Association of Banks in Jordan signs a cooperation agreement with Amam Ventures

The Association of Banks in Jordan and Amam Ventures (a gender lens investment fund with a technical assistance arm to support the sustainability and growth of SMEs) signed on Wednesday 15/09/2021 a cooperation agreement to work jointly to enhance the participation of women in senior management and board positions in the Jordanian banking sector. The agreement was signed by the ABJ director general, Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq, and the CEO of Amam Ventures, Tamara Abdel-Jaber.

Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq explained that the agreement serves as a tool for framing cooperation with Amam Ventures, as the ABJ will cooperate with Amam to implement Amam's training program (Get on Board), which is supported by Bank Al Etihad and Finance in Motion, by attracting candidates from banks and promoting participation in the training program. The association will also provide the needed facilities and host the training and meetings sessions. Al-Mahrouq indicated that the agreement would contribute to strengthening the banks’ efforts to support women's access to leadership positions in the banking sector. He added, “This is important since the banking sector employs about 21,000 employees, and the percentage of females working in the sector is approximately 35.2%. Moreover, the banking sector has the most attractive environments for females”.

Al-Mahrouq indicated that supporting the economic participation of Jordanian women and their access to leadership positions is one of the important tools to develop the Jordanian economy and promote growth, in addition to enhance women’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the economic participation rate for females in Jordan reached 14% compared to 54.8% for males, and the unemployment rate among young people reached 25%. Which requires in-depth study by the concerned authorities to address these challenges.

Tamara Abdel Jaber, the CEO of Amam Ventures said that Jordan's performance in the Global Gender Gap report, issued by the World Economic Forum in 2021, is still modest, as Jordan ranked 131 out of 156 countries, and ranked fifth regionally. She indicated that Jordanian women's access to leadership positions is still low at the level of the public and private sectors, as women do not constitute more than 20% of the top level employees in the public sector and no more than 5% of the boards of directors of companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange. She added “Therefore, the signing of this agreement to increase the participation of women on boards of directors in the banking sector represents a great example to follow by other sectors”.