GENDER AND MICROFINANCE SECTOR IN JORDAN

An analytical study from a gender perspective

2012

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Preface

Year after year, small loan-financed projects acquire an increasing importance at the international level. They are considered among the most prominent mechanisms on which a near universal consensus exists that they succeed in contributing to the fighting of poverty and lessening the rates of unemployment, especially among the poor and marginalized categories, foremost among which are women. Since an early time, Jordan was among the countries that has shown a clear enthusiasm for the adoption and the application of that mechanism on a large scale. This was expressed in the multiplicity of the official and the private institutions that undertook the task of offering loans to establish and care for small projects. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to conduct field studies to evaluate the extent of the success of that mechanism in realizing the goals for which it was created to achieve, and uncover the most prominent problems that stand in its way, and contribute to the impediment of these objectives.

Within this vision, this field study of evaluative nature was conducted trying to view the question of small projects from a gender perspective. It tries to discover and follow-up the defective points in these projects that are basically based on the sex of the borrower. The aim in the end is the realization of a degree of understanding that is based on the actual field research that grants this study the ability to propose some applicable recommendations that lessen the images of unfairness and discrimination that may rise from favoring one sex over the other in benefiting from the small loans, regarding the opportunities of borrowing, training, follow-up and assessment.

Within this context, the researcher and the gender division in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation wish to thank and appreciate all the bodies and individuals who have facilitated the conduct of this study, whether through providing or collecting of the data.

The results, conclusions and interpretation in this book are those of its authors. They do not necessarily reflect the view points of the executive directors of the World Bank or the governments that they represent.

GENDER AND MICROFINANCE SECTOR IN JORDAN: An analytical study from a gender perspective

Prepared by: Dr. Khalid Suliman

Technical Support:

Majd Hammad

Boshra Bin Tareef

Translation: Ubab Murad

Design & Layout: Advanced Printing Solutions

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Contents Page #

Preface 3

First chapter: Introduction and Background 7

Importance of the study 11

Methodological preludes 12

The Sample composition 13

Second chapter: Policies Governing Small Projects 15

The concept of small and micro loans 18

The institutions and the programmes 19

The challenges that face the financing institutions 22

The challenges that face the borrowing women 23

Third chapter: Discussion of Survey Results 26

The general characteristics of the members of the sample 26

The types of the Projects 27

The problems that face the owners of the projects 29

The reasons and motives for the institution of the project 30

The small projects and the empowerment of the woman 32

Conclusion and recommendations 33

Tables Appendix 37

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As soon as it succeeded in acquiring a considerable measure of international recognition that was dedicated in the 1995 (Beijing)(1) conference and was later enhanced in the (micro loans summit)(2) that was held in the American capital, Washington, in 1997, Jordan grasped, enthusiastically and appreciatively, the small projects mechanism of extending loans or financing small projects. It pins wide hopes on this in helping it fight several serious problems that stand in its way, the important of which are the high averages of poverty and unemployment and the marginalization of the role of women in moving the wheels of the economy. But the excessive enthusiasm for the new developmental approaches carries within its folds distraction from very important questions that cannot be overlooked. There are indicators that tend to cause the mechanism of the small loans to produce opposite results, if enough attention is not paid to several points relating to the small projects and their financing. This is especially so as far are lending for women, and that which is associated with circumstances, situations like: impacting positive real change at the level of the gender relations among the sexes, consideration of the nature of the environment surrounding the projects, providing them with the essential non-funding services like the services of health, education and nourishment, the improvement of the situation of the family and the enhancement of the status of the woman inside it, introduction

1- Among the strategic goals, whose importance were stressed in the (Beijing) conference, was the necessity of surveying, adopting and sustaining total developmental policies and strategies that care for the needs and capacities of women, especially those that suffer from poverty. This requires the providing of women with acess to the mechanisms and institutions of saving, investment and institutions of saving, investment and credit. Within this context, the mechanism of small projects financing came into being at an escalating tempo as one of the universally – accepted mechanisms to fight poverty and unemployment, especially among women. The adoption of this mechanism falls within a comprehensive developmental perspective that does not stand at the limits of the direct economic and social impacts that result from the implementation of the projects that seek to improve the situations of women – like the old developmental approaches-but go beyond this to touch the consequences of these projects on the nature and the extent of what women enjoy of empowering and parallel abilities and roles in the formation of the landmarks of the life of the society. This is done under the umbrella of an open understanding and fair practice for the complimentary of the roles among the sexes.

2- The universal campaign to eliminate poverty began in (the micro loans summit) that was held in the American capital, Washington in the year 1997. It succeeded in obtaining world support for the mechanism of small projects. The summit formulated a central goal in which the loans programme reaches (100) million of the poorest of the poor in the world, in addition to providing another group of financial services, recommending that priority be given to women in this respect. All of this was to be achieved on the onset of the year 2005. The interest in the small projects mechanism increased and became one of the most prominent mechanisms of action that enjoys prominence in the new millen-nium… whether for the ambitions of the united nations, or the aspirations of the loans industry sector that seek to reduce the number of the poor by half with the coming of the year 2015.

First Chapter: Introduction and Background

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of changes to the views of women regarding themselves and the views of the others toward them within their local communities, and such other factors that realize the pillars of the economic, social and political empowerment of women.(3)

The absence or non-clarity at the international level of such vital stipulations has attracted the attention of several western studies that tended to direct radical criticisms to the lending mechanism in its entirety, accusing it-in abstaining from providing these stipulations – of the inability to achieve the ambitious objectives that it was established to realize.(4)

But such few doubting studies of the feasibility of the small projects financing appeared to be moving outside the flowing current of the thousands of the enthusiastic reports-with this degree of intensity or that– for that wide spreading mechanism at the universal level.

Jordan translates its enthusiasm for the small projects financing mechanism through the institution of many governmental, quasi- governmental and private bodies and initiatives with the aim of providing loans for women, and empowering them to establish projects that help them improve their life conditions.(5) This enthusiasm was also reflected through the expansion of the level of the spread of these projects, compared with the Arab situation. The Jordanian market of funding small projects ranks four, after Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. By the end of the year 2009, the services of the Jordanian market to the small projects financing centre has reached (159518) borrower, with a loan portfolio of around (135) million dollars.(6)

3 - Mayoux, linda (2005). “women`s empowerment through sustainable micro- finance: rethinking” best practice”.

4 - Chestion, Suzi (2002), women and the financing of micro projects: opening of the markets, expanding perceptions, opportunity international.

5 - among the prominent bodies that are concerned with financing small projects for women are: Women lending fund. The Jordanian company for financing small projects. The Middle East Corporation for the financing and development of the small projects. The Jordanian Hashemite fund for human development. Noor Al-Hussein foundation. National assistance fund. The federation of the financiers of small projects. These bodies varies between being quasigovernmental, non-governmental, financial institutions, profit and non-profit companies. The latter are at the head of the providers of financing for small projects.

6- “The market and the impact of the industry of smaller funding” “the ministry of planning and international cooperation” 2011.

