Women Made of Gold

Milestones of the lives of a number of Jordanian female leaders in various fields 

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Women Made of Gold

Summary in English

SIGI Honors Jordanian Female Pioneers with "Women Made of Gold"

Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI) honored Jordanian female pioneers who have made a significant impact on their communities through documenting and showcasing the journeys of twenty Jordanian women as examples of influential figures. These women have shattered the stereotypical image of women, becoming living examples of women's capacity for leadership and change.

"Women Made of Gold" was chosen by SIGI as the title of the book documenting the golden journeys of the Jordanian women who surpassed challenges, confronted the impossible, and broke through the traditional framework to achieve greatness with the strength, elegance, and impact of gold.

In her statement, the President of Solidarity Is Global Institute, Professor In'am Al-Asha, mentioned that the "Women Made of Gold" exemplify Jordanian women but do not encompass all successes across various fields. Many creative and pioneering women leaders in different fields have yet to be recognized but are not mentioned due to the fact that they are out of reach and SIGI is entitled to include them in the future. She highlighted that there are numerous Jordanian women who are known internationally, regionally, and locally as change-makers within their environments and communities, serving as icons to emulate.

This book is an initiative by the Solidarity Is Global Institute to highlight successful female examples who have contributed significantly. They serve as real role models for the new generation, demonstrating how they overcame challenges and social, legal, and other barriers at all levels to achieve what they have.

Through this initiative we look forward at SIGI to more contributions from Jordanian women and men alike, providing true role models that sow hope and achievement in the hearts of their youth.

“Women Made of Gold” book include the following names:

Entrepreneur Fidaa Al-Hamoud-The late Dr. Hala Hamad-Entrepreneur Asia Yaghi-Entrepreneur Maisar Al-Saadi-Entrepreneur Abla Abu Ulba-Entrepreneur Ferial Al-Joharan- Entrepreneur Engineer Nancy Abu Hayyan-Entrepreneur Salma Al-Sharafat- Entrepreneur  Dr. Amal Al-Daghstani-Dr. Israa Ahmed Al-Tawalbeh-Entrepreneur Samia Al-Jubour-Entrepreneur Tareed Hakmat- Entrepreneur Dr. Inam Khalaf-Entrepreneur Noha Al-Muayyatah-Entrepreneur Haifa Al-Bashir-Judge Ehsan Barkat-Entrepreneur Hana’a Al-Afghani-Entrepreneur Dr. Jameela Abdul Latif Shteiwi-Entrepreneur Ayda Dua'isat-Dr. Adab Al-Saud, Dr. Israa Ahmed Al-Tawalba, entrepreneur Samia Al-Jabour, entrepreneur Taghreed Hikmat, entrepreneur Dr. Inaam Khalaf, entrepreneur Noha Al-Maaytah, entrepreneur Haifa Al-Bashir, judge Ihsan Barakat, entrepreneur Hanaa Al-Afghani
The stories of these pioneering women, when used as a local model "similar to us and our circumstances," can be replicated and adopted as exemplary models to follow. Consequently, this helps prevent the usual accusations of westernization, western agendas, and other pre-prepared charges, especially concerning women, their issues, and human rights issues in general.

About the project: This book is part of the "Safe Pathways" project, policies to combat harassment in the workplace and environment. The project is implemented with support from the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF).

Conclusion

There are a series of points and themes that underpin the preparation of this booklet titled "Jordanian Pioneers," which has documented and chronicled milestones from the lives of several Jordanian women across various fields and specialties. Therefore, SIGI views the completion of this work within the context of the "Anti-Harassment Policies in the Workplace and Environment Project" as a significant addition to the resources, literature, research, studies, and documents of SIGI. These will be employed in various fields due to the nature of the goals and objectives that prompted SIGI to initiate the first phase of "Preserving Jordanian Feminist Memory."

The idea of capturing and documenting these rich, meaningful lives, brimming with lessons, experiences, and human trials of several Jordanian pioneers, aligns with achieving numerous objectives and goals fundamentally.

The First Goal,

is to honor these women and shed light on their human experiences and expertise throughout their lives, is to express our gratitude to them. We are thankful because through your efforts, perseverance, patience, and successes, you have illuminated the path's darkness and created horizons of dreams that can be pursued and achieved by those who follow you, women and girls alike, across the realm of dreams and possibilities. Particularly, as it is customary in our country for most of us to be honored during "memorial ceremonies," we prefer and urgently need recognition for our achievements as women, pioneers, leaders, creators, and mothers "during our lifetimes and not after our deaths." Therefore, within the framework of documenting and disseminating their experiences, we aim to establish and highlight their successes, benefiting from them as valuable lessons and exemplary success stories. Hence, "thank you" from the heart to the heart, and we bow in respect to their efforts and accomplishments.

The Second Goal,

which involves the richness of these lives with lessons and meanings learned as success stories, aims to serve as a curriculum for some and a guiding compass for others. They are like beacons illuminating the path in the lives of women or young girls taking their first steps in professional or family life. This is achieved through drawing inspiration from models based on these practical experiences and real-life trials that resonate with many aspects and circumstances.

