SHOUNEH

Northern Shouneh located in the Balqa Governorate near the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth and because it is one of Jordan’s poverty pockets has one of the lowest employment rates in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. As a result of its low altitude which collects the country's rainfall the Northern Shouneh area can be ripe with vegetation, ready to be picked at a moment's notice and the same can be said for its residents. At the beginning of July 2019, Jowomenomics established a local work ethics and employability committee made up of local stakeholders and CSOs to help provide insights into the plight of women’s empowerment and economic inclusion in the Southern Ghor region. As a result of the committee's insights and need assessment outreach Jowomenomics identified that public transportation, under-education, and long working hours with low pay are the biggest detriments to women’s economic inclusion in Southern Shouneh. Faced with these issues, during social dialogue sessions Jowomenomics and Ministry officials delicately encouraged local families to consider reducing constraints on women in order to help improve the community's overall economic development.

After performing needs assessments and reaching out to the community about it’s most pressing issues, Jowomenomics was able to collaborate with the Maliban Garments Factory in Northern Shouneh to consider the vocational needs of the factory. With commitments in place, Jowomenomics outreached 70 female work-ethic and employability participants to be trained on vocational skills and values.

• Honesty and Integrity: Successful participants were able to identify the concept of honesty and integrity and how to display these values in the workplace.
• Commitment: Successful participants were able to recognize the concept of commitment and the ability to build a reputation of commitment in the workplace.
• Dignity: Successful participants were able to understand the concept of dignity and the ability to conduct themselves properly in the workplace.
• Respect: Successful participants were able to identify the concept of respect and the ability to treat colleagues and themselves with respect in the workplace.
• Justice and Equality: Successful participants were able to recognize the concept of justice and equality and the ability to lead fairly and equitably.
• Loyalty: Successful participants were able to recognize loyalty and understand how loyalty is displayed towards employers
• Modesty: Successful participants were able to identify the concept of modesty and how to work with humility as it relates to Jordan’s culture of shame.

• How to Interact with Supervisors
• How to Interact and Deal with Colleagues
• How to Maintain Personal Safety and Sterilization
• Industrial Machine Training
• Knowledge of Assembly Lines and Order of Operations
• Basic Engineering of Machines

All 70 women participants completed each stage of the training program in 32 days and were successful placed in various positions within the Maliban Garments Factory and are currently maintaining their jobs with occasional check-ins from Jowomenomics staff and the locally established committee.  

With plenty of architecture left behind from the days of the Roman Empire, the Governorate of Irbid has much to offer tourists and those passing by but much of Northern Shouneh has yet to develop the appropriate opportunities for its local female populace. As Irbid is home to Jordan’s top universities many women are educated, but because they are located outside of Amman women have little opportunity to work - a societal barrier that is very difficult to break. As a result of this Jowomenomics set out to establish a local council dedicated to identifying the most pressing issues facing women’s work opportunities. Made up of an assortment of CSOs, religious, and community leaders Jowomenomics was able to outreach and identify 70 women to participate in the work ethics and vocational training program to support the development of a better-trained women’s workforce; providing a significant catalyst to the overall improvement of women’s empowerment in the Governorate of Irbid.

Supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jowomenomics was able to successfully implement it’s work ethics and employability training program for the Nurseen Garments Factory in Irbid.

Spanning a total of 35 days all 70 women were able to complete both stages of the training program and received positions at the Nurseen Garments Factory.