BDO Jordan & UN Women Co-Lead Validation Workshop on Gender Analysis
BDO Jordan & UN Women Co-Lead Validation Workshop on Gender Analysis
Dead Sea, Jordan | June 2025
As part of Jordan’s national efforts to institutionalize gender-responsive budgeting, a technical validation workshop was held from 26–28 June 2025 at the Mövenpick Hotel – Dead Sea to validate an updated Gender Analysis Methodology and evaluation reports developed for four key ministries. The workshop was conducted under the project: “Provision of Technical Support to Four Ministries on Gender-Based Programme Analysis Tools and Conducting Analysis of Selected Programmes,” led jointly by UN Women and BDO Jordan, and funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) through the Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Project.
The workshop brought together policy actors and technical teams from the four pilot ministries: Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) alongside national budgeting and planning institutions. Their objective: to endorse the third and most refined version of the gender analysis methodology, originally developed by UN Women and substantively revised, localized, and field-tested by BDO Jordan, the project’s implementing partner.
From the General Budget Department, participation included Director General Mr. Majdi Al-Shuraiki and Consultant Mr. Firas Al-Saoub; from the Jordanian National Commission for Women, Ms. Christina Yarosh, Lead Coordinator for International Commitments, and Mr. Qusai Al-Dalain, Main Researcher; and from the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Ibrahim Al-Saket, Assistant Secretary General for Administrative Affairs and Logistics Support. Their presence highlighted the importance of cross-ministerial collaboration and leadership in embedding gender in public finance.
Opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Amjad Al Omari of UN Women, followed by a keynote by Eng. Azzam Hamaideh, Advisory Partner at BDO Jordan. Ms. Rawya Sami, Project Manager at BDO Jordan, presented the full technical trajectory of the methodology—from its original design to the two iterative updates conducted by BDO, including comprehensive field validation.
To tailor the tool to Jordan’s institutional context, BDO Jordan conducted hands-on testing across the four pilot ministries. This included beneficiary surveys, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and field visits first-of-its-kind implementation effort at the ministerial level under the GRB framework. The result was a refined, user-friendly, and action-oriented methodology, complemented by a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that allow ministries to apply the tool independently, without reliance on external technical assistance.
The workshop also served to build institutional capacity for the GRB teams across ministries. BDO facilitated in-depth technical sessions where ministry representatives reviewed their gender analysis reports, refined findings, and developed feasible, context-specific recommendations. These discussions were grounded in real operational constraints and aimed at actionable integration into sectoral planning and budgeting cycles.
Participants engaged in strategic dialogue on linking gender analysis to monitoring and evaluation (M&E), programme budgeting, and resource allocation—reinforcing the methodology’s potential to inform evidence-based, equitable public finance decisions.
“This workshop reflects not only methodological progress but also institutional readiness to lead gender analysis internally, and BDO Jordan is proud to have contributed to that transformation,” said Ms. Rawya Sami, Project Manager at BDO Jordan.
The validation marked a key milestone in the national implementation of gender-responsive budgeting and showcased the power of targeted technical partnerships in localizing global tools.
BDO Jordan extends its sincere thanks to UN Women Jordan, especially Ms. Bushra Abu Shahout, Dr. Amjad Al Omari and Ms. Zaina Al-Basheer, for their trust and partnership throughout the project. Special appreciation is also due to the gender and women’s departments at each pilot ministry, whose engagement and practical insights played a critical role in ensuring the methodology’s relevance and usability.
The project’s successful delivery was made possible by BDO Jordan’s specialized technical team including Ms. Esraa Mahadin (Technical Team Lead), Ms. Rawya Sami (Project Manager), Ms. Mira Abu Moghli (Gender Expert), Ms. Haya Abead and Ms. Rand Al Badri from the Consulting Department— each of whom brought expertise in public sector reform, gender policy, and institutional capacity-building.
About BDO Jordan
BDO Jordan, Samman & Co. is a leading professional services firms in Jordan, offering specialized expertise in audit, tax, management and financial consulting and business services outsourcing (BSO). The firm provides a wide range of tailored solutions to meet the needs of public and private sector clients, including external audit, tax advisory, restructuring, systems development, and institutional performance enhancement.
As the official representative of the BDO Global Network in Jordan and Iraq, the firm draws on over 40 years of professional experience. BDO Jordan, is committed to delivering high-quality services based on international standards and best practices, and to contributing to Jordan’s economic development by promoting efficiency, transparency, and partnership across sectors.
