Policy papers seek to reintegrate women, PwDs into discourse

AMMAN — The West Asia and North Africa Institute (WANA) on Sunday launched three policy papers aiming to find ways of reintegrating disadvantaged groups of women and persons with disabilities (PwD) by better contributing to the development of their social and economic lives.

The policy papers revolve around issues such as public transport problems confronting women, the positive impact of parental leave and removing barriers faced by PwD in voting.

The papers were launched during a press conference to review and discuss the project geared towards encouraging inclusive participation of vulnerable women and PwD in economic and social spheres. They are part of the initial stage of the project and aim to explore and find solutions to the issues, according to WANA statements made available to The Jordan Times.

The project is currently being held in partnership with IM Swedish Development Partner, and focuses on scaling up young people’s abilities to advocate for the social and economic inclusion of vulnerable groups.

Through Participatory Action Research, WANA, a non-profit think-tank, equipped 22 young people between the ages of 22 and 30, through trainings, with essential skills to find solutions for compelling issues that affect women and PwD communities and voice their needs, the statements added.

“Gender mainstreaming should be implemented at all levels of policy-building in order to advance public transportation services and curb the harassment of women when using it,” Israa Mansour, one of the participants, said during the conference.

She added: “I hope decision makers will ensure ways to encourage women to use public transport.”