Nayrouz News Agency : The Social Security Fund Investment Fund (SSIF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on Saturday began their work under the Women’s Career and Professional Development Programme. 

The programme seeks to build the capacity of the SSIF and Social Security Corporation female staff to access senior roles, responsibilities and leadership positions where 17 female employees will participate and continue for five days, according to a statement from the fund. 

The programme that is executed by UN Women is part of   the UN Women and ILO joint programme "Promoting Productive Employment and Decent Work for Women” supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the statement said.

SSIF CEO Kholoud Saqqaf said that this "important partnership” with UN Women reflects the fund’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and the importance of promoting equal opportunities for women and men in all fields. 

The programme will enhance the capacity of female staff in performing their duties, unleashing their full potential and support their career advancement on equal basis of their male colleagues. 

It also complements the SSIF’s efforts to empower female employees at various job levels. 

In 2018, SSIF launched a Woman Empowerment’s guidelines that set the reference framework for the SSIF’s management to develop plans and programmes in the areas of leadership, economic and social empowerment, in addition to other programmes that create a "stimulating work environment for all”.

"The Social Security Investment Fund plays a critical role in promoting gender smart investments in human resources and financial assets. This capacity building opportunity is an important step to increase the number of new actors who support investments and policies that are sensitive to gender issues, which evidence shows is smart business,” said Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Jordan Representative, in the statement.

This programme is part of a broader collaboration between UN Women and the SSIF that aims to support the national commitments under Goal 5 by measuring the impact of the related initiatives on women and promoting dialogue on women’s economic empowerment and financing for gender equality, read the statement.