Khaberni - The World Bank recently announced the adoption of a comprehensive restructuring of the "Enhancing Women's Economic Opportunities in Jordan" (EWEO) program in a step aimed at accelerating the pace of achievement and addressing disparities in implementation among program components.
The report, translated by "Al Ghad", explained that restructuring is a pivotal step to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the program for enhancing economic opportunities for women, in addition to increasing the level of ambition in financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, alongside improving the quality of childcare services, which enhances the ability of Jordanian women to actively participate in the national economy.
The restructuring came in response to several challenges faced by the program since its launch, notably the disparities in implementation among the various program components that began operation in 2024, despite financial and technical progress. The restructuring was particularly influenced by the withdrawal of funding from the United States Agency for International Development, especially around the "e-commerce stores" initiative to support women's entrepreneurship.
The restructuring also comes within the framework of the need for technical corrections in baseline data and calculation mechanisms, particularly in the areas of financial inclusion and childcare, in addition to institutional reforms, including the dissolution of the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Authority and transferring its responsibilities to the Ministry of Social Development to ensure the continuity of licensing and accreditation of childcare professionals.
The report confirmed that the restructuring does not require additional funding beyond the program's original budget that began operation in 2024 with a total of 226 million dollars; it involved adjusting targets and disbursement mechanisms within the existing funding.
The most significant modifications include increasing the financial allocation for financial inclusion from 20 million dollars to 30 million dollars, to enhance the number of electronic portfolios and bank accounts owned by women, and amending the cap on childcare subsidies through the social security program to become 2.5 million dollars for every thousand additional mothers up to a maximum of 15 million dollars, and increasing the retrospective finance cap from 10 million dollars to 11 million dollars.
At the same time, the allowances for loans to women were reduced from 20 million dollars to 10 million dollars as a result of changing the target from a percentage to an absolute number, reflecting a more accurate and realistic level of ambition within the same program.
Spending a third of the program’s financing
The total amount spent from the program until November 2025 amounts to approximately 74.18 million dollars, which is about a third of the total financing of 226 million dollars, including 221 million dollars as a loan from the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and 5 million dollars from the Early Education Partnership Fund grant. The program is scheduled to continue until June 30, 2028, and these spent amounts include 54.11 million dollars linked to two main outcomes, namely the adoption of flexible work arrangements and the necessary instructions to activate the nursery law, in addition to an additional 11.2 million dollars spent in October 2025, for new government projects that were approved to be deducted from the initial payment.
