Amman, Aug. 12 (Petra) — Jordan has advanced efforts to improve its
standing on key international benchmarks, recording higher scores in
the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law report while moving
ahead with measures targeting its ranking on the World Economic
Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index.

The progress was outlined in the first-half report of the Economic
Modernization Vision’s 2026-2029 Executive Program, which tracks
action plans designed to strengthen Jordan’s performance across
international indicators.

According to the report, an assessment of the 2026 Women, Business
and the Law findings showed Jordan’s score reaching 52.5 in the legal
frameworks pillar and 68.55 in supportive frameworks.

Jordan was also placed among the world’s six leading reformers over
the report’s reference period, which ran from October 2023 through
October 2025.

As part of preparations for the revised assessment framework, the
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation participated in a
World Bank workshop on May 19-20 addressing the new methodology for
the Women, Business and the Law report.

The methodology, updated in 2025 and reflected in the 2026 report,
broadens the assessment beyond legislation to examine the environment
supporting implementation and the extent to which laws are enforced
in practice.

It is structured around three pillars: legal frameworks, which
measure the laws and regulations providing for equality; supportive
frameworks, which assess the policies, programs, mechanisms and
institutions needed to implement those laws; and expert assessments
of law enforcement, which gauge their application and impact in
practice.

A national team comprising 16 ministries and government institutions
was trained on the revised methodology, including changes to the
calculation of indicators and data collection requirements.

Following a review with the technical team, Jordan’s short- and
medium-term action plan was adjusted to align with the revised
methodology, with the next phase set to place greater emphasis on
supportive frameworks and implementation policies.

A proposed long-term plan was also reviewed to address remaining gaps
in the legal frameworks pillar, particularly in the areas of safety,
mobility and assets.

Work is proceeding in parallel on the action plan for the World
Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index.

Following changes to the methodology and representative sample
criteria of the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey, the
survey period was rescheduled to run from July 2 through Oct. 31.

Among the measures completed under the action plan was the
Ministerial Committee for Women’s Empowerment’s approval of the
Gender Equality Seal for the public and private sectors.

The voluntary national initiative draws on international standards of
excellence adapted to the Jordanian context and was developed jointly
by the Ministerial Committee for Women’s Empowerment, the Jordanian
National Commission for Women and the King Abdullah II Center for
Excellence, through a participatory process involving government and
non-government entities.

Developed under the women’s empowerment strategy of the Economic
Modernization Vision, the initiative seeks to encourage public- and
private-sector institutions to create working environments that
support women’s participation by expanding employment opportunities
and improving workforce retention.

Efforts have also focused on addressing data gaps. The Department of
Statistics published partial data under the entrepreneurship
component of the 2026-2029 medium-term operational plan.

To improve measurement of women’s participation in business ownership
and management, the methodology of the 2018 Economic Establishments
Census was expanded to include, for the first time, a question
identifying the gender of an establishment’s owner or manager,
providing more detailed data on women’s role in owning and leading
businesses.

//Petra// RZ