Furthermore, these real-life stories and experiences will form an essential part of the literature, guides, research, and studies of SIGI. Therefore, they are integral to the process of knowledge building, skills development, and capacity building, which will be used and deployed in awareness and educational programs, particularly targeted at the women's community.

It's worth noting that SIGI plays a constructive and pivotal role in capacity building for numerous civil society associations and organizations, as well as our partners across various regions of Jordan. Additionally, our efforts extend to youth sectors, including young men and women, adolescents, high school and university students, which are among the targeted demographics of SIGI.

The Selection Mechanism and Criteria for the First group of Jordanian Pioneers,

For the women chosen by SIGI across various fields, encompassed an approach that emphasized diversity in specialties, fields of work, experiences, age groups, and geographic locations including cities, villages, refugee camps, and rural areas.

It's important to note that this sample is not exhaustive or necessarily representative due to the vast number of influential female models across Jordan's geography. There are likely hundreds or even thousands of impactful female figures who have not been highlighted or acknowledged, either due to circumstance or oversight. In an attempt from SIGI to preserve the feminist memory and to secure the required resources for this achievement.

We would like to draw your attention that these brief interviews are not autobiographies but rather excerpts of their experiences and achievements, capturing insights and challenges. While efforts were made to capture their stories during these interviews, it is acknowledged that much remains unknown or undocumented. 

Therefore, SIGI aims to preserve these memories and contribute to the legacy for future generations, leveraging available resources to potentially document these lives through multimedia platforms, capturing the essence of their memories through visuals, words, gestures, and emotions.

In the future, efforts will continue to transform “according to available resources” these lives into documented narratives, using the camera's lens to capture the complete picture of these women as they creatively extract from the reservoir of memory.

What about the Challenges and Difficulties faced by these Jordanian Female Entrepreneurs?

 As they reflect on key milestones in their journeys, one of the main focuses of the interview was to delve into these obstacles, their nature, causes, and the strategies they employed to overcome them. It is important to recognize that the circumstances, challenges, causes, and coping mechanisms vary from one woman to another, alongside differences in familial and societal support networks.

The purpose of addressing these points revolves around two crucial goals:

- Preserving the rich and valuable feminine memory as a legacy for future generations.

- Identifying and documenting the nature of the challenges and barriers they faced, analyzing their causes—whether legal, social, cultural, economic, resource-related, or opportunity-related—and based on this analysis, making recommendations to policymakers, influencers, and stakeholders to mitigate these challenges as much as possible.

It is emphasized that the types of obstacles encountered vary from one individual to another and can often be complex, with multiple facets and causes. Additionally, differences exist in the support networks provided to each woman individually.

For example,

Some females faced primarily economic challenges, such as financial dependence. Others dealt with challenges related to cultural and social heritage, including gender discrimination and inequality. Yet others faced challenges related to the difficulty and fairness of accessing resources and opportunities…Of course, there were those who encountered multiple and complex forms of difficulties and barriers during their journey towards excellence, success, and achievement. Through their resilience and efforts, they were able to bring about change and make a difference both in their personal lives and in the public sphere.

Confidentiality of Monitoring and Documenting the Experiences of Local Women:

We at SIGI are eager to shed light on this topic as follows:

Usually, most of the training materials are rich in various contexts, whether social, economic, cultural, political, or other fields. Here, we mean those literatures used for training, awareness, attitude adjustment, or provision of information, life skills, or others. Case studies of women, as "success stories," are used to make a difference and bring about change in their societies. However, they come from different communities, cultures, customs, and traditions that are completely different and divergent from our reality, resources, and legislation, especially regarding the religious dimension and its interpretations, which many misuse in an unfair and unjust way that often does not favor women, "where some intentionally misinterpret the original text, its purposes, and real meanings, even within the context of laws and regulations." It is well-known that many commonalities among women transcend geographic boundaries, law, customs, traditions, and other areas, such as the subject of violence against women, or the exclusion and marginalization of women, or their "perceived weakness by nature."

Based on the foregoing, the issue of simulating these diverse models becomes difficult and sometimes extremely difficult to the extent that some people consider it impossible. For example, when a trainer reviews the success story of a woman from a community and culture, law, resources, and completely different customs, from the reality and life of those participants in that training session or course, many participants may find that they cannot simulate those models, no matter how influential or compelling they are, even if they express admiration and interest in them.

Therefore,

These pioneering women's stories will serve as local models that "resemble us and our circumstances" and can be emulated and adopted as exemplary. Thus, using these local female models can prevent the usual accusations of westernization and foreign agendas, among other preconceived charges, especially concerning women, their issues, and human rights in general.

Based on all the above, SIGI, as a feminist human rights development organization, works to empower women and enhance their participation in both private and public spheres. It seeks to document and monitor these national/local models, highlighting their successes and their ability to overcome and mitigate challenges. Consequently, this effort aims to improve their quality of life, as well as that of their families and communities, turning their stories and experiences into guiding compasses achievable for many.

Summary of the Entrepreneurship Guide that needs to be translated into English and shared with the donor organization