The Prime Minister's visit included a meeting with Askareyah, a mother-of-six who was recently supported by the ILO through one of its employment centres. Watch the video
Together with partners, the ILO is implementing a project to improve the living and working conditions of agriculture workers - Jordanian, refugee and migrant - through a compliance model that strengthens productivity, national labour legislation and adheres to international labour standards.
H.E. Maria Hadjitheodosiou, EU Ambassador to Jordan, during a visit to Zaatari refugee camp, met with workers and job-seekers who are being supported through an ILO-UNHCR employment centre in the camp. EU-ILO collaboration in Jordan facilitates employment and job-matching services for Jordanian and Syrian job-seekers. It also promotes decent work principles in enterprises authorised to benefit from the EU’s relaxed Rules of Origin initiative.
The new partnership supports Jordanians and Syrians working in Jordan’s floriculture sector to improve their working conditions and enhance their skills.
New research aims to improve knowledge on the employment and labour market situation of both Syrians and Jordanians in the country.
Aamir Alavi, US Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) Program Officer for Jordan, met with ILO representatives to discuss joint interventions supporting Syrian and Jordanian workers to access formal employment in Jordan through skills development and certification.
Women Do Business
The ILO has trained a pool of Jordan River Foundation trainers on how to deliver “Women Do Business,” a women-specific business training package developed by the ILO, to support small and micro business owners. The certified trainers have already delivered the training to some 100 Syrian and Jordanian women, helping develop their business management knowledge and skills. Covering four governorates across Jordan, the project is currently supporting around 50 of these women to launch or expand their businesses through seed-funding.
The German Government has been supporting the KfW/ILO project “Employment through Labour Intensive Infrastructure“ in Jordan since 2016.
The main focus of the labour-intensive project is to improve livelihoods through providing cash-for-work opportunities for both vulnerable Jordanian citizens as well as Syrian refugees.
The ILO held workshops in Erbil introducing Employment Intensive Investment Approaches (EIIP ++) to partners and stakeholders, as part of efforts to support immediate employment creation, enhance workers’ skills, support national vocational training and certification systems and promote small businesses.
Kifah Khreisat grows his own fruit and vegetables to support his wife and five children. Yet, trying to find sufficient ways to irrigate vegetation in a water-poor country like Jordan is a challenge, and something that Khreisat had struggled with for many years.
Safaa runs her own company in Irbid where she has a group of around 20 Jordanian and Syrian female plumbers working with her. Safaa says demand for women in her profession is rapidly growing. “Having female plumbers has solved a big problem (...) women can now have repairs done in their homes at any time.”
Nawal Fahed and Naima Al Bdour are busy preparing food orders for customers in their modest kitchen, situated in the Jordanian city of Irbid. Their sweets and catering business was set up a year ago by six women - three Jordanians and three Syrians – who were looking for opportunities to generate income to support their families.
Shaikha’s life has been marred by conflict, displacement and a physical disability. A few years ago, she began to suffer from hearing loss, which has worsened over time. She was also forced to flee her village of Elma on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Daraa after her house was destroyed during the fighting. In 2018, ILO employment centres helped her find work at a garment factory. Shaikha says working at the factory and receiving a monthly wage has helped her gain a sense of empowerment.
The theme for this year’s World Day Against Child Labour is “Children Should Work on their Dreams, not in the Fields!” In Jordan, events were held on farms to promote education and raise awareness on the dangers faced by children working in Jordan’s agricultural sector.
See also: Constituents from Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey came together in Jordan to discuss the promotion of decent work for Syrian refugees and host communities in the region, as part of a South-South and Triangular Cooperation initiative aimed at exchanging knowledge, skills, resources and technical know-how.
A two-day knowledge sharing event in Jordan has brought together ILO experts and constituents from across the Arab region and beyond, to exchange case studies and good practices on the inclusion of refugees and displaced persons in the labour market.
The ILO held workshops in Erbil introducing Employment Intensive Investment Approaches (EIIP ++) to partners and stakeholders, as part of efforts to support immediate employment creation, enhance workers’ skills, support national vocational training and certification systems and promote small businesses.
