SAJEDA SHAWA

Sajeda Shawa has compiled a total of 12 years of experience in the humanitarian field. She was the regional humanitarian programs officer at the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO). She worked on the humanitarian files in the Middle East & North Africa region; mainly the Iraqi crisis, and was part of the surge capacity during the Libyan crisis in Egypt, and the Syria crisis team repeatedly in Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. She additionally overlooked the humanitarian files in Egypt and Gulf Council Countries, and extensively facilitated the dialogue and outreach among the European Commission and the humanitarian Arab donors in the Arab region. Sajeda is currently pursuing her studies at Harvard Kennedy School focusing on Organizing Humanitarian Leadership. Previously, she has obtained her BA in English Literature and MA in International Studies and humanitarian Diplomacy – with a major focus on the resilience of Monarchies during the Arab spring, and minor focus on the humanitarian landscape in the Arab region.

“Comfort zones are killers of ambition and progress”

Q: TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY, AND ALSO YOUR LIFE'S STORY!

The official name of Jordan is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan emerged from the post-World War I division of the Middle East made by Britain and France. Known as Transjordan from 1922, it was formally recognised by the UN as an independent sovereign kingdom in 1946. The national flag of Jordan shows three equal horizontal bands of black (representing the Abbassid Caliphate), white (representing the Ummayyad Caliphate) and green (representing the Fatimid Caliphate), along with a red isosceles triangle on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of 1916. In the centre of the red triangle, there is a seven-point white star, representing the seven Suras (verses) of the opening of the Qur’an.

The capital of Jordan, Amman, was once named Philadelphia. It was named after Ptolemy Philadelphus (283-246 BC) who rebuilt the city during his reign before Amman was taken by Herod around 30 BC and fell under the influence of Rome. Jordan has a long history of accepting refugees. Positioned in the midst of turmoil, it has accepted vast numbers of refugees from surrounding conflicts. Most notably, the country has an estimated two million Palestinians and 3 million Syrian refugees residing in the country. In a nation of just 9.5 million people, this represents over a third of the population.

Jordan is home to the ancient city of Petra. Known as “The Rose City” it is famous for its unique architecture carved directly into the rock face. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The final scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed at Petra. Jordan is home to many biblical sites including, among others, the Jordan River where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist, Mount Nebo where Moses died. The lowest point on Earth in terms of dry land is the shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan. It lies at 1,378ft (420m) beneath sea level. The waters of the Dead Sea are extremely saline which keeps bathers buoyant. With 34.2% salinity, it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.

As for my life story, I'm a proud Jordanian from Palestinian origins. I'm a third generation of a family heavily engaged in politics and diplomacy. My father was a diplomat and a legal adviser of a prominent royal family in the middle east, so I grew up along with my siblings in different countries almost every 3-4 years which affected our identity, perspectives and judgement. I obtained my Bachelor degree in English language and literature, then a Masters degree in humanitarian diplomacy and most recently completed an executive program on leadership and social change at Harvard Kennedy School. I'm currently following the steps of my family and working with the United Nations on the humanitarian coordination for the Syria crisis focusing on Arabic advocacy, donor relations and fundraising policies.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD AS IT IS TODAY? AND HOW DO YOU DEFINE THE CONCEPT OF A BETTER WORLD?

The only constant is change - according to physics. However, this applies to every aspect of life and not only physics. The world has become a very small village as we know it today, which can not serve the lives of our kids in the same way it does today to us, due to the rapid advancement in technology, social media, emotional and social intelligence and access to anything they need. One example of a changing world is the amount of data produced in one minute on social media , which would be an estimation of 4 million videos on youtube, 3.6 searches on google, 46.000 photo uploaded photos on Instagram, 500,000 photo posted on Snapchat and 450.000 tweets on Twitter - mostly by teenager females and males below the age of 18. Another example of a changing world is the number of the functions /jobs that would replace a massive number of current opportunities, namely: Data analyst, data scientist, big data specialist, e-commerce specialist and artificial/social intelligence specialist. All those functions would be needed by 2030.

A better world would be a place where young kids (males and females) are encouraged to think creatively and not necessarily think outside the box. Creativity and innovation need to be the main slogan of education globally. Youth need to be treated as contributors to the world, rather than teens in between phases. Adults need to be given their equal opportunities of empowerment, gender equality and fair opportunities - while their retirement rights are guaranteed by their governments. The elderly need to be treated with respect to post-retirement life activities that help them be givers rather than dying slowly.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY CHALLENGES IN YOUR SOCIETY?