Despite the work of Jordan, as stated above, to make the small projects financing mechanism at the forefront of the developmental mechanisms that seek to reduce the rates of poverty and unemployment,(7) especially among women, yet there are evidences indicating that this occurred without giving sufficient care to the providing of logistical support to it, and the preparation of the necessary backgrounds that enable them carry out the tasks entrusted to them. In addition, the Jordanian scene has few serious studies that sought to follow-up the suitability of the policies and the legislations that govern the action of this mechanism, and search the nature of the structures and the roles of the institutions s that adopt their implementation. What is more important than this is the evaluation of the actual returns that follow their application regarding the serious uplifting regarding the serious uplifting of the situations of the women targeted by them … not from a mere narrow economic perspective – as usually happens most of the times – but from the gender perspective that takes into consideration the realization of justice among the two sexes regarding the distribution of status and roles, and fill-up the existing destabilizing gap between them.

Though the Jordanian scene has several studies that has addressed the small projects funding centre at the national level, yet most of them did not pay much attention to the analysis of this sector from a gender perspective, and did give the required care for the preparation of the necessary indicators for following-up and evaluating these projects and show their impact on the human development and equity among the two sexes.

The results of the 2004 report on human development in Jordan, for example,(8) emphasized the effectiveness of the approach of the small projects financing as one of the successful strategies in fighting poverty. The report stated also the obstacles that face the (female) owners of small projects, especially the pressures and impediments they face which are connected with the prevailing concepts and impressions regarding the gender roles. In submitting to the social pressure, women are led to exercise the businesses that the society considers feminine works within the perimeters of the home, or perform the simple local services. This causes the projects to be

7 - Among the examples of the Jordanian intensive interest in the small projects financing mechanism, as a basic mechanism for dealing with the problems of poverty and unemployment, was the signing of the ministry of planning and international cooperation an agreement in October 2010 with the de-velopment and employment fund in Jordan, in which it provides a grant of (2) million Jordanian dinars to the fund, in order to enable it provide funding for the small projects in the poverty pockets in the kingdom. Al-Rai Jordanian newspaper 20\10\2010.

8 - Human development report, Jordan, 2004, page 101.

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affected by shocks in the unstable simple businesses sector. The report has recommended the necessity of conducting more analyses and evaluations for the small projects, and the following-up of their role in fighting poverty, as well as analyzing the reasons for the many failures among the women who are engaged in operating private projects.(9)

A study by the ministry of planning and international cooperation that addressed “the market and the impact of the micro – financing industry” has shown that the micro projects that were financed by the French agency for development, as well external quarters, has achieved positive development. The results of the study have also shown that the smaller financing industry is the only source that provides financial services for the productive poor and those of limited income in Jordan. It also pointed out that the smaller funding industry in Jordan has succeeded to a large extent in realizing the goal for which it was founded …. Since being the sole financial source that serves the productive poor. It has achieved the expected impact in increasing the revenues and the volume of the investments for the customers, and constituted the main supporter for the improvement of the standards of living for the targeted category.(10)

The 2011 third report of Jordan on human development has dedicated its theme to “the micro, small and medium institutions”. The report stressed the importance of those projects as a strong economic driving force. The report also showed that the micro, small and medium projects do not have the export capabilities which the large companies have, which requires the encouragement of its growth and the development of the professional societies among the businessmen, and the encouragement of cooperation among the institutions s themselves, this requires the adoption of quality guarantee standards to increase the exporting capacities of these institutions. The report called also for the transfer of these institutions s from the un-registered sector to the registered one so as to benefit from their registration. In addition, there is a need to review the new taxes law that was proposed in the year 2009, in order to enhance the chances of imposing progressive taxes for more equality and social justice and the probability of presenting a separate tax category for the micro, small and medium institutions s.

Among the recommendations that the report talked about was the necessity of providing suitable training for the owners of the institutions, and the offering

9 - Ibid, 2004, page 102.

10 - “The market and the impact of the smaller financing industry”, ministry of planning and international cooperation” 2011.

of the low interest grants to the poorest sectors in the population, in addition to supporting the micro institutions s through small projects programmes, and the availing of more small investment capitals that focus on women and youth.(11)

Importance of the study

The conduct of this study comes as a part of a project which the ministry of planning and international cooperation supervises its implementation. It is supported and funded by the World bank. The aim is to try to present a necessary research contribution that feeds the few Arab studies that has addressed that sector from a gender perspective. The study pays its utmost attention to the evaluation of a number of small projects that were run by women and men who have depended on the lending mechanism to establish their projects… thus trying to cast light on the role that these projects played in uplifting the life of their owners, and enabling them to improve their material and symbolic situations in their environment. This is done through investing the lens of the gender perspective.(12)

The study also presents a simplified analytical framework from the gender perspective that can be used later in the various development projects. The saying that the society is the one that determines to its individuals of men and women their roles, status, jurisdictions and favored from them …. Not on the basis of their biological difference.

Otherwise, the different societies would have been similar in the manners of dealing with their sons and daughters. It is based on the different rules that govern these societies in organization, thinking, the distribution of authority and determining that which is acceptable and that which is rejected. Most societies, for example, and based on cultural differences has installed the man to be the first and last responsible for work outside the home and the support of the family. Thus tend to have some reservation regarding the work of women. They even may place material and moral impediments in its path. In some societies, and again for cultural dues, there may exist a near tacit collective norm regarding the professional fields in which women can take part

11 - Jordan human development report 2011. Jordan small businesses and human development, mi -istry of planning and international cooperation, united nations development programme, Amman, 2011.

12 - For more details regarding the gender perspective and the importance of its application to guara -tee justice between the males and the females, refer to: Suleiman Khaled (2010) “the indicators of the gender, towards an objective vision for the reading”. Jordan: ministry of planning and international cooperation\ the World Bank.

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in, without her and her family becoming target for the arrows of defamation and ostracism. Thus it is possible to understand the obstacles that are put in the faces of those who dare to engage in activities that challenge that consensus, even if the activities were legitimate and have no objection to them by the standards of religion and ethics. Accordingly, it becomes difficult to change the situations of women, economically and socially, in such societies, and guarantee their rights in a fairer way compared to the rights which the men have, unless the prevailing societal mentality that gives them marginal role in production, or limit the possibilities of their work within narrow ranges is comprehended and work is carried out to amend it.

Based on the afore mentioned, it is possible to suppose that the success of the small projects funding mechanism may be tied to a great extent to that which the prevailing societal culture carries of the impressions, images, ideas, limits, and reservations regarding the engagement of women in such projects… starting with the initiative to establish them, and the determination of the nature of their products, and moving towards operating, administering and marketing them and ending with the enjoyment of their yields and gains.

Probably, such images and ideas that favor men against women (maybe the opposite in some cases) enjoy usually enough power to impose itself, directly or indirectly, at the various levels that are connected with small projects sector, regarding the policies, measures, implementation, follow-up and evaluation. This is not to be excluded when studying these projects.

Methodological preludes

The study has assumed that the social survey methodology is the appropriate methodology for this type of research in order to collect the field data for the study. And in order to achieve one of its prominent goals in understanding the social and economic backgrounds of the starters of small projects, and follow-up the impact of these projects on their lives, the study began its work by taking a systematic random sample for a group of women who have obtained the loans. This was done in coordination with a number of the most important lending institutions, and referring back to their lists of the beneficiaries of their loans. But the research team soon faced the problem of reaching the members of this sample, especially since (95%) of the borrowed projects, are concentrated in the homes of the (female) borrowers. It was also discovered that many addresses and telephone numbers that were provided to the study were wrong or that their shops were closed, or used for other

activities that differ from the titles that they refer to. This creates immense problems in front of researching the small projects sector, and uncovers a serious disequilibrium at the level of following-up these projects and making sure of their real existence.

