-school graduates, mainly from low income families. |
| Challenges: |
1. Financial challenges since many students require financial aid;
2. Funds are needed to upgrade facilities in order to meet emerging needs. |
| Funding: |
Tuition fees, fundraising activities, and donations. |
| Future Plans: |
1. Training teaching staff to enable them to improve their performance;
2. Upgrading courses and introducing new programs to improve young women’s employment opportunities. |
| Project 2: |
Family Counseling Center at the Palestinian Baqaa Refugee Camp. |
| Objectives: |
1. Empowering young women to gain better control of their lives through skills training and awareness building;
2. Supporting women and young women facing marital problems and different forms of domestic violence;
3. Improving women and young women’s access to health, education and family planning services;
4. Increasing young women’s participation in social and environmental activities. |
| Brief: |
In the Baquaa Refugee Camp, the YWCA of Jordan provides training and employment for women and young women through a bakery and a sewing production center. A counseling center was set up to ensure legal and psychological counseling to victims of abuse, and to offer social, cultural, and health programs for the benefit of girls and young women. The center is run by a legal advisor and a social worker who visit homes to study prevailing family problems and solve them on individual and family basis. |
| Duration: |
Since 1996 |
| Location: |
Baquaa Refugee Camp |
| Target Group: |
1. Young women working in the bakery and production center;
2. Young mother of children attending the YWCA nursery;
3. Camp residents: Women, young women and children directly, and men indirectly. |
| Challenges: |
1. Financial Challenges;
2. The need to employ another staff member in view of the increasing number of beneficiaries. |
| Funding: |
1. UNICEF;
2. Karim Foundation in Great Britain;
3. Canadian Embassy. |
| Results: |
1. Gaining the respect and the confidence of the community at large;
2. Providing counseling and assistance to more than 2500 families;
3. Building awareness amongst young women on human rights and gender issues;
4. Supporting many young women in finding job opportunities. |
| Future Plans: |
Fundraising activities. |