As part of Jordan’s national efforts to institutionalize gender-responsive budgeting, a technical validation workshop was held from 26–28 June 2025 at the Mövenpick Hotel – Dead Sea to validate an updated Gender Analysis Methodology and evaluation reports developed for four key ministries. The workshop was conducted under the project: “Provision of Technical Support to Four Ministries on Gender-Based Programme Analysis Tools and Conducting Analysis of Selected Programmes,” led jointly by UN Women and BDO Jordan, and funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) through the Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Project.
The workshop brought together policy actors and technical teams from the four pilot ministries: Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) alongside national budgeting and planning institutions. Their objective: to endorse the third and most refined version of the gender analysis methodology, originally developed by UN Women and substantively revised, localized, and field-tested by BDO Jordan, the project’s implementing partner.
From the General Budget Department, participation included Director General Mr. Majdi Al-Shuraiki and Consultant Mr. Firas Al-Saoub; from the Jordanian National Commission for Women, Ms. Christina Yarosh, Lead Coordinator for International Commitments, and Mr. Qusai Al-Dalain, Main Researcher; and from the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Ibrahim Al-Saket, Assistant Secretary General for Administrative Affairs and Logistics Support. Their presence highlighted the importance of cross-ministerial collaboration and leadership in embedding gender in public finance.
Opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Amjad Al Omari of UN Women, followed by a keynote by Eng. Azzam Hamaideh, Advisory Partner at BDO Jordan. Ms. Rawya Sami, Project Manager at BDO Jordan, presented the full technical trajectory of the methodology—from its original design to the two iterative updates conducted by BDO, including comprehensive field validation.
To tailor the tool to Jordan’s institutional context, BDO Jordan conducted hands-on testing across the four pilot ministries. This included beneficiary surveys, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and field visits first-of-its-kind implementation effort at the ministerial level under the GRB framework. The result was a refined, user-friendly, and action-oriented methodology, complemented by a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that allow ministries to apply the tool independently, without reliance on external technical assistance.
The workshop also served to build institutional capacity for the GRB teams across ministries. BDO facilitated in-depth technical sessions where ministry representatives reviewed their gender analysis reports, refined findings, and developed feasible, context-specific recommendations. These discussions were grounded in real operational constraints and aimed at actionable integration into sectoral planning and budgeting cycles.
Participants engaged in strategic dialogue on linking gender analysis to monitoring and evaluation (M&E), programme budgeting, and resource allocation—reinforcing the methodology’s potential to inform evidence-based, equitable public finance decisions.
“This workshop reflects not only methodological progress but also institutional readiness to lead gender analysis internally, and BDO Jordan is proud to have contributed to that transformation,” said Ms. Rawya Sami, Project Manager at BDO Jordan.
The validation marked a key milestone in the national implementation of gender-responsive budgeting and showcased the power of targeted technical partnerships in localizing global tools.
BDO Jordan extends its sincere thanks to UN Women Jordan, especially Ms. Bushra Abu Shahout, Dr. Amjad Al Omari and Ms. Zaina Al-Basheer, for their trust and partnership throughout the project. Special appreciation is also due to the gender and women’s departments at each pilot ministry, whose engagement and practical insights played a critical role in ensuring the methodology’s relevance and usability.
The project’s successful delivery was made possible by BDO Jordan’s specialized technical team including Ms. Esraa Mahadin (Technical Team Lead), Ms. Rawya Sami (Project Manager), Ms. Mira Abu Moghli (Gender Expert), Ms. Haya Abead and Ms. Rand Al Badri from the Consulting Department— each of whom brought expertise in public sector reform, gender policy, and institutional capacity-building.
About BDO Jordan
BDO Jordan, Samman & Co. is a leading professional services firms in Jordan, offering specialized expertise in audit, tax, management and financial consulting and business services outsourcing (BSO). The firm provides a wide range of tailored solutions to meet the needs of public and private sector clients, including external audit, tax advisory, restructuring, systems development, and institutional performance enhancement.
As the official representative of the BDO Global Network in Jordan and Iraq, the firm draws on over 40 years of professional experience. BDO Jordan, is committed to delivering high-quality services based on international standards and best practices, and to contributing to Jordan’s economic development by promoting efficiency, transparency, and partnership across sectors.