Abu-Ghazaleh Speaks on Mentoring Day at University of Jordan

Special to TAG Educa News Agency

AMMAN – In conjunction with the celebration of International Women’s Day at the University of Jordan (UJ), Dr. Azmi Mahafzah, president of the University patronized the launch of the Mentoring Day and Graduation Ceremony of “ANA HUNNA” Female Mentoring Students in the presence of HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh. 

The ANA HUNA female mentoring program is a professional orientation approach, implemented by the German development agency (GIZ) regional program EconoWin in collaboration with the University.

During the ceremony, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that the age of knowledge is mostly characterized by gender equality and that women don’t need empowerment, however, they need to educate themselves by themselves using information and communication technology to pave the way for them to become world knowledge leaders.

 “I am, as a Knowledge Worker, always honored to support women and wish that there will be at least one woman among world knowledge leaders which are currently all men. Creativity and invention are not restricted to a specific gender or country, it only needs a will and a decision by the individual,” Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.

He highly commended the efforts of the University’s Center for Women's Studies noting that the Center should currently focus on the role of women in the digital environment in the era of digital equality and grant women the chance for self-education to adapt and become a part of the age of knowledge.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his happiness at being the first supporter of women, indicating that the Vice-Chair of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization which has achieved global expansion, is a woman as well as 60% of the Organization’s staff. He also emphasized his constant quest to economically empower women by recruiting them, particularly  Palestinian women under occupation and offering them the opportunity to digitally work from home in activities such as translation services.

In her speech at the graduation ceremony, Director of the Center, Dr. Abeer Dababneh, accentuated the University’s pride in implementing this pioneering program that creates congruence between education outputs and labor market requirements. 

She noted that the program is the fruit of the partnership between the Center and EconoWin; it expands choices for female students to get their rights equally and fairly in the labor market by giving them mentoring and guidance.

For her part, Program Director Ms. Hilda Vogelman pointed out that many female university graduates in the Middle East and North Africa face various challenges including social and cultural obstacles, stereotyping, the inability to acquire necessary job guidance as well as their failure to access professional networks as required.

She said that through ANA HUNA project, female students were assisted in dealing with such challenges to achieve their professional goals, and commended the leading role of the University in carrying out this program and the positive impact it  has created in the University.

The program targeted 22 female students from the various faculties of the University to facilitate their access to job opportunities in the labor market, with the participation of 22 female mentors who are either businesswomen or entrepreneurs. The program was not only beneficial to the students, but also to the mentors who expanded their contacts with the mentees, exchanged information, networked with other mentors and strengthened their communication and consulting skills. 

Consequently, the program enabled the students to develop their abilities, enhanced their motivation towards building a professional career and strengthened their self-confidence. 

During the ceremony, success stories and a brief about the program’s achievements were presented.

At the closing ceremony of the event, certificates were presented to students and their mentors.

On the sideline of the event, partners in the project from the private sector and civil society institutions held specialized sessions for students relating to recruitment, entrepreneurship and volunteering. 

It’s worth mentioning that EconoWin is a regional GIZ program that improves the conditions for the economic integration of women in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.