ARDD reports indebtedness levels among Jordanian, Syrian refugee women correspond to unemployment

AMMAN — A report issued by the Arab Renaissance Organisation for Democracy and Development (ARDD) showed that 65 per cent of Jordanian women are in debt, including those who fall under the “gharimat” category, compared with 92 per cent of Syrian refugee women.

Gharimat are a segment of indebted women, detained or wanted by the authorities over charges pertaining to financial delinquency, who meet the criteria set by the government in accordance to His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives to pay out their debts.

A sample representing Jordanian and Syrian refugee women was surveyed by the organisation for the report entitled “Barriers to Balance: Overcoming Obstacles to Women’s Economic Participation in Jordan”.

The results showed that the debt findings were correspondent to the unemployment rates cited in the report at 62 and 70 per cent among Jordanian and Syrian refugee women, respectively.

An ARDD statement sent to The Jordan Times said the report addressed the socioeconomic hindrances to women’s economic participation, as well as gender-based discrimination against women in the workplace.

Among the factors affecting women’s participation in these arenas were legislation pertaining to the Labour Law, particularly, and the issuance of work permits to non-Jordanians, according to the statement.

Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) lack organisation and proper channelling, the statement underlined.

This, the ARDD says, aggravates the crisis of the indebted women who tend to borrow from unlicensed entities that do not abide by the regulations of the lending market.

To overcome these barriers, the study put forward recommendations outlining strategies related to government, civil society institutions and the private sector.

The report underscored the importance of replacing gender-marked jobs, such as self-employment projects that basically rely on borrowing, with paid work within registered licensed legal institutions.

The ARDD recently showcased the report’s primary results in a meeting organised in cooperation with the Turkish embassy in Amman, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.