Igniting Entrepreneurial Spirit in Arab States – One Special Woman at a Time
The European Union – UN Women Regional joint programme, Spring Forward for Women, joined forces with the Jordan River Foundation and Khaldiya Association for Special Education in Jordan to help women with disabilities becoming economically independent.
Aida lives in a rural community in the Governorate of Mafraq. She and her husband are both Polio survivors, a viral disease that attacks the nervous system. Living with disabilities in a community already marked by high poverty and unemployment rates, has been a constant struggle for Aida and her family. In spite of her condition and the social stigma that surrounds people living with disability in Jordan, Aida has always strived to work. She sought decent work that would help support her family and realize her own ambitions.
In 2014, with support of the Spring Forward for Women programme, she developed a small business selling simple goods, such as clothing and household items. Once the investment began to generate dividends, she expanded her business by establishing a productive, commercial kitchen offering its services on demand to her community. Aida invested her profits in the purchase of a small car which allows her to serve as a mobile store. In rural and remote communities where transportation is both difficult to access for women and cultural constraints can limit their movements, this mobility allowed for her business to expand to new markets.
Within the framework of the Spring Forward for Women programme, Aida’s inspiring story is being replicated to help other women living with disabilities in Jordan and other Arab States to become economically empowered.
Jordan continues to work to address the rehabilitation and integration needs of people living with disability. However, persons with special needs tend to suffer from social exclusion and vulnerability, as evidenced by low levels of education, literacy, employment, and participation – and this is particularly true for women living with disabilities. According to the National Center for Human Rights in Jordan, around 78% of youth living with disability in Jordan did not reach high school level education. Among those who were able to pursue a higher education degree, only 30% were women. Moreover, less than 12% of women with special needs in Jordan currently have a job.
Within the employment sector, the challenges faced by women living with disabilities include long working hours, low wages received under the pretext of low productivity, lack of recognition of their professional abilities and lack of operational facilities that facilitate their movement. These challenges can grow exponentially for those who live in marginalized areas.
The Spring Forward for Women programme works to address this. The four-year programme (2012-2016) aims to enable women to reposition themselves economically and politically in the decision-making spaces so that they may have greater influence in shaping the future of their countries.
In doing this, the programme supported women to overcome obstacles to become economically independent. This benefits the overall well-being of their families and societies. Aida, a woman living with disabilities from the Khaldiya District of Jordan, illustrates an example of this.