Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Jordan *

CEDAW/C/JOR/CO/6

United Nations / CEDAW/C/JOR/CO/6
/ Convention on the Elimination
of All Formsof Discrimination
against Women / Distr.: General
3 March 2017
ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION
Original: English

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women

Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Jordan[*]

1.The Committee considered the sixth periodic report of Jordan (CEDAW/C/JOR/6) at its 1476th and 1477th meetings, on 16 February 2017 (see CEDAW/C/SR.1476 and 1477). The Committee’s list of issues and questions is contained in CEDAW/C/JOR/Q/6 and the responses of Jordan are contained in CEDAW/C/JOR/Q/6/Add.1.

A.Introduction

2.The Committee appreciates the submission by the State party of its sixth periodic report. It also appreciates the State party’s written replies to the list of issues and questions raised by the pre-sessional working group and welcomes the oral presentation by the delegation and the further clarifications provided in response to the questions posed orally by the Committee during the dialogue.

3.The Committee commends the State party on its delegation, which was headed by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Her Excellency Ms. Saja Majali, and included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Affairs, the Jordanian National Commission for Women, the Supreme Judge Department and the Permanent Mission of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

B.Positive aspects

4.The Committee welcomes the progress achieved since the consideration in 2012 of the State party’s fifth periodic report (CEDAW/C/JOR/5) in undertaking legislative reforms, in particular the adoption of the following legislation:

(a)The Social Security Act, in 2014, designed to enhance social and economic protection for women, particularly those working in small businesses;

(b)Regulations Governing the Maintenance Loan Fund, in 2015, which aims at expediting the payment of adjudicated maintenance in case of non-payment;

(c)Amendments to the Civil Service Code, in 2013, whichgrant male employees paternity leave and female employees a daily nursing hour for nine months following maternity leave.

5.The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to improve its institutional and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, such as the adoption of the following:

(a)The National Framework for Family Protection against Violence, in 2016, the Communication Strategy on Gender-based Violence, in 2015, and the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Women (2014-2017), in 2014;

(b)The National Strategy for Women (2013-2017), in 2013;

(c)The Ministry of Health Family Planning Strategy (2013-2017) and the National Reproductive Health/Family Planning Strategy (2013-2017), in 2013;

(d)The Strategy to Promote Women’s Political Participation in All Elected Bodies at Parliamentary, Municipal, Union and Chamber of Commerce and Industry Level (2012-2017), in 2012;

(e)The creation of anti-trafficking units within the Public Security Directorate, in 2012;

6.The Committee welcomes the increased financial resources allocated by the State party to the National Centre for Human Rights as well as its reaccreditation, in 2016, as an “A” status national human rights institution by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

C.Factors and difficulties preventing the effective implementation of the Convention

7.The Committee acknowledges the impact of the combined economic, demographic and security challenges facing Jordan as a consequence of the continuing conflicts in the region, in particular the Syrian crisis, which has resulted in:

(a)A mass influx of refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic to Jordanian territory, estimated at 1.4 million persons;

(b)The social and economic cost to Jordanian society as a whole, which has translated into a sharp increase in poverty and unemployment and overstretched national health and education systems, basic services and infrastructures;

(c)A deteriorating security situation;

8.The Committee notes with concern the insufficient support from the international community to alleviate the burden on the State party and the host community and calls on the donors to match the humanitarian needs as identified by the United Nations.

9.The Committee is concerned about the persistent rise of fundamentalism in the country, which has a negative impact on women’s rights.

D.Parliament

10.The Committee stresses the crucial role of the legislative power in ensuring the full implementation of the Convention (see the statement by the Committee on its relationship with parliamentarians, adopted at the forty-fifth session, in 2010). It invites the Parliament, in line with its mandate, to take the necessary steps regarding the implementation of the present concluding observations between now and the next reporting period under the Convention.

E.Principal areas of concern and recommendations

Refugee, asylum-seeking and stateless women

11.The Committee commends the State party for the open border and reception policy that it has had for years regarding Palestinian refugees and those from Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, and its remarkable and sustained efforts to ensure protection of and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers. It also welcomes the measures put in place to cope with the massive arrival of Syrian refugees, half of whom are women. The Committee is concerned, however, about the precarious and insecure living conditions of female refugees, in particular those who liveoutside refugee campsand/or are undocumented.It also notes that Palestinian refugee women fleeing the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic are often deprived ofbasic services and essential goods, including education, economic opportunities and health care, and are at a heightened risk of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, labour and sexual exploitation, as well as arrest, detention, forced relocation to refugee camps, and refoulement. The Committee is furthermore concerned about:

