Fathers who take adequate paternity leave are more likely to be involved with their young children. This can have positive effects for gender equality in the home and at work and may indicate shifts in relationships and perceptions of parenting roles and prevailing stereotypes.  Maamun was happy when Jordan announced a three-day paternity leave for private sector workers, one month before the birth of his first child. But the 40-year-old computer engineer felt that period of time was not enough for him to spend time with his wife and baby boy. That was in May 2019, when amendments to the Jordanian Labour Law  endorsed the three-day paid leave.
“I was following the news about the labour law amendments, waiting for the endorsement of the leave,” says Maamun, who lives in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and works in a company in Al Qatrana town, in the southern governorate of Karak. Maamun took the three-day paternity leave as well as four days of annual leave.
“The three days were useful for me to stay with my wife at the hospital, and to deal with some procedures, including birth registration,” he adds. When Maamun’s leave ended, his wife and their child moved to stay at her parents’ home for recovery. In 2014, public sector employees became entitled to a two-day paternity leave in line with Jordan’s Civil Service Regulation . This leave increased to three days following an amendment to the regulation in 2020. Mamoun believes that the paternity leave should be “at least” 10 days to help provide care for the newborn and mother. Abu Ahmad, a government employee, agrees. “When my youngest boy was born a year ago, I did not know that I was entitled to a three-day paternity leave under the Civil Service Regulation,” says Abu Ahmad, 46, whose wife is a teacher at a private school. “I still think that two or 3 days are not enough for a father to take care of his wife and the child. This means that the wife needs help usually from her sisters or mother,” he adds, calling for 7-10 days of paternity leave.
Shared responsibility For Linda Kalash, executive director of Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) focusing on labour issues, “the objective of paternity leave is to ensure that parents join efforts in providing care for the newborn child.” “Both parents should have equal, separate parental leave,” says Kalash, who called for increasing paternity leave. “This equality supports positive parent-child relationships as well as work … in the absence of one parent, the other takes care of the child.”

Former member of parliament, Khalid Ramadan, who was on the Parliamentary Committee on Labour that endorsed the 2019 Labour Law amendments, says “paternity leave is established in the labour legislation, and this may pave the way for increasing paternity leave.” According to an ILO policy brief, research suggests links between fathers’ leave, men’s take-up of family responsibilities and child development. Fathers who take leave, especially those taking 2 weeks or more immediately after childbirth, are more likely to be involved with their young children. This can have positive effects for gender equality in the home and at work and may indicate shifts in relationships and perceptions of parenting roles and prevailing stereotypes.

Mamoun criticised stereotypes “that men should to go out for work while women stay home”. “I think that these misconceptions had a role in delaying the endorsement of paternity leave, and in depriving fathers of enough time to care for their newborn children.”

Maternity protection is key to achieving gender equality at work by protecting working mothers’ jobs and wages, while at the same time alleviating poverty and advancing decent work. When Hanaa got pregnant in the summer of 2019, she did not know she would lose her job.

The 27-year-old math teacher told her school that she wanted to train a replacement to cover her absence while she was on maternity leave. However, school management decided that it would not renew her contract in early 2020 “due to her pregnancy and its demands, including maternity leave”. Hanaa was not rehired even though Article 27 of the Labour Law  prohibits termination of employment of a “pregnant working woman beginning from the sixth month of her pregnancy or during maternity leave.” “Hanaa worked at a private school in the capital Amman for two years, and she did not expect that decision,” said Hiba Abu Ghneim*, a complaints officer with the Stand-up with the Teacher campaign , supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO ). “Management informed Hanaa that the school policies required a pregnancy test, and that her employment contract may not be renewed because of her need for days off and maternity leave,” Abu Ghneim added.
Hanaa is unemployed now. Article 77 of the Jordanian Labour Law grants female workers 10 weeks paid maternity leave. Maternity benefits are covered by the Social Security Corporation (SSC),  under maternity provisions of the Social Security Law . SSC spokesperson, Shaman Majali, said 20,000 working mothers have already received maternity benefit since 2020. In 2020, Jordan endorsed a maternity protection regulation to help empower and retain private-sector working mothers in the labour force, in a move welcomed  by the ILO. Around 28,000 families/households can benefit from this maternity protection. The regulation provides working mothers with cash benefits, to enable them to return to work while securing childcare for their children either at a childcare facility or at home. It also allows for registered childcare centres to receive direct cash benefits to cover operational costs. Abu Ghneim said “Hanaa’s issue is not an isolated case.” “The campaign handles many complaints from female private school teachers, who are losing their jobs due to pregnancy and childbirth,” she added. The Association of Private School Owners has also been advocating for the end to discriminatory practices. Munther Surnai, president of the association, rejects “termination of employment of any female teacher due to marriage or pregnancy”. “The association repeatedly demanded schools refrain from requiring pre-employment pregnancy tests,” he said.