- The lack of natural resources, and the dependence of our economy on foreign aid, along with the Jordanians themselves.

- The accumulative lack of political visions that led to heavy debt on the state.

- A major trust gap between the people and the government in terms of needs of Jordanians VS decisions taken by the government.

- The need for better gender equality across all sectors in life - especially in rural areas.

- The economic empowerment of women points at 82% of Jordanian women outside the labour force, at a time where the Master degree became the baseline of education for young females in the capital Amman.

- Quality of education was the best in the middle east 20 years ago which enabled Jordanian to fulfil leadership roles across the globe, however, over the years, the quality of education deteriorated drastically - and that needs to be improved again.

Q: AS A YOUNG INDIVIDUAL WHAT ARE A FEW OF THE HURDLES THAT YOU HAD TO OVERCOME UP UNTIL TODAY?

As a Jordanian female growing up in a very supportive family where women are provided with equal rights to men but being part of the wider patriarchal society, I primarily live two struggles on daily basis: the struggle of double standards as if my house was one world, and the outside world was another world. I had to struggle at every phase of my life proving myself, defending my thoughts, opinions and even my choice of clothes at certain points. I lived in mixed places where the level of open-mindedness varied between people being extreme culturally religious or culturally total disbelievers. My mother has always reminded me to respect everybody, and to find a middle ground as much as possible. If impossible, then agree to disagree with respect, and let go. However, that wasn't always easy. I had to invest double the energy invested by male colleagues almost at every phase of my life, at school, at university, at personal life, and at work.

Despite being a senior diplomat today, I still face incidents of male colleagues undermining my capacities in terms of knowledge, expertise, professionalism or political judgement based on my gender, age, background and nationality. It happened and continues to happen, but I learnt not to let it go unquestioned or addressed properly. I created women empowerment platforms in almost every duty station I worked in for the last 10 years of my life, where female colleagues would find safe spaces to share any concerns or fears about abuse of power, discrimination or harassment. This month, I managed to integrate a component on women empowerment into the induction comprehensive course provided to young UN newcomers/staff. In parallel, in my personal life, and a mother of two female teenagers, I share everything I face on daily basis at work so that they believe that change can happen in reality - and not only in fairy tales.

Q: WHY IS THE ROLE OF A MENTOR IMPORTANT FOR YOU?

For me, continuous learning is equal to being alive. Having a mentor would be a walking living example of wisdom, experiences and lessons learnt.

Q: DO YOU HAVE A LESSON THAT LIFE HAS TAUGHT YOU AND YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?

One would always need a mentor to challenge you and get you out of your comfort zones. Comfort zones are killers of ambition and progress.

Q: NAME A PROJECT, A FOUNDATION OR A PERSON IN YOUR COUNTRY THAT YOU THINK IS DOING GREAT WORK IN HELPING IMPROVE OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES!

Mary Nazzal

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WOMEN IN YOUR COUNTRY FACE AND WHAT EFFORTS ARE MADE TOWARDS GENDER EQUALITY?

-Unequal economic opportunities.

- Unequal pay

-Lack of nurseries and daycare for lactating mothers at workspaces.

- Honour crimes

-Early marriages

-Child brides

Advocacy groups are being organised in a structured manner, calling and pushing for fair policies. Its work in progress still.

Q: ATHENA40 IS THE FIRST EVER GLOBAL SELECTION OF THE TOP 40 WOMEN FORWARD THINKERS, COMMENTATORS, ACTIVISTS, AUTHORS, ACADEMICS, ENTREPRENEURS, EXECUTIVES, INNOVATORS. CAN YOU THINK OF A TRULY INNOVATIVE AND FORWARD-THINKING WOMAN FROM YOUR COUNTRY THAT YOU WISH TO NOMINATE FOR THE ATHENA40 GLOBAL RANKING?

Can I nominate myself?

Q: SHARE WITH US A PHRASE, A POEM OR A STORY THAT YOU LOVE OR YOU FIND INTERESTING!

The only constant is change.

Q: TELL US ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM YOUR MENTOR.

Embrace life and family, even at times when stress is overwhelming.