(a)The policy of nonadmission of Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which was adopted in January 2013, as well as the reported forcible return to the Syrian Arab Republic of a number of Palestinian refugees, including women and girls;

(b)Cases of Palestinian mothers fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic being prevented from entering the State party while their Syrian husband and children were allowed to do so;

(c)The pervasive underreporting of gender-based violence against refugee women, including sexual violence and exploitation of prostitution, and the limited availability of specialized services;

(d)Early and/or child and forced marriages of refugee women and girls to Syrian and Jordanian men, often in polygamous marriages, for socioeconomic reasons or protection purposes;

(e)Reports of arbitrary withdrawal of Jordanian nationality from citizens of Palestinian origin, including women.

12.The Committee recommends, in line with its general recommendation No.32 (2014) on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women, that the State party take prompt measures to improve the security of women and girl refugees and asylum seekers, increase their access to education, training, livelihood opportunities and health care, as well as basic services and essential goods for refugee women and children, and ensure that they are not compelled into sexual or labour exploitation. It also recommends that the State party:

(a)Ensure that the principle of non-refoulement is upheld for all women and girls in need of international protection, by abolishing the policy of non-admission of Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria, introducing procedural safeguards against refoulement and providing effective remedies in expulsion proceedings, establishing gender-sensitive asylum procedures and defining gender-based violence as a ground for asylum, in line with articles 1 and 2 of the Convention;

(b)Ensure that refugees and asylum seekers, in particular women, are informed about the national referral mechanisms for victims of sexual and gender-based violence and how to gain access to the formal justice system;

(c)Seek technical support for the establishment of a system to collect disaggregated data on incidents of gender-based violence against women, in particular sexual violence, and incidents of forced prostitution and child and/or forced marriage of refugee women and girls, and provide victims with medical and psychosocial assistance and access to justice, in line with article 2 of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice;

(d)Put an end to the revocation of Jordanian nationality of refugees from Palestinian origin residing in the State party;

(e)Continue to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations system to increasethe support from the international community to share the economic burden and provide for the needs of the refugee population, including resettlement and humanitarian admission opportunities, and continue to cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Implementation and visibility of the Convention

13.The Committee notes that under article 33 of the Constitution and article 24 of the Civil Law, international treaties ratified by the State party such as the Conventionform an integral part of, and take precedence over, national law. It notes, however, the absence of information about court proceedings in which provisions of the Convention were directly invoked or applied, which may indicate a continuing lack of awareness in society in general, and among women in particular, and insufficient knowledge among the judiciary and the legal profession of the Convention.

14.The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)Ensure that legislative measures to eliminate discrimination against women are in full conformity with the Convention;

(b)Ensure that the Convention takes precedence over national laws, and its direct applicability and enforceability within the national legal framework;

(c)Further enhance capacity-building programmes for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law enforcement officials on the application of international legal norms and standards relating to women’s human rights, including the Convention and the jurisprudence of the Committee, and make information on those instruments available in national language to all women and girls, inter alia by using information campaigns in the media and posting the Convention and all general recommendations issued by the Committee on the relevant government websites.

Withdrawal of reservations

15.Notwithstanding the explanations given by the delegation, the Committee remains concerned about the State party’s reluctance to withdraw its reservations to articles 9, paragraph 2, and 16, paragraph 1 (c), (d) and (g).

16.The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)Withdraw its reservations made upon ratification to the Convention regarding articles 9, paragraph 2, and 16, paragraph 1 (c), (d) and (g);

(b)Intensify its efforts in discussing with leaders of religious communities and religious scholars, taking into consideration best practices in the region and in countries members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to overcome resistance to the withdrawal of such reservations.

Constitutional and legislative framework

17.The Committee remains concerned about the lack of comprehensive legislation on gender equality as well as the absence of sex and gender as a prohibited ground of discrimination in article 6 of the Constitution.It is also concerned about the limited scope and applicability of the procedure for challenging laws deemed to be incompatible with the Constitution and international legal obligations.

18.The Committee recommends that the State party adopt and effectively implement comprehensive legislation on gender equality, including a prohibition of discrimination against women, in line with articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. It also recommends that the State party address the lack of sex and gender as a prohibited ground of discrimination in its Constitution. It further recommends that the State party amend the Constitutional Court Act (2012) to enable stakeholders to challenge laws deemed to be incompatible with the Constitution and international legal obligations.

