Amman, December 2, 2024: Zain Jordan, in partnership with UN Women, organized a dialogue session on Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in the workplace. The session aimed to highlight the importance of implementing these principles to support an inclusive and diverse work environment that promotes gender equality and women's empowerment.
The session took place at Zain's headquarters on King Abdullah II Street and was opened by UN Women Representative in Jordan, Nicolas Burniat. It was chaired by UN Women's Women's Economic Empowerment Specialist, Hazar Asfoura, and featured panelists including Zain Jordan's CEO Fahd Al-Jassim, Union Bank CEO Nadia Al-Saeed, Project Manager at the National Council for Family Affairs Dr. Haitham Al-Zoubi, and Director of Al-Istiklal Hospital Dr. Mueid Omar.
During the session, Fahd Al-Jassim presented Zain's initiatives and policies that promote gender balance, inclusion, and equality, including an equal pay policy based on competence and performance regardless of gender. He also highlighted the launch of the "Blind Hiring" initiative in 2019, which ensures hiring is based solely on skills and experience to enhance transparency, diversity, and inclusion, and to increase women's representation in leadership positions. Al-Jassim noted significant progress in bridging the gender gap in technical departments, with a marked increase in female representation this year.
Al-Jassim also highlighted Zain's pioneering initiative of establishing an in-house childcare center for employees in 2000. This initiative has greatly improved job performance, increased job satisfaction, and empowered working mothers to balance their professional and personal lives. The initiative has also positively impacted employee retention, with an 83% retention rate for women and a 100% return-to-work rate after maternity leave. Additionally, Zain offers 120 days of paid maternity leave, flexible working options, remote work for mothers, and 5 days of paternity leave.
He emphasized Zain's commitment to integrating people with disabilities through its "We Able" program, launched in 2019, which has increased the percentage of employees with disabilities over the past five years. Al-Jassim also mentioned Zain's focus on employee mental health, highlighting the launch of the "Be Well" program in 2020, which provides monthly counseling sessions, mental health activities in collaboration with the Kuwaiti Counseling Center, and mental health assistant training for employees.
The session underscored the importance of family-supportive policies in the workplace and their role in empowering women and enhancing their economic and social contributions. It also focused on mechanisms for integrating WEPs into internal policies and the positive impact these principles have on organizational performance and sustainability. The dialogue included successful case studies and statistics reflecting the benefits of adopting these principles in the labor market.