As a result of the government’s investment in the educational and health sectors, Jordan has a highly educated and skilled work force. The country is characterized as an exporter of human resources in the region. Currently, its labour force is young in its age structure. With the decreasing job opportunities abroad, there has been increasing rates of youth unemployment (15 percent) especially among the educated. One positive angle of this young age structure, however, is the increasing labour force participation of young women (65 percent below 30 years), many of them as skilled professionals.

Although the population is highly educated (with an adult literacy rate of 89.2 percent), its high population growth rate (3 percent) and its young age structure make it a challenge for the economy to absorb the increasing workforce and sustain high living standards (GDP of US$8.1 billion with 3.1 percent annual growth). Since 1987, Jordan has struggled with a substantial debt burden, lower per capita income and rising unemployment (30 percent). Given the scarcity of natural resources, the Government attaches importance to investing in its human capital, whilst creating an adequate political and economic environment for domestic and foreign investment. Moreover, the government is exerting efforts to maintain the country’s deficit at 6 percent: the value-added tax (VAT) will be set at 15 percent, an income-tax law is under consideration, and the privatization continues (water and wastewater, electricity, and the postal service).

The Ministry of Labour (MOL) is showing interest in implementing programmes for the promotion of micro and small enterprises and cooperatives with a view to fighting unemployment through income-generating projects. It has also expressed interest in labour statistics, women workers, and executing a technical cooperation project on the "Establishment of a Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Training Centre". H.E. Mr. Eid El Fayez was appointed Minister of Labour in 1999. Previously, Mr. El Fayez was the Advisor to the Royal Palace, the Secretary-General to the Ministry of Youth. Mr. El Fayez, as a chairman of the Arab Labour Conference (April 2001) and chairman of the Arab group at the International Labour Conference (June 2001).

The Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) was established in 1962 as a non-profit organization which aims to promote national economic development. It has a long history of cooperation with the ILO and has benefited from technical assistance in the form of staff training, consultancy services, seminars and workshops, and the provision of publications.

Workers’ organizations are represented by the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions (GFJTU) which has a long-standing relationship with the ILO. The ILO provides technical assistance to the Federation in the form of fellowships and study tours, seminars and workshops, and research. Recently, the ILO organized a national seminar on occupational safety and health and trade unions (May 2000) and another seminar on the ILO Declaration (April 2001).

The National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour became operational in 2000 (total budget: $93,000, funded by IPEC inter-regional programme): the programme is designed to strengthen the capacities of the stakeholders and to establish proper policies and programmes;

A tripartite national seminar on international labour standards and the Declaration for Fundamental Principles and Rights at work was organized in Amman in May 2001 and fellowships were awarded to the Jordanian authorities to participate in Turin courses on international labour standards during 2000.

ILO mission was fielded to Jordan in May 2001, to develop a project document on strengthening capacities of the tripartite partners for promotion of the Declaration.

ILO is implementing the following two technical cooperation projects:

• JOR/98/009: Support to Business Training for Micro and Small Enterprises (budget: $523,113; donors: UNDP and USAID, scheduled to be completed in November 2001), designed to develop capacities in the private commercial and non-profit sector for delivering practical business training and counseling to micro and small enterprises.
• JOR/96/01M/ITA: Handicraft Promotion (budget: $1.8 million; donor: Italy)

Jordan (the Vocational Training Corporation) hosted the "Sub-regional Workshop on Alternative Approaches to Finance Skill Development Programmes in the Arab States" (May 2001) and benefited from "Sub-regional Workshop on Practical Mechanisms to Link Training and Employment" (Kuwait, February 2001);

A training workshop on community-based rehabilitation practitioners was organized in Amman in February 2001;

Successive technical advisory missions were undertaken to Jordan to advise on the methodology for estimating the unemployment rate;

AGFUND has approved its financial contribution (US$90,000) to ILO project proposal "Establishment of Community-based Rehabilitation Training Centre" in Jordan, which is designed to enhance capacities on training of community workers through assistance to the National Council for Welfare and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons and Mu’ta University. ILO is currently seeking co-financing donors to secure the necessary funding for this project.

A technical advisory mission on cooperative development is scheduled to be fielded later in 2001.

During the period under review, Jordan benefited from the "ILO/DANIDA Interregional Programme to Support and Design the Implementation of Tripartite National Occupational Safety and Health Policies and Measures" as follows:

• A national seminar on train the trainers for OSH administration staff was organized in Amman in April 2000;
• Two senior staff from the Ministry of Labour undertook a study tour to Tunisia in September 2000;
• Two OSH inspectors participated in the Turin course on occupational safety and health inspection system (November 2000);
• Also, five fellowships were awarded to the Jordanian authorities to participate in Turin Center training courses on occupational safety and health.

Roundtable discussions on the "Functions and Objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Department at the Amman Chamber of Industry" were conducted (Amman, December 2000). The objective of the discussions was to enhance the role of the Amman Chamber of Industry in providing services in the field of occupational safety and health, and to identify the basic needs of the Chamber in this technical field.

A training course on labour inspection was organized in Amman in April 2001;

A technical advisory mission was undertaken to the Social Security Institution in Jordan on Early Retirees Pension Funds in November 2000;

A study on the "Impact of Globalization on Women Workers in Jordan" has been launched. The study is designed to collect the baseline data on the working conditions of women workers in the evolving textile sector in Jordan.

A comparative study on laws governing the public service has been undertaken;

Jordan participated in the ILO/ALO "Arab Inter-regional Seminar on Tripartism and Social Dialogue" and in ILO/ICATU sub-regional seminars;

ILO assisted the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions in the organization of a national seminar on the ILO Declaration (April 2001) and another seminar on occupational safety and health and trade unions (May 2000); technical and financial contributions were provided to employers’ and workers’ bipartite seminar on productivity and social protection (May 2001).

Jordan ratified a total of 19 ILO Conventions including seven core Conventions, namely:

• Convention No. 29: Forced Labour, 1930
• Convention No. 98: Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, 1949
• Convention No. 100: Equal Remuneration, 1951
• Convention No. 105: Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957
• Convention No. 111: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958
• Convention No. 138: Minimum Age, 1973

Convention No. 182: Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999

 Updated by CHW. Approved by RD. Last update: 3 August 2001.