Discriminatory laws

19.The Committee notes with appreciation that a number of laws and regulations have recently been promulgated or are being amended to promote and afford greater protection to women’s rights, in particular the repeal of the provision in the Passports Act whichhad made the issuance of a wife’s passport conditional upon her husband’s or guardian’s consent. It is concerned, however, about the persistence of discriminatory provisions in various domestic laws, in particular the Penal Code, the Family Violence Protection Act, the Personal Status Act, the Labour Code, the Social Security Act, the Civil Retirement Act and the Nationality Act.

20.The Committee recommends that the State party expedite a comprehensive review to ensure the compatibility of its legislation with the provisions of the Convention, and recommends that it accelerate its efforts in repealing all remaining discriminatory provisions in its domestic legislation, in line with articles 1 and 2 of the Convention and Sustainable Development Goal 5.1 to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

Participation of women in peace processes

21.The Committee commends the State party’s commitment to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security and notes that a National Action Plan for the implementation of such resolutions is being developed. It notes with concern, however, that the national action plan has not yet been adopted and that no timeframe has been provided for its implementation.

22.The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)Expedite the adoption of the National Action Plan on women, peace and security, and develop effective tools for measuring its outcomes;

(b)Ensure the participation of women at all levels in the implementation of the projected National Action Plan and increase support to local women’s organizations and networks that are active in peace initiatives and post-conflict reconstruction processes; and

(c)Ensure that sufficient financial resources are allocated to its Women, Peace and Security agenda and its National Action Plan, in line with the recommendations of the Global Study on the implementation of the Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).

Access to justice

23.The Committee notes the numerous complaints mechanisms accessible to women victims of discrimination or violence, including the Women’s Rights Unit of the National Centre for Human Rights, the Women’s Complaint Unit of the Jordanian National Commission for Women and the Justice Centre for Legal Aid. The Committee is, however, concerned about persisting barriers to women’s access to justice, in particular:

(a)Women’slimited knowledge of their rights;

(b)Language barriers faced by women wishing to claim their rights, in particular migrant and refugee women;

(c)The lack of adequate legal aid services;

(d)The lack of knowledge and sensitivity on the part of law enforcement officials and legal practitioners regarding women’s rights.

24.The Committee, in line with its general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice, recommends that the State party:

(a)Enhance women’s awareness of their rights and their means of enforcing them, placing particular emphasis on the integration into curricula at all levels of education on women’s rights and gender equality, including legal literacy programmes, and emphasizing the crucial role of women’s access to justice and the role of men and boys as advocates for the promotion of women’s rights;

(b)Institutionalize systems of legal aid and public defence that are accessible, sustainable and responsive to the needs of women and ensure that such services are provided in different languages and in a timely, continuous and effective manner at all stages of judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings, including alternative dispute resolution mechanisms;

(c)Take immediate steps, including capacity-building and training programmes for justice system personnel on the Convention and women’s rights, to eliminate gender stereotyping and ensure that religious courts harmonize their norms, procedures and practices with the human rights standards enshrined in the Convention and other international human rights instruments.

National machinery for the advancement of women

25.The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to increase the visibility and the financial allocations of the Jordanian National Commission for Women,as well as the development of other departmental and intergovernmental coordinating mechanisms on women’s equality. However, it remains concerned about the institutional weakness, limited status, insufficient decision-making authority, inadequate human, technical and financial resources, and lack of adequate presence at the Governorate and local level of the national machinery for the advancement of women, as well as the obstacles facing coordination and gender mainstreaming throughout all government bodies.

26.The Committee recommends thatthe State party:

(a)Further strengthen the institutional capacity of the national machinery for the advancement of womenand provide it with the mandate, decision-making power and human, technical and financial resources necessary to mainstream gender equality throughout all policies of the ministries and Government offices and for it to be able to open branch offices in all governorates, in particular in rural areas.;

(b)Continue to ensure that the national machinery coordinates and cooperates with civil society and women’s non-governmental organizations to promote participatory planning for the advancement of women;

(c)Undertake an impact assessment of the National Strategy for Women in Jordan (2013-2017) to evaluate the progress made towards gender equalityand develop a new strategy for the period 2018-2022 as well as a plan of action that clearly defines the competencies of national and local authorities regarding its implementation and is supported by a comprehensive data collection and monitoring system.

Temporary special measures

27.The Committee welcomes State party’s efforts in applying temporary special measures with regard to women’s political participation, such as the provisions of quotas in the new Parliamentary Elections Act (2016) and the revised Municipalities Act (2015). However, the Committee is concerned that temporary special measures are not sufficiently applied as a necessary strategy to accelerate the achievement of substantive equality between women and men in other areas covered by the Convention, in particular employment and education.