WSF Meeting in Amman Under the Patronage of the President of the Senate and Hosted by the Minister of Social Development, 22-23 July 2025
From 22-23 July, the Women for a Sustainable Future (WSF) network convened in Amman, under the patronage of His Excellency Mr Faisal Al-Fayez, President of the Jordanian Senate, and hosted by Jordan's Minister of Social Development, H.E. Wafa Bani Mustafa.
The meeting brought together parliamentarians, government officials and relevant experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Türkiye, and the UK, alongside representatives from international organisations including the International Labour Organization, the League of Arab States, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization.
H.E. Wafa Bani Mustafa, Minister of Social Development (Jordan).
H.E. Faisal Al-Fayez, President of the Senate (Jordan).
Transforming Care Economy Systems
On 22 July, WSF members met with senior Jordanian officials in the Jordanian Senate to identify care economy policies that address the needs of children and people with disabilities whilst supporting women's economic empowerment.
Participants examined how care systems—primarily shouldered by women—significantly limit their workforce participation, despite evidence that implementing universal childcare could boost the global economy by $3.4 trillion by 2030 and add nearly 116 million women to the workforce. H.E. Wafa Bani Mustafa shared Jordan's new nursery licensing system and Cabinet-approved building regulations that will expand childcare infrastructure across the Kingdom.
The network emphasised transforming informal care work into formal economic structures with social protection, citing Sweden's experience where nine out of ten children attend preschool and this enables equal workforce participation between men and women.
Cecily Bayliss, WSF Programme Manager, speaking in the Senate.
From left to right on the panel: H.E. Mr. Issa Murad, Chairman of the Senate Labour and Social Development Commitee; H.E. Faisal Al-Fayez, President of the Senate; H.E. Wafa Bani Mustafa, Minister of Social Development; H.E. Moataz Abu Rumman, Chairman of the Labour, Social Development and Population Committee in the House of Representatives.
The WSF network in the Jordanian Senate, 22 July.
Developing Policies to Address Water Scarcity in the WANA Region and Europe
The second day focused on water scarcity challenges that require comprehensive regional cooperation. As Senate Speaker Al-Fayez noted, these challenges "do not recognise borders" and demand coordinated responses. With approximately 60% of the Arab region's water resources originating outside national borders, participants identified the need to adopt transboundary water management strategies.
Discussions identified gender-responsive policy frameworks that recognise women's traditional water roles whilst enhancing their leadership in governance and climate adaptation.
Meryem Göka, Turkish Parliamentarian and Head of Foreign Relations for the AK Party Women’s Branch.
Baroness Fiona Hodgson, Member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
From left to right: H.E. Jihad Mahamad, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (Jordan); H.E. Muawiya Radaideh, Minister of Environment (Jordan); H.E. Haneen Sayed, Minister of Social Affairs (Lebanon); H.E Wafa Bani Mustafa, Minister of Social Development (Jordan); Cecily Bayliss, WSF Programme Manager.
Strengthening Cross-Regional Parliamentary Cooperation
The WSF network demonstrates the importance of WANA-Europe parliamentary cooperation: addressing challenges related to the care economy and water scarcity transcends borders and demands coordinated solutions that no country can tackle in isolation.
From left to right: Fatma Aksal, Member of Parliament (Türkiye); Sinéad McLaughlin, Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland); Eva Lindh, Member of the Riksdag (Sweden)