Izdihar Women's Developmental Project and its Role in the Empowerment of Jordanian Women: An Evaluative Study

Abstract

The current study was conducted to evaluate Izdihar Women's Project as being one of the projects of Families Development Association (FDA). The objectives of the study were to identify the occupational status of the participants after joining the Project and to examine the participants' evaluations of the various training courses offered by the Project. Additionally, the study identified the participants' views towards the project, the impact of the training courses on economic and social empowerment and the relationship between demographic characteristics and economic and social empowerment of the participants. Finally, the study examined how the granting agencies, employers and the local community viewed the project. The Study adopted the "Descriptive methods" approach, which goes alongside with its objectives. The quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire prepared to address the objectives above. The total number of participants of the investigated project was 200. Of the 200 participants, 192 completed all of the training courses while 8 dropped out. Our survey covered 170 out of the 200 participants (85%), of whom 164 out of 192 had completed all training courses (85.4%) and 6 out of 8 participants had dropped out (75%). The qualitative data were collected through personal interviews with representatives of granting agencies, employers, and people from the local community. The following were the outcomes of the study: 1. The participants were greatly satisfied with the training courses and with the efforts of FDA to provide them with job opportunities. Despite this fact, the participants indicated that they would like a wider range of job opportunities and to change the common negative image about the jobs they undertake through educating parents and the local community about the importance of enrolling in such projects and entering the labor force. Participants also expressed their concerns in wanting a better acceptance of the local community of working women thorough providing job opportunities for the graduates and to show employers that graduates of this project are competent in the labor force. 2. Results also showed that the Izdihar project generally improved women's economic and social empowerment and improved their self confidence which allowed them to participate in the familial decision making process. The study concludes with numbers of recommendation.