Background

Jordan’s garment industry is one of the leading exporting industries in the country. While exports dropped in 2020, this was coming on the heels of 2019, the best year for garment exports in Jordan to-date. Garment exports in 2020 were valued at USD 1.6 billion and made up 22 per cent of all exports. While Covid-19 has had an effect on the sector, the sector has fared relatively well in comparison to some other sectors of the Jordanian economy and compared to the garment sector worldwide. The US continued to be Jordan’s largest garment export due to the established Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries, followed by Canada and European countries. The exporting garment sector employs more than 65,000 workers of which 72% are women and 76% are migrant workers mainly from South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal.

The Better Work Programme is a partnership between the International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. Better Work brings diverse groups together – governments, global brands, factory owners, and unions and workers – to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive. The Better Work Jordan programme (BWJ) was established at the request of the Jordanian Ministry of Labour in 2007 and began operations in mid-2008.

Over the past 10 years, BWJ has been working with the national tripartite constituents to improve working conditions and promote decent work in the garment sector in Jordan. The mandatory status of the programme for those exporting to the US market allowed the programme to create sector-wide impact. Since then, factories have made significant improvements in terms of working conditions and compliance with labour standards – while challenges remain to sustain the programme impact. Under the current strategic phase, BWJ is directing its effort towards sustaining this 10-year impact through enhancing the capacity of national stakeholders (Ministry of Labour, Teide Union, and Employers Organizations) and empowering them to take more responsibility for ensuring a decent working environment and sustainable growth.

Better Work is committed to play a role to provide the needed evidence presents country specific analysis of non-compliance at the aggregate level through Better work Jordan annual report. This report presents findings and observations from Better Work Jordan’s interactions in the garment sector throughout 2021.

People with disabilities make up an estimated one billion, or 15 per cent, of the world’s population. About 80 per cent are of working age. The right of people with disabilities to decent work, however, is frequently denied. People with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, face enormous attitudinal, physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities in the world of work. Compared to non-disabled persons, they experience higher rates of unemployment and economic inactivity and are at greater risk of insufficient social protection that is a key to reducing extreme poverty.

Better Work also monitors discrimination on the basis of ability. Jordanian labour law sets a quota for workers with disabilities. Factories are required to hire a specific share of persons with disabilities based on the number of Jordanians they employ: one person if the factory employs 25-50 Jordanians and four per cent of the Jordanian workforce if the factory employs more than 50 Jordanians.

Additional information

All proposals must be received by email to [email protected] no later than by 8^th June 2022.

Once a preferred consultant is selected, the ILO will enter into more detailed discussions regarding the terms of reference and a precise budget under the contract.