Violations In the northern city of Irbid, Suaad, worked for 11 years at a private school, but when the 33-year-old woman got pregnant, management terminated her employment. And as if that were not enough, her social security subscriptions had been paid for only 6 years of her service. “Her employer did not pay all the contributions … the Campaign and the Ministry of Labour (MoL) intervened, and Suaad reached a financial settlement with the school. She accepted the settlement because she was in need of money,” Abu Ghneim said. Other women are known to sacrifice their maternity leave, or part of it, due to their need for employment in a country where the national estimate of unemployment for women exceeds 30 per cent, compared to more than 20 per cent for men. “If an insured woman works during maternity leave, she is required to repay the SSC all maternity insurance allowances,” said Majali. “And if she is forced by her employer to suspend her maternity leave and return to work, she should file a complaint to the Ministry of Labour.” He added that “SSC inspectors detect evasion or fraud, but sometimes it is not detected unless the employee files a complaint”. An ILO-commissioned Assessment of the Maternity Insurance in Jordan  has found that violations of maternity provisions, generally most common in the private education  sector, disproportionately affect female teachers, who make up almost 90 per cent of the workforce in education. “One month into my maternity leave, management asked me to return to work. I could not refuse because I needed the job, and my husband was unemployed,” said Rasha, 30, an English-language teacher at a private school in the southern Red Sea port of Aqaba. She had to send her child to a daycare facility at her own expense because management did not provide workers with workplace childcare services. “It was a very bad experience for me and my family. My child stopped breastfeeding, and I was never compensated for my overtime work,” added Rasha, who is currently unemployed because she says she cannot find a job.
Women routinely face discrimination based on their family status. Rasha has friends who have told her that their employers require teachers to take pregnancy tests at the start of every school year, and refuse to renew employment contracts for pregnant women.

Working mothers “Social security covers that period (10 weeks),” as mandated by law Majali explains. Prior to 1996, maternity leave under the Labour Law was six weeks, according to MoL spokesperson, Mohammad Zyoud. This is still short of the minimum period of 14 weeks recommended by ILO Convention 183 - Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) and the more preferable 18 weeks as suggested in ILO Maternity Protection Recommendation, 2000 (No. 191). According to Article 44 of the Social Security Law, insured women are entitled to maternity benefits “within the period specified in the Labour Law” which is currently 10 weeks (70 days). In the public sector, the Civil Service Regulation grants female workers a fully-paid 90-day maternity leave. “I had to take unpaid leave from work, and requested to take all my annual days off because the 70-day maternity leave is not enough to care for my child,” said Shatha, 27, a nurse in a private hospital in Amman. She gave birth to a baby girl in November 2020.

“I need four months until my child grows a little and becomes capable of eating solid food. I want to be able to send her to a nursery,” added Shatha, demanding that all female workers in the public and private sector get equal maternity leave. Under Article 70 of the Labour Laws, a working woman is “entitled to a full paid maternity leave before and after delivery.” This leave “shall be 10 weeks provided that the period subsequent to delivery shall not be less than six weeks”, and “it is prohibited to make her work before the expiry of that period”. Following the expiry of maternity leave, a working woman is entitled to “paid intermittent period(s) for nursing her newborn for a year starting from delivery date, and the total … shall not exceed an hour per day,” according to Article 71 of the same law. Latest SSC statistics show that around 1.25 million active male and female workers -- or nearly half of Jordan’s labour force -- are registered with the SSC. Of the approximately 390,000 SSC-registered women, 32 per cent work in the public sector and receive maternity benefits through their own mechanism regulated under the Civil Service Regulation . The remaining women in the private sector are eligible to receive these benefits through maternity insurance. Women working in the private sector can claim maternity insurance benefits after subscribing to social security for six consecutive months.

Maternity protection Faten, 30, a mother of two, agrees with Shatha. “I gave birth to my second child in March 2020, and had to quit my job at an engineering company in Amman to care for my newborn,” said Faten. “The 70 days are not enough for my recovery, and for my baby girl, who needs to be able to eat solid food … especially in light of the closure of nurseries,” due to the impact of COVID-19 on Jordan. Globally, women workers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, increasing the risk of losing much of the modest progress made on gender equality in recent decades, and exacerbating work-related gender inequalities. I work now outside my specialty of telecommunications engineering, but at least I spend more time with my child because I work fewer hours," added Faten. The ILO assessment report  has called for a maternity protection system in Jordan, emphasising that such protection is essential for safeguarding the nutritional needs, health, and wellbeing of mothers and their children.
Maternity protection is also key to achieving gender equality at work by protecting working mothers’ jobs and wages, while at the same time alleviating poverty and advancing decent work. Despite women’s economic empowerment efforts in Jordan, female labour participation is still low at 14 per cent, compared to 54 per cent for males, according to Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DOS). The figures are likely to remain low unless better ways are introduced to support mothers and all women and men with family responsibilities, helping them improve work-life balance.

