As part of its efforts to influence policy change and advocate for the alleviation of structural barriers to entry for women to the workplace, namely the lack of daycares and public transport, SADAQA developed two national frameworks to address both issues. The aim of these frameworks is to bring national consensus around the issue, serve as a roadmap for the steps required to be taken to lower these two barriers to entry into the workforce, and identify the role of each stakeholder in implementing the pillars of these frameworks.
The National Framework for Daycares
In 2016, SADAQA in cooperation with the ILO and the Ministry of Labor developed the National Framework for Workplace Daycares. The Framework builds on Article 72 of the Jordanian Labor Law, which requires companies to provide child daycare services for children of employees.
The National Framework addresses the necessary legal amendments required to make daycares a public good, offers different modalities of childcare facilities, facilitates and expedites the licensing process of these daycares through a one-stop-shop registration window, and offers incentives and support for employers who comply with the law. It also includes capacity and skills development for caregivers, and awareness raising for employers and working families on the importance and value of daycares.
Following the national conference SADAQA organized with the support of the French government in October 2022, a new version of the National Framework for Daycares will be issued for 2022-2024 and endorsed by the relevant entities including the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Social Development and Social Security Corporation. The framework will go through the legal channels to be legally binding as proposed by MOL and be adopted by the government as a road map for ensuring quality daycares become accessible and affordable for all working families in Jordan, to contribute to enhancing women’s economic rights and women’s economic participation. The components of the new framework will guide SADAQA’s advocacy work and present a plan for how relevant entities cooperate, defining their roles and responsibilities and placing targets and key performance indicators to help make informed decision about the direction of current and future programs and policies that need to be enacted. The National Framework for Daycares is an important tool that can be utilized to ensure a solid road map is in place to enhance the infrastructure and policy framework around child care, women’s economic participation and the care sector.
The National Framework for Gender Sensitive Public Transport
In 2021, SADAQA together with the Ministry of Transport and with support from the European Union’s (EU) Delegation to Jordan and UN Women, launched the National Framework for Gender Sensitive Public Transport that aims to enhance reliability, safety and accessibility of public transport for women, and enhance women’s economic participation.
The need for the framework came as a policy recommendation from SADAQA’s Gender in Public Transportation Study: A Perspective of Women Users of Public Transport.
The framework aims to close the gender gap in public transportation, which will enhance women’s needs and priorities and will enable their economic, social and political empowerment. It also seeks to enhance partnership with all stakeholders in order to develop a national system made for gender sensitive public transportation with clear roles, responsibilities and monetary indicators.
The framework also serves as a tool to attain equality and enhance the principles of human rights, which will improve legislation, laws, programmes and projects as well as the necessary solutions of removing the obstacles.
