JORDAN CONTINUES TO STRIVE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN SPORT

As Jordan continues to lead the way in the region for empowering women and girls and striving towards gender equality, the sports industry celebrated some astonishing work and achievements by its remarkable women to mark International Women’s Day this week.

Females have been at the forefront of sporting development in the Kingdom since it was made a strong priority by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Jordan Olympic Committee President.

The progress made has been highlighted this week by three-time Taekwondo Olympian Nadine Dewani, who continues to make her career in sport after retiring from competition.

“HRH Prince Feisal cares about women in sport and has made it a fundamental part of the Jordan Olympic Committee strategy,” she said.

“While International Women’s Day is just one day where we can celebrate extraordinary women and girls across the world, here in Jordan we strive every day to empower women for gender parity in sport.

We are very proud of what has been achieved and the work will continue unabated.”

Jordan has hosted several major women’s sporting events in recent years, including the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, and is preparing to host the AFC Asian Women’s Cup this April.

The CEO of its Organising Committee, Farah Badarneh, used International Women’s Day to underline the progress being made.

“We used the day to send a strong message of support to the world that Jordan women and girls can overcome any challenges to participate and succeed in sport,” she said.

“Not only are more females playing sport, but there are a growing number of women now occupying top roles in sports management in Jordan.”

Nuha Hattar, Secretary General of Jordan Gymnastic Federation, is one of Jordan’s longest serving sports figures and is a member of the Women in Sport International Federation.

She was also Jordan’s first Chef de Mission for a major multi-sports event when she took charge of Team Jordan at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau. “As a Jordanian woman, I’m so proud of what we have achieved,” she said.

“Women are proving to be more than capable of taking on the top jobs and roles in sport. We have to give thanks to the Hashemite Family for supporting us all.”

Jacklin Al Dokom was the first Jordanian woman to qualify for an Olympics at Seoul 1988, and she said that the progress made since in Jordan has been encouraging.

“There have been some exciting developments since I participated and I hope that the hard work will continue so that we can see more and more Jordanian women compete on the world’s biggest stages, like the Olympics.”