Accordingly, the research team was forced to resort to the adoption of several different methods to select and access its samples which were distributed in turn on six Jordanian governorates: Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, Karak, Madaba and Salt.

The methods used were as follows:

Sample taking from the personal interviews at the headquarters of the 1. lending institutions.

Re–coordination with the lending institutions, specifically, with the 2. development and employment fund and the agricultural credit corporation, to provide the research team again with more accurate and recent lists regarding the names and addresses of the (female) borrowers, enlisting the officials of these institutions to access those addresses and contact their owners.

Adoption of the snow ball sample, by asking the borrowers who were 3. interviewed to direct the research team the cases they know.

Since it starts from the gender perspective, and in order to meet the 4. requirement of this perspective of taking men into consideration –through conducting illustrating comparisons between them and the women– the study took comparative sample from the (male) borrowers and the men who own projects.

The sample composition

Taking the afore-mentioned into consideration, and within the context of the selection of the sample, the study confined its focus on the persons who have obtained their loans during the last five years 2005-2010. The total number of the sample that the research team was able to reach was (510) man and women borrower, divided as follows:

(380) woman borrower who appeared to run projects actually, even if •these were extremely modest regarding production and marketing. (150) of them benefited from micro loans, but it was not proved that they have

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real projects, since most of these were simple seasonal and household projects. The quarters that supported the women were varied, due to the particularity of the projects, and the multiple approaches that are used in lending women. The highest rate of the borrowers was from the women fund (37.9%), followed by the development and employment fund (26.8%), then the agricultural credit corporation (23.7%). The remaining rate was distributed among different quarters that are affiliated with the private sector or the welfare societies.

As for men, the number of the sample that was taken was (130) •beneficiaries of the loans. The supporting quarters for them was mainly the development and employment fund (62.4%), and the agricultural credit corporation (34.6%).

Though there is no tangible discrimination between men and women on the part of the lending institutions regarding the granting of loans when the sufficient guarantees are available, yet it was noticed that the amount of the borrowed sums vary clearly among the sexes. While the value of the loans for the whole sample of men, and a minute rate of women was between 4-6 thousand Jordanian dinar, the loans for most women of the sample was extremely modest, since their values did-not exceed (1000 J.D.). This may be due to several reasons, most prominent of which was the non-desire or the non-daring to borrow large sums, and the dedication of most projects that they seek to establish towards simple household and seasonal activities that do not require large capital. In addition, the arrangement of the financing institutions of setting-up and promoting lending programmes especially for women in which the value of the loan is modest (under 1000 dinar).

And in order to study and analyze, from a gender perspective, the institutions that are engaged in the area of lending the small projects, research spotlights were focused on a number of the most widespread and effective financing institutions in this sector. These included the following institutions: The Development and Employment Fund, the Agricultural Credit Corporation, the Ministry of Social Development, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, Tumweelkom, the Jordanian women Union and the Woman Fund.

Deep interviews were conducted with the relevant stakeholders in these institutions, in addition to convening a panel discussion with the (male and female) workers in the field, the study elicited from these institutions information and data that vary in value and importance.

It is difficult to view economic problems, like the problems of poverty and unemployment, for example, as being economic problems only. In reality they are complex issues that has social and cultural roots and extensions also. Poverty may not rise out of economic reasons in many cases, but may be born as a result of the spread of certain social and cultural values whose adoption leads to the deprivation of certain categories from the ideal investment of their abilities and potentials.

We mention this necessary introduction to caution that, as a solid rule for the success of any developmental orientation or project, there is always a necessary need to establish a solid ground of the national plans, policies and strategies to constitute a base on which the practical programmes and measures are built upon, in order to transform these abstract plans and policies into tangible effective steps and applications in the field that are capable of measurement, evaluation and rectification. It is noted that the intricacy is not represented, in many times, in the shortage of these plans and policies regarding this developmental sector or that. This can be clearly observed in matters relating to the small projects financing sector, especially as it relates to women. This sector has been receiving attention by the several national plans, policies and strategies that suggested mechanisms and approaches to fight poverty and unemployment and improve the situations of the marginalized and poor categories in the society, foremost among which are the females. But the analytical follow-up of the Jordanian case reveals that there is near surplus of the strategies and policies that addressed the small projects and their financing. But there was no attention paid to the fact that the strategies and the policies are only general points of reference that are nearer to abstract theoretical presentations which may remain mere ink on paper and maybe devoid of real value on the ground unless they are translated from their general contemplative theoretical level into practical programmes and applications that have corporeal indicators that are capable of measurement and assessment, and if they were not supported with the budgets, the material capabilities and the qualified human resources that implement them. As for fighting poverty and unemployment, especially among women, the small projects financing mechanism has registered a noticeable presence in many of the policies that Jordan adopted during the recent years… like the initiative (We are all Jordan). It was the clearest in pinpointing the articles relating to work, workers, poverty and unemployment.(13)

13- The “We are all Jordan” was among the important meetings. It was held in the month of July and was agreed on by more than (700) Jordanian personalities of all categories. His majesty King Abdullah the second was there. The meeting the council of the ministers, the senators, the deputies, representatives of the private sector, the media, the civil society institutions, the parties, the youth from all governor-ates of the kingdom. It discussed the arrangement of the national priorities that the Jordanian people aspire to achieve in the coming period. It drew a plan of action in which Jordan is guided by to imple-

Second Chapter: Policies governing Small Projects

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The call in the section of the policies was the necessity of the acceleration of the government in issuing the investment policy that is stipulated in the investment law in order to determine its directions and policies regarding the support for the small and medium-size projects. In addition, it was necessary to increase the spread of the financing services for the small projects in the poor communities, and provide the necessary support for the small projects and the operating institutions in the area of micro lending to encourage and develop their institutionalized structure so as to raise their performance in offering their developmental services, and raising awareness regarding the importance of micro lending in its capacity as an effective tool in fighting poverty and lessening its severity. This is in addition to qualifying the operating cadres in the area of small loans, and provide the appropriate legal environment for providing the services of micro lending, in addition to the encouragement of the private sector to contribute to the services of micro lending in its capacity as a profit tool in the long run. The document has also called for the necessity of maximizing the benefiting from the national bank for small projects, and enhancing the capacities of the development and employment fund, in addition to the necessity of concentrating on the marketing operations for this kind of projects through finding markets and marketing spheres that help in promoting their products, and concentration on the projects of the woman.(14)

As for the announced national strategy for the Jordanian woman for the years (2006-2010), it included the formulation of several central objectives within the quest of realizing economic empowerment for women. Among these goals were the call to increase the availability of the economic opportunities for women, through several ways among which is heading to establish the economic projects in the rural and badiya regions, enhancement of the abilities of women in these areas to realize income, encouragement of cooperative work among women, development of the fields of benefiting from the technical and informational progress to widen the options of possible work for women, widening the providing of financing services and economic consultations to them, support the culture of saving for investment to them, measure the level of the impact of change in the local infrastructures on their situations, taking the measures that guarantee the equality of opportunity between males and females in training and acquisition of skills and experiences under the umbrella of an economic system that takes into consideration the gender differences between the two sexes.(15)

ment these priorities on the ground. It was called the 2007-2009 executive development programme, that was followed by the 2011-2013 development programme.

