Government of Italy, UN Women announce partnership to strengthen institutional capacity on women’s empowerment

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H.E. Fabio Cassese, Italian Ambassador to Jordan, Mr. Morana, Head of AICS Jordan and Mr. Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Jordan Representative convene for the signature of the agreement. Photo: UN Women/ Lauren Rooney

Amman, Jordan. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) announced today a two-year programme to support the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development in strengthening its institutional capacity to effectively mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment into national systems and policies. Through this partnership, UN Women will provide technical assistance to the Institutional Development Directorate to build capacity of the Ministry’s staff and enhance the quality and relevance of services provided to vulnerable women and girls. 

“Italy is glad to consolidate its longstanding partnership with UN Women in Jordan that, over the last years, has provided a valuable contribution to help the social and economic empowerment of vulnerable women,” affirmed H.E. Fabio Cassese, Italian Ambassador to Jordan. “We are confident that this new programme will be profitable for the Ministry of Social Development and will allow major step forwards for the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment into Jordan national systems and policies.” 

Under the programme, UN Women will work closely with the Ministry of Social Development to support its internal Task Force for gender mainstreaming and to implement a 2-year roadmap to support gender mainstreaming across all directorates and all levels of the Ministry’s work. The goal is to support the Ministry and other relevant national institutions to empower women by establishing a clear link between strategic policy commitments, national planning processes and improvements to services for vulnerable women and girls. Such process will represent a pivotal contribution towards the achievement of Jordan’s priorities under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a particular focus on Goal 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment 

“Promoting the full and effective participation of women in political, economic and public life in Jordan is not only about gender equality,” affirmed Mr. Morana, Head of AICS Jordan. “We believe that women’s empowerment and leadership is actually crucial to foster an inclusive and sustainable economic growth, that is one of Jordan’s key national priorities, and we are proud to contribute to it.” 

In addition, UN Women will support the Ministry in consolidating best practices and tools and document the experience of MOSD in a case study. Jordan’s model of support for gender mainstreaming, and its direct benefits for women and girls, will be consequently presented to other Ministries as well as at the regional level through a dedicated conference, bringing together relevant line ministries from the region and globally 

“The empowerment of vulnerable women and girls requires investment in a long-term structured approach, one which places their needs and potential at the heart of national policies, strategies and plans. Such an investment will not only enhance their lives, it will also contribute to Jordan’s inclusive economic growth and sustainable development,” said Mr. Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Jordan Representative. 


For all media inquiries, please contact: 

Lauren Rooney 

Communications Specialist 

Tel. 0792845822 lauren.rooney@unwomen.org