07/03/2024

Jordan is one of the five economies that improved the most, along with Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uzbekistan.

Jordan has made significant progress in its score on the World Bank's "Women, Business, and the Law" report, with its score increasing by 12.5 points from 46.9 in the last three years (2021-2023) to 59.4 out of 100 in 2024. The overall score for Jordan is higher than the regional average observed across the Middle East and North Africa 54.7 which is the lowest regional average across all regions. Within the Middle East and North Africa region, the maximum score observed is 91.3 (Malta). The global average stands at 77.9.

The World Bank report released on Tuesday, covering 190 economies, indicated that Jordan is among the five economies with a higher improvement in the Women, Business and Law report of 2024 by 10 to 20 points, along with Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uzbekistan as a result of achieving comprehensive reforms across all indicators except mobility. Jordan's rank has also improved by 17 positions, from 178 to 161 out of 190 economies.

This significant improvement in Jordan's score is attributed to amendments made to the Labor Law No. 10 of 2023. It is the first law to prohibit gender-based discrimination in the explicit employment of workers by law. The Law resulted in four reforms under the "workplace and wage" indicators.

According to the report, Jordan maintained an ideal score (100 out of 100) in Entrepreneurship, when it comes to restrictions on women to start and run a business. Through the amendments to the labor law, Jordan has prohibited gender discrimination in employment and enacted legislation to protect against sexual harassment in the workplace, including criminal penalties for perpetrators by the employer or his representative. Additionally, restrictions on women's employment in industrial sectors were removed, provided a conducive work environment, and considered pregnant and breastfeeding women. Consequently, Jordan achieved a perfect score in the Pay indicator (100/100) and significantly improved its score in the Workplace indicator from 0 to 75/100.

This year's report offers a comprehensive picture of the obstacles that women face in entering the workforce and contributing to greater prosperity—for themselves, their families, and their communities. It expands the scope of its analysis, adding two indicators that can be critical in opening up or restricting women’s options: safety from violence and access to childcare services.

Noteworthy that improving Jordan's score in the Women, Business, and the Law report is among the priorities outlined in the Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision 2033. Last year, a national technical team, comprising members from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Women Empowerment, and the Jordanian National Commission for Women, was formed to update and implement the action plan in consultation and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, with support from the World Bank's Women Empowerment Program in the Middle East.

The Women, Business, and the Law report assesses the gap between legal reforms and actual outcomes for women in 190 economies, identifying government actions to accelerate progress towards gender equality in business and law.