14- “We are all Jordan” initiative.

15 - The strategy of the Jordanian woman (2006-2010).

Despite the importance of stating it in that strategy, yet it remained in the practical reality nearer to the abstract floating goal that is difficult to translate into actual practices. This was due to the fact that it was not supported by sufficient indicators that determine the manner of its realization and the manner of measuring the level of progress therein. This is in addition to the lack of the programmes, projects and budgets that guarantee the way of its implementation.(16)

Jordan was the first among the Arab states that paid attention to the preparation of a national strategy in the year 2005 to finance small projects. The strategy targeted increasing the interest of the development efforts in the financing sector of these projects… Through diversification and widening the scope of the financial services for the economically active poor families, and the owners of the small projects.(17)

And in the latest governmental development programme (2011-2013). The policies and the programmes were determined, the financial resources were allocated and the micro financing measurement indicators were all formulated in a more accurate and detailed manner, in addition to the inclusion of the government efforts in attracting foreign financing,(18) and the 16 - In reality, the problems in such cases lie in the generality of the objectives and their lack of qua -

titative indicators and financial and practical aspects that guarantee their implementation, follow-up, and the extent of success in their application. This represents an ever present dilemma that imprint most strategies that are formulated for the purpose of contributing towards overcoming the problems of women and meeting their needs. The positive and positive momentum that surrounds the objectives of these strategies is soon dissipated due to the inability of providing the sufficient budgets for their achievement, and the insufficient attention to the institution of the suitable and ac-curate indicators for their follow-up and evaluation. The study: “the poverty of the woman in Jordan. The particularties and the processes causing it (2010), Amman, the coordinating body for social solidarity, page (51).

17 - “The market and the impact of the smaller financing industry”, ministry of planning and international cooperation (2011).

18 - The government has attracted (15) million euros through the Spanish agency for through the Spanish agency for international cooperation. Agreements were signed with the following:

The national bank for financing small projects (5) million euros. The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom) (4) million euros. This is in addition to attracting financing from the French agency for development (3) million euros, in cooperation with the Societe Generale Bank, and was re-loaned in the local currency to the “The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom)” at (2) million dinars. The Middle East for financing small projects small projects (one million dinar) “study of the evalu-ation of the market and the impact, the developmental programme 2011-2013: social welfare axis,” ministry of planning and international cooperation. It covers the statements and achieve-ments that were achieved during the (2007-2011) period. This in addition to the reference by the minister of planning and international cooperation, during the launching of the third human development report, to the institution of a fund to finance the small and medium projects through

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financial allocations within the government budget. This was a betting on this sector in realizing the economic reform and the mitigation of the severity of the unemployment in the Jordanian society.

The concept of small and micro loans

Within the light of the differences of the economies of the countries, the levels of their technological development, the variation in the abilities and possibilities of the economic lending institutions, it becomes natural to have different definitions for the concept of small loans, and consequently, the small projects. A project that is considered small in Japan, for example, is the one in which its workers do not exceed (50) individuals.(19)

As for Jordan, the project is classified as being small, if the number of the workers in it do not exceed (20) workers.(20) accordingly, and upon the conclusions of the facts that were touched by the study, there is no need to delve in the various definitions of the concepts of the small loans and the small projects. It is sufficient to refer in that study to the possibility of dividing the loans in the Jordanian case to two parts:

- Micro loans that does not exceed (1000) Jordanian dinar,

- And small loans whose values exceed (1000) Jordanian dinars, but not more than (10000) Jordanian dinars.

The projects whose capacity is tied to the value of the loans behind them, are determined in being small or micro, according to several elements among which: the kind of the project, the extent of the quality of its products and the range of their distribution, the manner of the administration and organization of the project, the minimum and maximum limit of those working in it, the minimum and the maximum limit of the amount of the investment, the capacity of the project, the level of the used technology, the legal shape of the project, the

an almost (70) million dollars that are used to cover the costs of the guarantees of the loans, and avail a grace and reasonable repayment period. This is in addition to providing technical assistance that is directed to the participating banks in the programme to enable them deal with the available guarantees in an ideal manner, and technical assistance to the small and medium institutions to build their capacities in all aspects. This will reflect positively on surmounting the impediments and difficulties that face these institutions. The statement of the minister of planning and international cooperation, 2011, during the launching of the third human development report 2011, Amman, 24 May 2011.

19- Mohammad Taha, AtifJarallah, Mahmoud Abdul Azeez (the guiding manual book for the small, micro projects and effective marketing) the national centre for research, the centre for training and devel-opment of capacities.

20- Third national human development report 2011, UNDP, unpublished report, Amman, Jordan.

location of the project (factory, workshop, home). Though all these standards contribute to the determination of the concept of the small projects, yet it is possible to generally state these do not depend on employing an advanced level of technology, since simplicity and localism of marketing are the basis for the institution of most of them. In addition, the number of those working in them does not exceed five individuals. There is also no separation between their owners and managers, since the owner of the project is mostly the one who runs it. (21)

The institutions and the programmes

The institutions that are involved in offering financing loans to establish small projects in Jordan are many and varied. Some of them have succeeded in acquiring good name at the international level. The small projects financing institutions in Jordan were listed during the last years among the category of the best (100) world institutions that finance small projects. This is based on the bulletin that was issued by the (mix market) market of information exchange.(22)

Some of these institutions carry an international character, whereas some others are of local character: governmental, voluntary or private.

The following are the most prominent institutions that are engaged in the area of financing the small projects in Jordan:

The development and employment fund. •The agricultural credit corporation. •The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelkom). •The Ahli Microfinance Company (AMC).•The Middle East Micro Credit Company. •The National Microfinance Bank. •FINCA Foundation. •The woman fund. •

There are, of course, other financing institutions whose work include offering loans for the institution of small projects, though this does not constitute a basic part of their activities. Among these, for example, are the following:

The Industrial development Bank\ The craftsmen fund. •

The Orphans Fund Development Foundation. •

21- Mohammad that and others, op. cit.

22- The guide of financing the small and micro projects (2009), Amman, the coordinating body for social solidarity, and the development and employment fund.

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The Housing and Urban Development Corporation. •

The ministry of Social Development\ The productive families •programme.

The General Union of Voluntary Societies. •

The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development. •

The General Federation of Jordanian Women. •

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in •the Near East.

This is in addition to several private sectors initiatives in this respect.(23) It is worth mentioning that there are alternative institutions that direct some of its efforts to provide auxiliary technical assistance for the owners of the small projects that go beyond the material side. Among the most important of these institutions are:

The Vocational Training Corporation, •

The development and employment fund, •

The Enhanced Productivity Center Program (IRADA Centers), •

The National Fund for Enterprise Support (NAFES). •

Among the most important habilitation and training programmes that these institutions offer are: the awareness programmes of the importance of small projects and the manner of selecting their ideas, the technical and vocational habilitation programmes, preparation of the plan of action, feasibility study, preparation of the budget, the administration of the project, etc…., in addition to training on the administrative skills of the project, like those relating to

23- For example, the Nuqul group, which is one of the most prominent private sector institution in Jordan, started the societal responsibility programme in Al-Koorah. It worked with the Jordanian Hashemite fund for human development on studying the priorities and needs of the area. The programme included extending assistance to the people in the Al-Koorah area within the winter and Ramadan campaigns. The central activity in the area was the micro developmental projects. A specialized supervisory committee selected (23) projects among (300) project idea within Al-Koorah so as to finance them by the micro an amount reaching (3000) dinars according to the size of the project. (80%) of those heading the projects were women. Professor Mohammad Yunis, the pioneer of micro financing in Bangladesh, showed great interest in the experiment and the readiness to offer his experiences in generalizing the idea of the project. The idea of micro lending fund aims at employing the capital in a highly effective manner where the project starts within an incubator that commits the beneficiary of the loan to begin working and reach the stage of production and cash inflows that sustain the project before graduating from the partnership of the fund. Petra, (6) February 2011.

the systems of quality management, financial analysis and management, application of the informatics, electronic trading, marketing and sales. Despite the importance and the necessity of the role that these institutions play in providing loans to help those wishing to establish small projects, and directing, habilitating and training them to better select and manage these project, yet most of them still suffer from several difficulties and challenges, the most prominent of which their total dependence on the governmental financing institutions. Some analysis point out that if it was not for the dependence of the local institutions on the support of the government and the international financing institutions, they would not have continued. Though they receive different kinds of continued support, yet they suffer from the weakness of the institutional ability that enables them achieve their objectives. In addition, to their very high administrative costs, even in comparison to the governmental and the quasigovernmental bodies.(24)

The most effective lending institutions in the society are not considered welfare projects anymore. They have become within the private sector, and their sustainability became their basic goal. These institutions began to finance themselves through the commercial loans the rates of the interests has risen high on the (male and female) borrowers.(25)

The analysis that looked into the reality of the governmental and the quasi-governmental institutions has forecasted that their institutional and organizational abilities well realize their objectless in a reasonable manner. This is so despite the fact that despite the dependence of these institution on the governmental support/ financing, or the borrowing from Arab and international bodies, yet they enjoy the ability to determine their activities and draw their plans to become sustainable, especially if they were left alone to take their decisions in an objective manner, away from polarizations and political pressures. Even if they were exposed to such pressures, they still remain bodies that are capable of institutional sustainability to a large extent.(26)

24 - Al-Otoom, Radi (2006) “the reality of the sector of the small and micro projects in Jordan”, a working paper at “the 2006 planned scientific activity”, Amman private university, Amman.

25 - Summary of An article titled “Too much of a good thing: when microfinance goes wrong, wendye -erson, to magazine, September 2007, issue (49).

26 - Al- Otoom, 2005.

22 23

The challenges that face the financing institutions

The financing institutions face several challenges, the most prominent of which are the following:

Weakness of cooperation and coordination among the institutions that •finance small projects, which frustrates their efforts and prevent them from pooling and maximizing their financial and technical possibilities. This also exhausts their resources due to the dualism of financing and the repetition of offering the same technical services, in addition to the crowding of their activities in serving the same geographical areas and social categories.

Lack of a national body to organize the sector of financing small projects •and guarantee coordination among the activities of the financing institutions…. So as to diversify their field of specialization, coordinate their efforts and extending their services to the widest possible range-in respect of geography and category, under a balanced umbrella of complementarity and support.

The modest abilities and possibility that are available unto the financing •institutions. This expresses itself through several aspects, like: scarcity of the available capitals to these institutions, their inability to avail the qualified functional cadre to conduct the expletory studies to identify the extent of the need of the different regions and categories of the projects, determination of the nature of the necessary, required and favored projects, organization of the media and advertising campaigns to make the citizens aware of the great importance of the small projects, the preparation of the applied proofs, training the borrowers on the ways of running their projects, conduct feasibility studies for the projects, and being able to follow them and assess their impacts.

The modest technical level that can be invested in most small projects •in Jordan, which prevents the diversification of the products. Many of these projects focus on simple activities and the traditional heritage industries which causes supply to exceed demand, and cause the goods to accumulate and waste.

Primitiveness of the administrative systems that govern the work of several •financing institutions, which is reflected in the absence of the accurate and comprehensive information systems, and the non-availability of clear, fair and effective systems to watch, motivate the officials and hold them accountable.

The legislative challenges:• (27)the financing institutions face problems in the legislation governing them as being non-profit companies, and not welfare societies that are affiliated with the ministry of social development. The tax obligations of these institutions are not clear. Their contracts are not subject to the sales tax, which leads to the burdening of the borrowers, and the lessening of the effectiveness of the financial loans.(28)

The spread of a frustrating societal culture that does not encourage the •enhancement of the experiments of creativity, innovation, renewal and excellence in establishing projects.(29)

The challenges that face the borrowing women

By asking a group of the operators(30)in the field – in the light of the reality of their experience – about the most prominent problems and challenges that relate to the borrowing women, the answers revolved around the following as points in general:

Exploitation of the loans for purposes that has no relation with the projects •that it was borrowed to establish: either due to the non-seriousness of some women borrowers, and their unreal desire to establish real projects, or their quest to emulate others, or due to their suffering and the suffering of their families from difficult economic conditions. Thus it is not to be excluded that the obtained loans are used for other purposes like ensuring the prices of consumer and conspicuous purchases. According to the testimonies of the members of the panel discussion, around (90%) of the women borrowers do not establish real projects on the ground.The difficulty of the ability of many of them of providing the necessary •guarantees to get the loans, since the guarantees that the lending institutions stipulate represent an obstacle in front of many of them.The inability to market the products due to the modesty of the technical •level of the product in some cases, or the oversupply of the same product in the market, or being ignorant of the means for its promotion and the

27- The meeting in April (2010) of the members of the board of the directors of the financiers of the small projects in Jordan.

28- The federation was established in the year (2008) and includes in its membership the following: the woman fund, Cairo-Amman Bank, the national bank for financing small projects, finka foundation (Jordan), Tamweelkom institution, and the Middle East Company for financing small projects.

29- National gender sensitive programming: guidelines for small and micro enterprises in Jordan, 2002. The regional technical resource network for women`s small and micro enterprises in the Arab states: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, by ReemFariz, UNIFEM.

30- Panel discussion with a group of the operators in the field in the National Institutions that provide loaning services,

24 25

necessary skills of outreaching and convincing that this require. The inability to market the products represents a serious problem that face the women owners of small projects, which leads to the weak return of these projects, or even their loss. The fragility of the supporting family environment. This is reflected through •several negative aspects, like some women borrow without the knowledge of their husbands, or forcing them at times to borrow by their husbands or families, which imposes negative pressures on the women borrowers that decrease the possibilities of the success of their projects.

Attach exaggerated hopes on the project. (Many men and female) •borrowers get entangled in the illusion that their projects will cause radical changes to their lives, and uplift their standard of living between the evening and the morning. Since this is impossible to occur in a short period, and the lack of patience and logical planning by those people, they soon get depressed and disappointed… which prevents the extension of the support that their projects need, like determination and perseverance, which contributes to their faltering.

The small size of some projects and the difficulty of their follow-up: many •projects are recorded under the name of domestic projects. These are the projects that are run from the home, and are established by very modest loans that do not exceed (1500) dinars. Due to the smallness of these projects, their follow-up may exceed their values. And since they are concentrated within the compound of the homes-with the resulting embarrassment regarding the privacies of the women borrowers in their homes – the follow-up of these is rare and may not be followed-up in anyway.

Most women projects are characterized by being seasonal and unstable: •though there exists successful women projects – like the institution of clinics, pharmacies, beauty salons -, yet the majority lies in modest seasonal projects that do not enjoy a high degree of continuity and stability, like those projects relating to the seasons of olives picking and extracting the oil, and processing some vegetables, etc…

The wrong understanding of the concept of the loans: some members of •the panel discussion said that some people in some areas, especially the distant ones, like the inhabitants of Disi and Wadi Rum, for example, carry a wrong idea regarding the meaning and purposes of the institution of the small projects, especially the loans that are provided by developmental

institution whose names are associated in the minds with the concept of charitable work. They deal with them as un-payable grants that can be used for consumer purposes, and dispense with them accordingly. They exclude the idea of investing them in establishing real productive projects. Naturally, the lending quarters carry a great deal of responsibility for the spread of this defective and wrong concept of the projects lending, since they do not pay enough attention to make the borrowers aware, and follow-up the extent of their commitment to invest the loans for attaining the productive and employment purposes for which they were given.

The problems of training and habilitation: the participants said that due •to the high cost of training, it is very rare to provide training programmes that the women borrowers need or ask for, as sometimes happens. It is to be noted here that there is non-clarity and confusion of the concept of the training programmes in the minds of several operating officials in the lending institutions. When they addressed these programmes they tended to mean training programmes on certain professions or crafts. But the roles and tasks of these institutions have nothing to do with teaching or vocational training, but are confined, in addition to lending, to provide programmes to acquire the necessary skills for the operating and marketing of the projects, and the associated skills of outreaching, management, and sound thinking.

26 27

Third Chapter: Discussion of Survey Results

The general characteristics of the members of the sample

In order to provide a measure of geographical coherence, and assure a degree of the variety of the economic activities of the studied projects – between service, agricultural, and industrial – with the varying governorates, the samples of the study were distributed on six geographical areas that cover the following governorates: the capital Amman, Zarqa/ Russeifeh, Karak, Irbid, Salt, Madaba.

The areas in which the questionnaires were collected from, classified according to sex:(31)

Name of the area Males Females

Zarqa 2 101

Karak 40 70

Irbid 25 11

Amman/ Eastern area 11 65

Russeifeh 6 41

Salt 22 33

Madaba 24 59

Total 130 380

The ages of the sample in the age group (31-40) for the males was at the rate of (33.8%) and for the females at (45.3%). It was noted that the rate of young girls who own projects was higher than the rate of the young men at a ratio of (22.1%) to (15.4%).

The results showed a rise in the rate of the married men and women of the members of the sample: (86.9%) for men, and (77.1%) for women. This seems to be expected in the light of relative rise of ages of the majority of the (male and female) beneficiaries from the projects, as stated earlier. In the light of the need of the (male and female) heads of the household of another sources to support their incomes, in addition to the stipulation of some lending institutions that female must be married as a basic condition in the domestic loans.

31- The variation in the distribution of the sample was related to the extent of the help that the research team received in each area from the institutions that cooperated. In addition, the focus of some financing institutions, like the agricultural credit corporation, lies in the Aghwar and the agricultural areas outside the capital.

The rate of the number of the individuals of the families to which the (male and female) owners of the projects were approximate at an average of (6) individuals, or less… at a rate of (74.3%) for women, and (65.3%) for men.

The rate was also approximate for men and women in evaluating their economic situation as being bad and difficult. (33.4%) of the women see it as difficult, and (36.2%) of the men see it difficult as well. As for the levels of education, the statements showed differences among both sexes. The rate of the females’ illiteracy was (9.2%), which is higher than the illiteracy of the males (3.8%). The elementary education was equal among them, while the secondary was approximate. There was difference in the intermediate education in favor of the females (11.8%) compared to (7.7%) for the males.

The most distinguishing feature of the males and the females sample was the university education. The rate of the university graduates borrowing women did not exceed (7.4%), whereas it reached (21.5%) in the sample of the men. Here we can reach a result indicating that the owners of the small projects are those of intermediate education or less, whereas the rate of men who benefit from the loans and the projects – there is variation in the benefiting categories – are holders of secondary education, though there is a considerable rate of them who hold university degrees.

The rate of the non-beneficiaries of any kind of health insurance was approximate (46.9%) for men, and (51.6%) for women.

The types of the projects

The projects that the study reached its owners were classified into two levels: productive and service. The productive one relates to projects whose activities produce some products, like foodstuffs, textiles, manual handicrafts, etc… the service level touches on the projects that are involved in providing certain services to the customers, like selling ready made products, hairdressing, providing telephone lines or the internet.

As is expected, the service character of the projects of the men was dominant compared to the women. The rate of the service projects of the men was (67.7%) compared to the rate of (55.0%) unto women. The rate of the productive projects of women declined to become (43.9%).

This may be due to the fact that the nature of the economic activity that the woman practices is usually a simple traditional one. This is due to the starting point that the work of the majority of women falls within the household space, and represents an extension to their traditional activities (food production,

28 29

sewing, raising livestock, etc…) that do not require high skills. Even the nature of the service activity that some of them do is, according to the observations of the research team, is simple and marked by providing simple services within a limited range that may not go beyond the relatives and the neighbors.

Since the nature of the activities that the men establish is more advanced and professional in most cases, and the value of their loans is more in value than their women counterparts, we find that (74.6%) of their projects or the ideas of their projects were subjected to the economic feasibility studies before getting the loans. This is due to the fact that the lending institutions do not usually bother to study the feasibility of a certain project unless the value of the loan exceeds (5000) Jordanian dinars. Within this context, it was natural for the rate of the women whose projects were subjected to the feasibility studies to decline and reach (31.8%). It is to be noted that a rate that cannot be ignored from the women owners of the projects (12.4%) has pointed out that they do not know or are unsure if their projects were subjected to any feasibility study.

The conditions that were demanded to be realized by the woman and the man to guarantee the obtaining of the loan have been different according to the different lending institutions and the nature of their work. The woman fund, for example, follows the style of (collective guarantee), which is the most promoted universally, within the methodologies of the empowerment of women.

The agricultural credit corporation has resorted to the adoption of the formula of (judicial guarantee) as a means of facilitation to the (women) borrowers, especially in the light of the decline of the rate of the (women) owners of land, who do not own more than (5%) of the land at the level of Jordan. The other forms of guarantees, like (salary guarantee) and (property mortgage) are the more widespread guarantees that are required by most lending institutions. A considerable rate of the (male and female) owners of the projects (16.6%) and (17.7%), consecutively, said that it was among the problems that they faced in order to get a loan. In the light of the modesty of the amounts of the loans that the women ask for in most cases, and their keenness to repay, and the intervention of the societal culture of their surroundings to repay on their behalf when necessary in order to protect the reputation of their families and safeguard them against legal accountability, the awareness of the lending institutions increased regarding the lessening of the guarantees that the women must provide. They sought to make women in the forefront of the loans – targeted categories … but without giving great attention to the question to the extent of the success of the projects they run and their real contribution to their empowerment.

The problems that face the owners of the projects

(33.9%) of the female members of the sample, and (32.3%) of the male members of the sample said that they face difficulty in the ability to settle the installments resulting from the loans, and even pointing out to the continued suffering from the difficulty of repayment, even if the amount of the installment is not high.

The basic problems that were stated by the men and the women were similar to some extent, with difference in their arrangement. (37.4%) of the women that the most difficult problem for them was represented in the existence of the usury (Riba) aspect in the process of the offering of the loans.(24.2%) of them said that the second problem lies in the many and complicated procedures and official papers that are required. The men sample faces the same problems, with variation regarding the determination of the extent of their importance. The problem of the complication of the measures ranked first as the most serious one unto (34.6%) of the men, followed by the problem of the usury, at a rate of (29.2%).

(20.8%) of the women mentioned problems specific to them as females that force them to deal with male officials which causes them embarrassment and is inconsistent with their convictions. The statements that were derived from the studied institutions shows that in the distant governorates and villages, the loans officers are often appointed from the males due to the difficulty of finding female officials. This makes the process of the contact of the officials with the female borrowers difficult and marginalize the idea of following – up their projects, especially since most of these are domestic or seasonal ones, and cannot be realistically followed – up due to their connection with the home.

(Riba)treatment

Accessingcomplexity

Multitude

off ic ials

30 31

Some women added that they sometimes work or obtain loans without informing the husband or the family because they do not welcome the idea of the loan and the work associated with it. This creates a complicated situation for the women and frustrates the possibilities of the success of their projects. Among the problems that were talked about was the cornering of their lending services to the married women, which constitutes constriction on the single girls and a clear discrimination against them.

The reasons and motives for the institution of the project

According to the statements that were compiled, the projects constitute the basic and only source of income for many (male and female) owners of the projects. The families of (60.8%) of the male owners of the projects depend totally them, while this constitutes (28.9%) for the female owners. Accordingly, it is possible to sense the utmost importance of the projects for the many members of the study sample. This is consistent with the affirmation of (81.6%) of women, and (94.6%) of men that the desire to improve their economic situations was the main reason that stood behind the idea of resorting to the loans, and the institution of the projects. This does not of course the existence of other motives for the institution of the projects, like self – fulfillment, development of the personal abilities and skills. But these remain secondary motives that feed the economic motive. The study has shown that, in general, the men and the women have high level of controlling their projects regarding the finding of the idea of the project, it’s running, marketing and pricing its products, and controlling its financial returns. We find that (80.5%) of the women, and (83.8%) of the men are the owners of the basic idea of the project. We find that (79.1%) of the women sample market their products themselves, whereas the rate for men was (92.3%).

Since the marketing of the products needs a wider margin of the freedom of movement, some differences appeared among both sexes in favor of men. Nonetheless, the rate of the women who market their commodities is not small, and reflects the enjoyment of many of them of some area of freedom. As for the controlling of the financial yields of the projects, it was shown that around (30%) of the women do not control these yields, compared to around (18%) of the men.

This shows that a higher rate of women is exposed to the interventions of their surroundings, especially in their financial profits, as if the relative freedom that they enjoy has a financial price that must be paid. The interventions of the surroundings in the projects of the women become clear when we know that there those who participate with them in the various stages of their work on these projects, like the husband or the children, or even the relatives and

the neighbors. Though this participation maybe of the limited and required help, the exploitation of some sides of their participation and their attempt to impose their hegemony over the woman remain a standing probability. This is especially so when we remember that a considerable number of the (female) owners of the projects do not control their incomes. On the other side, the results showed that the men owners of the projects were more lucky than their women counterparts in obtaining the various shapes of the loan – supporting services, though the nature and the quality of these services do not measure up to the required level, irrespective of the sex of those who need them. As for the supporting services that were received, (38.5%) of men sample were involved in participating in periodic meetings by the lending institutions to follow-up the proceeding of the project and making sure of its success, whereas no more than (13.2%) got this service. Several men projects owners received training sessions in the skills of marketing, management of projects, communication skills, thinking skills, according to the following rates consecutively: (12.3%), (11.5%), (10.0%). The rates for women who received such sessions did not exceed the following rates: (5.3%), (6.1%), (5.1%), (5.0%).

As for the view of the (male and female) owners of the projects of the most prominent points of weakness from which the supporting bodies suffer, (32.0%) of the women, and (38.1%) of the men said that among the most negative points was the severity of these bodies in demanding the payment of the installments. Among the other points was the absence of enough interest in the training and the preparation for the project. This was according to (20.0%) of the females, and (23.8%) for the males. The rates for not caring to follow-up of the project was (17.0%) for the women and (10.0%) for the men.

32 33

As for the evaluation of the (male and female) owners of the projects for their projects, and whether they think that they are successful projects, the majority – (78.4%) of the women, and (87.7%) of the men – pointed out that they run successful projects. A rate that cannot be overlooked (17.4%) of women and (10.0%) of the men – appeared to be completely doubtful of the success of their projects. The women who indicated the non-success of their projects stated a number of the factors and the reasons in trying to explain this, the most prominent of which are: the bad economic situation, continuous losses, weakness of management, shortage of experience and the enormity of experience and the enormity of the responsibility, the non-existence of a real project, scarcity of customers and market recession, selling on credit, the high cost of preparing the goods, working behind the back of the husband or the family.

The small projects and the empowerment of the woman

The study has assigned a special space to enquire about the extent of the contribution of the small projects in empowering the woman. Several questions were asked regarding the developmental and the personal dimensions in which the small projects contributes, in theory, to their service and development.

These dimensions were divided into two levels:

The economic level that is concerned with the assurance of better living 1. conditions.

The level of the psychological and social empowerment.2.

In the light of the answers of the beneficiaries of small projects, it is noted that the role that these projects played at the level of their psychological and social empowerment was tangibly greater than the role they played at the level of improving their living circumstances. Many of the beneficiaries have considered the impact of these projects on them was very great, and by extension, on their families, as far as widening their perceptions and the margins of their freedom, supporting their self – reliance and confidence. On the other side, it was noted with great deal of contradiction among the expected impacts,….

The continued exercise of violence against women. This means that contribution of the project towards providing an additional income to the family and improving the overall situation of the woman and supporting her status in the family … did not lead to a great deal of the curtailment of the phenomenon of domestic violence, which necessitates cautioning the

operators in the small projects to this phenomenon, and the search for the manner of its combating by the small projects.

On the opposite side, many of them tended to say that the small projects have contributed- in a medium way – to the improvement of their financial situations, like the securing the costs of teaching the sons and the daughters, improvement of the quality of food, payment of debts, availability of money and uplifting the situation of the house.

Conclusion and recommendations

The study has concluded, in general, that which was concluded by the many studies that have addressed the industry of the small loans and its role in development and fighting unemployment and poverty… especially the problems that are faced by this industry. Though it is possible to say that the small loans in Jordan constitutes one of the most important mechanism in fighting poverty, yet the policies that are connected with the providing of these loans and the assessment of their impacts, face problems that cannot be ignored, which appear in the form of negative reflections that touch the borrowers and the lending institutions alike.