This design is part of the “The Socio-Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable Women in Ghor Al Safi through Improving Access to Safe, inclusive and Green Public Spaces” project, funded by the United Nations COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi Partner Trust Fund, and was developed in collaboration with Turath Architecture and Urban Design Consultants. The project, which will be implemented in partnership with the municipality of Southern Jordan Valley and Zaha Cultural Centre aims to enhance the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable women living in Ghor Al Safi through the creation of a safe and green public space and livelihood opportunities. “This project builds on the extensive and worldwide experience of the UN-Habitat in improving public space as catalyst for developing sustainable and resilient livelihoods through nurturing social cohesion between hosts and displaced communities,” said Deema Abu Thiab, the National Programme Coordinator of UN-Habitat. “It will foster local economic development that benefits women and their families and build skills in order to enhance the empowerment and self-reliance of vulnerable communities,” she added. The public space design includes safe and inclusive play areas for children of all ages and children with disabilities, shaded seating areas, and a market space which will serve as a platform for the creation of livelihood opportunities for vulnerable women, in addition, to an area that is allocated for the implementation of sustainable agriculture methods such as permaculture. Additionally, the design includes a rehabilitated and expanded multi-service community center within the public space, which will host the different social, cultural, and capacity building activities, including the tailored training on entrepreneurial skills and livelihood creation to empower women in the community to enhance their socioeconomic conditions.    “The project aims to provide the enabling environment and tools that will assist women in Ghor Al Safi in achieving economic independence and sustainability in a safe and inclusive environment,” said Dr. Lubna Shaheen, the Project Manager at UN-Habitat. This project seeks to unlock the transformative power of safe and green public spaces for strengthening livelihood opportunities and enhancing the socioeconomic empowerment of vulnerable women in Ghor Al Safi, which will aid in easing the household and financial tensions. Accordingly, this design was developed through a participatory process that engaged the local community to ensure the development of a safe, inclusive, and accessible public space. This participatory process included community consultation sessions throughout the design development as well as a Public Space Site-Specific Assessment, which provides guidelines to achieve quality public spaces at the neighbourhood level. This joint programme is possible thanks to the contributions to the UN Response and Recovery Fund by the governments of Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Finland, New Zealand, Croatia, Iceland, Thailand, Slovak Republic, and Cambodia.

Many Syrian refugee children in Jordan have found respite at UNICEF supported Makani centres. “I first enrolled at Makani centre when I was 8 years old,” says Eman, 12. Eman and her family fled the violence in their hometown Dara’a, and sought shelter at Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. To support these vulnerable children, UNICEF with the support of KfW is providing integrated package of services through Makani programme to children in Za’atri camp like Eman. “I learned Arabic, English and math,” says Eman. “I also acquired computer skills and now I can surf the net.” At Makani centres, children of all ages participate in a number of informal education activities. Children acquire literacy, numeracy and computer skills, which help them in their formal education. “I love Makani centre because I am able to learn better,” giggles Eman. “Schools are usually over-crowded, and I cannot follow my teachers easily.” Zain, a 10-year old boy remembers nothing about his hometown in Syria, except for the stories he hears from his parents. With his family of 8, Zain fled the Syria war. “I left when I was only 2 years old,” says Zain with a grin. “Here, I feel safe and I enjoy learning and playing with my friends.” Zain enjoys Makani centres to the fullest. Yet, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, these centres were closed. “I was bored stuck at home. I had nothing to do,” says Zain. “I missed playing football with my best friend Mohammad.” “When Makani centre opened, I was so excited to meet my teacher Abeer,” says Zain. “She is the best teacher in the world.” Zain’s favourite subjects are Arabic and math. He enjoys studying and acquiring new skills. Makani centres offer a space to reimagining a better future. At Makani centres, children like Eman and Zain acquire not only English, Arabic, math, life skills and computer, but they also have the opportunity to play and reimagine their future. Both Eman and Zain hope to continue to learn to secure a better living, away from this camp. “I want to become a pharmacist like my aunt,” says Eman. “This is why I am trying hard to learn here at Makani centre.” Zain also has a dream. “I want to become a pilot to travel to Germany,” says Zain with a smile. “My aunt Nujoud who lives in Germany tells me how beautiful life is in that country.” Thanks to KfW, these children have a safe space where they can not only learn, but also play and enjoy their childhood away from violence and abuse. At the centres, children also receive psychosocial support services to better cope with their harsh living conditions. “These children have suffered a lot,” says Abeer, a Makani centre facilitator. “Through arts and play, we are able to bring back a sense of normality to these children’s lives.” By Monique Awad and AbdelMajid El-Noaimi