Amman, JORDAN (December 12, 2013) –  The Arab Women Organization (AWO), in partnership with Karama, issued urgent recommendations at the official sessions for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva from October 24^th-25^th, calling upon the Jordanian government to honor commitments and enhance the situation for women in Jordan.  On October 24^th, the four-member delegation, listened to the recommendations of 80 Member States and immediately called upon the official delegation, through the media, to respond positively to the 172 recommendations, especially the 46 recommendations on the women’s issues.

In preparation to the UPR session, AWO formed a coalition with the Mosawa Network, a national network that encompasses 86 grassroots women’s NGOs, and with the campaign entitled “My Mother is a Jordanian and her Nationality is my Right.” The coalition prepared a Shadow Report concerning women’s issues and held two seminars to address the decision-makers and to raise the awareness of civil society activists on the UPR process. The two sessions were held in Aqaba and Amman, in Jordan.

Prior to the UPR review, the Arab Women Organization also coordinated with the other Jordanian delegations to hold a side event in Geneva and lead the media coverage inside Jordan. On October 25^th, a side event was held in conjunction with the official session, where a representative of the AWO delegation spoke about women’s rights in Jordan, with emphasis on the issue of discrimination against women’s right to pass their nationality to their children (if married to non-Jordanians) and other urgent issues. The event was moderated by the Head of the Geneva Institute, an international NGO based in Geneva that assists NGOs in presenting shadow reports.

Right now, AWO is leading an immediate and a long-term follow-up process. In December, a roundtable and a national conference were held to address decision-makers with regard to recommendations resulting from the UPR sessions. Immediate activities aim at affecting the ongoing negotiation between the UPR Troika and the government of Jordan over the final report that is supposed to appear in March 2014. The long-term follow-up includes awareness-raising and advocacy activities ahead of the next official Universal Periodic Review in Geneva in 2017.