Graduation of the fourth class of the Jordanian Institute for Women Leaders
On Saturday evening in Amman, the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies celebrated the graduation of the fourth class of women from the Jordanian Institute for Women leaders, including 43 women, between the ages of 25 – 40 years old. Families and friends of the graduates and representatives from a number of Jordanian civil society organizations interested in the subject of women’s leadership were present.
The ceremony’s opening speech was delivered by the Center’s director Dr. Nizam Assaf, in which he welcomed the participants and their families, and wished them success in future endeavors. He also gave a brief summary of the Center’s activities in the past few years focusing on how Jordanian Women gained qualifications in political and human rights. He noted that 60% of those who participated in the activities of the center were women and that the center graduated 226 trained specialists and trained 126 women in human rights and women’s rights in10 Arab countries.
He explained the importance of the training program, which was started at the same time as the political, youth, and Arab Spring movements, movements which he wished to be crowned as achievements for democracy that respect human rights and dignity He explained that 2 Syrian women participated in this fourth group.
Dr. Assaf pointed out that the center has ten cherished achievements; firstly the organizing of more than 446 educational courses in the field of human rights with 60% of the participants being women, secondly the inclusion of young people, with 66% youth participation, the third achievement was that 50% of these courses were organized on a voluntary basis without any funding. The fourth achievement was the holding of 138 scientific symposiums discussing many human rights issues and involving the participation of hundreds of researchers and specialists from various Jordanian, Arab and international universities and institutions. The fifth achievement; that the Center issued 30 books specializing in human rights issues; the sixth achievement was the collaboration with 240 institutions from civil society and the private sector as well as some government institutions from various Arab countries. The seventh achievement is the Center’s initiative to establish a number of Jordanian and Arab alliances and networks, such as the Network of Elections in the Arab world, the Arab Association for Academic Freedom, the Arab Coalition against the Death Penalty, and Jordanian Network for Civil Society Organizations and the Arab Network for Human Rights Instructors. The eighth achievement is the graduation of 226 male and female instructors trained in human rights and women’s rights in 12 Arab countries; the ninth achievement is the involvement of 66 female participants from outside of Jordan, from a total of 95 people. The tenth and final achievement is the graduation of 43 women from the Jordanian Institute for Women Leaders.
Dr. Assaf concluded that the center will continue to assist the work of the Jordanian Institute for Women Leaders for the benefit not only of Jordanian women, but women from different Arab countries. Amman Center will commence the activities for the fifth installment of the program for the Jordanian Institute for Women Leaders in January 2015.
Mrs. Amneh AL Hulah, representing Karama Organization in Amman, delivered a summary of the organization’s work. She introduced Karama as a Cairo-based, Arab organization that seeks to help Arab civil societies in achieving social progress whilst promoting the role of women in public life. She commended the work of the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS), praising the Center’s activities in making women aware of and prepared to occupy their role and position in society. She also stressed the importance of learning from the successful experiences witnessed in other countries and not to dwell on those experiments that failed.
Miss. Samar Maknai delivered the speech for the graduates, in which she indicated that the program has had a great impact in developing the skills and knowledge of the participants. She emphasized the experience it has given them through enhancing their awareness of: the concept of women’s legal and political rights; the real exercise of citizenship; and a better appreciation of their role and status in society. With this knowledge, the women are suitably qualified to become advanced Jordanian women leaders.
The Center appreciates the efforts of Mrs. Amneh Al-Hulwah, representative of the Karama Organization in support of women’s awareness programs, in offering partial financial support in contribution to funding the fourth program of the Jordanian Institute for Women Leadership (JIWL). As a sign of this appreciation, Mrs Amneh al-Hulwah was given an award with the Center’s shield.
It is to be pointed out that the programs of the Jordanian Institute for Women Leaders were carried out in cooperation with Finnish Church Aid in Jordan from the beginning of 2010 until the end 2013. The programs sought to improve education in public affairs and build leadership skills for participants, with the stipulations that participants were between 25 and 40 years old and held a B.A. degree. In addition, the program for the first group of women was organized by the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) in collaboration with the Foundation for the Future (FFF) and was conducted in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, during the period September 2013- January 2014. The course involved 15 Libyan participants.
At the end of the ceremony Mrs. Amneh Al Hulwah handed the certificates to the graduates: Media Worker Razan Amin (Syria), Miss Samar Maknai, Lawyer Islam Al-Ztemyah, Mrs. Fatema Dualibi (Syria), Lawyer Inas Zayed, Engineer Rula Qasem , Mrs. Maysoon Jariri, Ms.Banan Abu Zayneh, Ms.Dana Samour and Ms. Abeer Al-Amad
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