OWSD Jordan National Chapter - Activities

March 10, 2021

Previous and Future Activities       

1. The launch of The OWSD Jordan National Chapter:

The OWSD Jordan National Chapter was established in September 2019, and launched on October 15 at the Jordan Society for Scientific Research, Entrepreneurship, and Creativity (JSSREC) in Amman, where the Chapter will be hosted. The launch was attended by 27 members of the new National Chapter as well as other Jordanian researchers and academics.
The President of JSSREC, Redha Al-Khawaldeh, expressed the institute's enthusiasm to support the National Chapter and to cooperate with it to promote Jordanian women in science. OWSD Regional Member for the Arab region, Huda Basaleem, also attended the launch, giving an overview of the role of OWSD in facilitating networking among women scientists worldwide, and emphasizing the importance of increasing the membership in Arab countries.

Sokyna Al-Qatawneh, Vice Chair of the Jordan National Chapter, said that the Chapter is committed to developing cooperation and communication between women scientists in the developing world and with the international scientific community more broadly, and to ensuring that women in developing countries share equally in the social and economic benefits of science and technology. "Establishing a Jordan National Chapter [of OWSD] will have a long-lasting positive impact on the personal development of its members: in particular, on their confidence, resilience, and intercultural understanding," said National Chapter Chair Rana Dajani. "We hope to increase the positive attitudes and self-efficiency of female scientists in Jordan, by encouraging them to be involved and effective in their communities and to find ways to overcome the challenges women face, such as discrimination and family obligations."

The Executive Committee of the National Chapter is formed by:

• Chair: Rana Dajani, Hashemite University
• Vice-Chair: Sokyna Alqatawnah, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan
• Secretary: Maha Aqra, the National Center for Research and Development
• Treasurer: Fadwa Alhalaiqa, Philadelphia University

Among the National Chapter's planned activities are networking and information-sharing between institutions and individuals to promote the increased participation of women in science and technology, and organizing science-based activities, with the involvement of schools, universities, and grassroots groups, that address issues of national concern.
The news about the launching of the OWSD-Jordan National Chapter were disseminated through a number of local media sites, and through the official website of the JSSREC, OWSD and their related accounts on social media.

2. The OWSD Jordan National Chapter members were engaged in the following activities:

•  Prof Rana Dajani was appointed as a president of the Society for the Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab world (SASTA).
• Prof Rana Dajani was invited to speak at the Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2020.
• Dr Sokyna Alqatawneh has attended the World Forum for Women in Science – Brazil 2020 | 4th International Conference for Women in Science without Borders.
• Dr Kawkab Shishani has been awarded a U.S. Scholar Award, visiting professor at School of Public Health Tashkent Medical Academy Uzbekistan ( Feb- June 2020).
• Dr Kawkab Shishani was appointed as a member of Travel Awards Committee, The International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.
• Dr Kawkab Shishani along with other Scientist was granted a fund from FILHA, Finland (2020-2023) to conduct a project, entitled “Assessment of tobacco use among youth in Uzbekistan”. 

• Prof Nihad Almasri was appointed by the WHO and WCPT as a consultant on projects that promote physical therapy and rehabilitation in the LMIC.
• Prof Sana Bardaweel was awarded The Samia Mango Award for Distinguished Female Professors in Jordan.
• Prof Sana Bardaweel received funding from The King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) to support her work in Scientific and Applied Research this year.
• Prof Rana Dajani, Prof Nancy Hakooz, Dr Fadwa Alhaliqa and Dr Sokyna Alqatawneh along with other researchers have submitted a full paper entitled “Three Circles of Alemat: Growth and Sustainability through Mentoring” to the 1st International Conference: Women in Academia 2020 which will be held in Amman-Jordan this year. This paper is related to their experience in the “Three Circles of Alemat” project.

3. Future Activities: 

Due to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Jordanian government has put the country under a full lockdown. All Jordanian organizations, universities and schools are strictly following the instructions and procedures recommended by our authorities. Therefore, many activities will be suspended until further notice. However, we have planned the following social activities to be conducted in the near future:

• Discuss our national chapter future plan with its members as soon as we can either virtually or in our office at JSSREC.
• Seminar tours to Jordanian universities to introduce our national chapter and promote our message towards women empowerment.
• Workshops in different topics where our national chapter members will provide interactive workshops in different fields.
• Orientation for girls in high schools to encourage them to go for STEM fields.
• Cooperate with many Jordanian youth platforms (such as Zain innovation, Ideas factory, Gaming lab, …etc.) in organizing and contribution to expand their activities according to our society needs.