In an effort to empower women in Jordan, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has introduced a programme to train female fresh graduates in physical education and subsequently provide them with secure jobs in the field.

The ILO in Jordan works on developing decent work principles in gyms and sports facilities, said Reem Aslan, chief technical adviser of ILO’s Decent Work for Women Programme in Jordan.

With the recent reopening of gyms and sports facilities following months of COVID-19-induced closure, the Women in Sports programme, which started in November 2020, aims at enabling dozens of female graduates and senior students to join these workplaces in April 2021, Aslan said.

Government figures estimate the number of unemployed physical education graduates at 6,500, of which 68 per cent are female. The Ministry of Youth says more than 1,200 physical education students graduate annually. 

"The initiative started in response to the gap analysis conducted on women in the sports field. Our goal was not only to empower women but also to look for their needs and to cover them. In our analysis, we have found that there are approximately 3,200 female graduates with physical education degrees but only 300 of them are employed,” Dana Dahbour, project manager for the Women in Sports initiative,  told The Jordan Times on Monday.

Dahbour noted that the reason behind the high unemployment of females in the sports field is the lack of training during and after university along with the obstacles they face in the work environment.

"We have given them needed skills to enter the market like communication, public speaking among others. We also held a functional training bootcamp where we created our own manual. Unfortunately, at university, students do not receive the practical training they need,” she added.

The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and the specialized company Mudarib and in coordination with local universities. It equips participants with technical and practical skills, that are demanded in the job market, through intensive training.

"I am learning the necessary skills to become a qualified coach,” said 23-year-old Lujain Al Sharman, who graduated in 2020 from the University of Jordan in Amman.

Under its pilot phase, the initiative selected 75 female graduates and senior students out of 200 applicants following assessments in line with the ILO standards.

"The practical training we received corrected some of the mistakes I had in my knowledge, and I have learned some new and very useful information.” Said Sarah Farid, who was one of the first females to get employed after training.

Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and in collaboration with UNWOMEN, "Women in Sports” is designed to help reduce unemployment, and break misconceptions and stereotypes about women.

"I am proud of Sweden’s support for the ILO and the Ministry of Youth, providing women and youth in Jordan with more and better job opportunities,” said Swedish Ambassador to Jordan Alexandra Rydmark.

"Women make up half of the world’s population, and it is both socially and economically smart to invest in their empowerment. Women and youth’s participation in the job market increases a country’s economic growth,” Rydmark said. 

 "The 75 women who participated in the pilot phase came out very qualified and almost all of them got employed even before finishing the field training. This was very encouraging for us to start working on phase 2 of the initiative, in which we plan to include approximately 300 women,” Dahbour told The Jordan Times.

For Tariq Mustapha, founder of Mudarib, "the idea of the initiative is based on building the capacity of the trainees, and helping them explore their potential”.

"It is important that we support young people and enhance their capabilities through the Youth Ministry’s sustainable programmes and the partnership with the ILO,” said Minister of Youth Mohammad Al Nabulsi.

Unemployment rate among young Jordanians stood at 32 per cent prior to COVID-19, but it since has increased due to the impact of the pandemic, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS