The event was attended by H.R.H. Princess Dana Firas and over 70 alumni and leading women from various sectors of the embassy’s network.

In his welcoming remarks, Ambassador Verweij shed light on the importance of International Women’s Day to take stock of the progress made in the fight against gender inequality. “In Jordan, we recognize the recent efforts adopted on political and economic modernization and the special attention that was paid to gender inclusion,” said Verweij. “We stand ready to support these plans and will continue to work with our partners on bridging the gaps in inequality.”

In addition, Verweij took the opportunity to announce that the Netherlands has recently adopted a Feminist Foreign Policy which further reaffirms the commitment of the Netherlands to contribute to a better, more just world, in which women and men have equal rights and opportunities. “In Jordan we will reinforce our interaction and exchange with all those who promote this cause”, he said.

Lastly, Ambassador Verweij welcomed alumni of the Dutch funded Shiraka programme. Shiraka is the Netherlands’ flagship knowledge exchange programmme for the MENA-region, established in 2012. Since then, over 500 Jordanian civil servants and government employees have been trained in the Netherlands on various topics.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is offering another 10 courses for Jordanian civil servants in 2023 alone. In addition, two tailor made government-to-government programmes will take place this year. The first will train young Jordanian diplomats in the Netherlands for a period of three weeks and the second will be focused on Jordanian female judges.

The event was an opportunity for the embassy to meet with its network and for the alumni to reconnect with each other and meet their peers from other cohorts.