The one who delves deeply in to the programmes of the small loans as a tool for confronting poverty, will find that it is not without real loopholes. The encouraging figure that are provided by the lending institutions regarding the high rates of repayment must not be considered as the only standard of success. Though the lending institutions focus on increasing the numbers of the borrowers, and the guarantee of their commitment to settle the installments, it does not take into consideration the importance of the loans programmes – related qualitative dimensions, whose knowledge and caring for them, may contribute to the easing of the handicaps that face the (male and female) borrowers. We do not find unto the lending institutions, for example, any dependable information concerning the numbers of those who have real income – generating projects. The majority of these institutions are not concerned with providing the necessary training programmes that support the elevation of the necessary skills for success in the work market, especially for the (female) borrowers.

They also ignore conducting serious preparatory studies for the plans of the projects.(32) On another side, the problem arises that is represented in the almost exclusive dependence on the quantitative dimensions in judging the

32 - Summary of article: “Too much of a good thing, when microfinance goes wrong, Wendy Emerson, Jo magazine, September 2007, Issue 49.

34 35

extent of the success of the small loans, which makes it difficult to know the real degree of the contribution of these loans to the alleviation of the intensity of poverty.(33)

Though it is difficult to deny the existence of an ample measure of encouraging success stories, especially as regards the women borrowers, yet these stories are associated in most cases with experiments whose success is coupled with special skills that these women have, as well as their actual work in investing the loans that they have received in real productive projects.

On the other side, the loans in many cases become turn into a disturbing burden, and maybe legally dangerous, on the borrowers. We talk here about the women borrowers in particular. As a result of the absence of coordination, networking and exchange of information among the lending institutions, it is not rare for the woman borrower to get more than one loan from several quarters, so that each loan settles the other without the existence of any real productive project. As for the women borrowers who try really to establish productive projects, their projects in many cases face failure as a result of their lack of skills and training and their inability to face the various problems that are associated with the small projects in the local market.(34)

Based on the afore – mentioned, the study recommends a number of measures that must be taken into consideration in order to develop the small projects financing sector, and overcome the previously stated problems, and cause it to more sensitive to the gender issues.

Establish a central body that represents all lending institutions so as to •establish and sustain a central data bank that contains up-to-date and accurate information regarding the names and addresses of all (male and female) persons who have received loans funding loans. The aim of the bank is not to lay siege to those wishing to borrow and prevent them from borrowing from more than one quarter, but to provide true and accurate information and addresses for them so that it becomes easy to reach them, follow-up their projects and help them to invest their loans in a better and rational way.

33- Ibid.

34- Ibid.

Conduct more deep and extensive studies regarding the loans and •the small projects to clarify their impacts on the beneficiaries and their situations, through using real national representative samples.

Easing the lending stipulations and non-sternness in determining the •financial sureties that are difficult to secure, in order to the needy to seek borrowing for the institution of productive projects.

Appoint more qualified females in the lending institutions to assure the •activation of the communication and cooperation with the borrowing females, and the follow-up of their household projects.

Raise the level of the lending officials in dealing with the public, and subject •them to training sessions that elevate the level of their comprehension and sensitivity to the gender issues.

Organize supporting training sessions for the (male and female) borrowers •that enable them possess the basic necessary knowledge and skills for success in the labor market… like the skills of outreaching, advertising and marketing.

Decrease the very high interests that exceed the capacities of those •(male and female) borrowers.

Benefit from the Islamic economy approaches to find practical alternatives, •for the usury loans, that accord with the religious convictions of the (male and female) borrowers.

Review the methodologies of following-up the small projects that remain •weak or even absent unto the lending institutions, due to the quest of most of them to realize profit, like the banks, but with facilitated conditions that cause the loss of the developmental concept, with the exception of some few institutions that do not constitute the rule.

Concentration on studying and treating the question of domestic violence, •through training and awareness, within supporting technical programmes for the (female and male) borrowers. This is based on the consideration that this question has extremely negative consequences on empowering women develop their projects and really benefit from their fruits.

37

Table no. (1): the economic situation of the families of the study sample

Bad and difficult

Acceptable and free fromfinancial problems

Good and comfortable Total

T T T T% % % %

Females 127 204 49 38033.4 53.7 12.9 100.1

Males 47 64 19 13036.2 49.2 14.5 100.0

Table No.(2): the conditions that the woman faced a problem in realizing them

Females Males% %

Providing the required guarantee / the guarantor. 52.4 46.4

Providing the tools and the equipment of the projects 7.1 0

Salary deduction 6.0 7.1

Table no. (3): the important reasons behind the institution of the small projects

Sources of the income of the familyFemales Males

T T% %

Improvement of the economic conditions 31081.6

12394.6

Self-fulfillment and the development of the personal abilities and possibilities

297.6

32.3

Improvement of the status among the family and the acquaintances

51.3

00.0

Spending leisure time 184.7

00.0

Improving the economic situations and developing the personality

10.3

10.8

All of the above 123.2

00.0

Other than this 51.3

32.3

Total 380 130

Tables Appendix

38 39

Table no. (4): the sources of the income of the family

Sources of the income of the familyFemales Males

T T% %

There are no other income sources except the project 11028.9

7960.8

Work of the husband 16944.5

53.8

Shop\another project 41.1

75.4

Work of the children and the husband 6617.4

129.2

The retirement of the husband \ father 236.1

2216.9

Salary \ retirement of the woman 51.3 5

Assistance from the various quarters 30.8

00.0

Total 380100.0

130100.0

Table no.(5): the person in charge of pricing the project products

The person who prices the productsFemales Males

T T% %

You yourself 29778.2

10883.1

Your husband 281.5

27.4

Your father 41.1

43.1

Your son or daughter 51.3

10.8

The financing quarter 30.8

10.8

Another person (according to the market price, the (female) neighbor, relatives or family, myself and the husband)

4311.3

1410.8

Total 380100.0

130100.0

Table No.(6): the person who markets the products of the project

The person who markets the productsFemales Males

T T% %

You yourself 28976.1

12092.3

Your husband 297.6

10.8

Your father 41.1

32.3

Your son or daughter 123.2

10.8

The financing quarter 4311.3

53.8

Another person (according to the market price, the (female) neighbor, relatives or family, myself and the husband)

380100.0

130100.0

Total 380100.0

130100.0

Table No. (7): the initiator of the idea of the project

The initiator of idea of the projectFemales Males

T T% %

You yourself 30680.0

10983.8

Your husband 369.5

64.6

Your father 30.8

32.3

Your son or daughter 30.8

32.3

The financing quarter 00.0

21.5

Another person (according to the market price, the (female) neighbor, relatives or family, myself and the husband)

328.4

75.4

Total 380100.0

130100.0

40

Table No.(8): the person in control of the financial returns of the project

You alone You and another person (s) One person or other persons

T T T% % %

26870.5

10026.3

123.2 Females

10782.3

1914.6

43.1 Males

Determination of the other persons –male sample: 15.8 the partner, 15.8 and the children and the father

Table No. (9) Evaluation of the points of weakness

Females MalesT T% %

Not paying enough attention to train you and prepare you to run the project

2020.0

523.8

Not paying enough attention to the follow-up of the project

1717.0

628.6

Strictness in demanding the settlement of the installments

3232.0

838.1

All of the above 3131.0

14.8

Other than this 00

14.8

Total 100100.0

21100.0

Table No. (10): responses of the sample regarding the administration of successful or unsuccessful projects

Yes No Not sure TotalT T T T% % % %

Females 28878.4

164.2

6617.4

380100.0

Males 11487.7

32.3

1310.0

130100.0