Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - More than 2,000 jobs will be available for women in rural areas under four agreements the Labour Ministry signed with private sector firms on Wednesday.

Three garment and textile manufacturing companies and one company in the electronics sector will open new production lines in Tafileh, Madaba, Northern Shuneh and Ajloun’s Junaid town, according to Labour Minister Nidal Katamine.

“The locations were selected after thorough studies as they have high unemployment rates, especially amongst women. A total of 2,100 job opportunities will be available for women in the selected areas,” Katamine said during the signing ceremony.

There are over 3,000 production lines across the country, the minister added.

“Unemployment is a serious challenge. Such initiatives aim at securing job opportunities for the unemployed, especially in remote areas of the country, where the unemployment rate is higher,” Katamine highlighted.

He pointed out that the agreements were signed “on the sidelines of the third stage of the National Employment Campaign”, which was launched earlier this week.

Some 125 companies are participating in the campaign, which is being held at Al Hussein Sports City and will continue until September 23, giving job seekers a venue to meet with business owners.

The third phase targets unemployed residents of remote areas and also aims to boost the employment of women and people with disabilities, in addition to establishing special employment units at the concerned ministries.

Some 18,000 job opportunities are on offer during the third stage of the campaign, according to the ministry.

The Labour Ministry launched the National Employment Campaign in January 2013 with the goal of creating thousands of jobs for Jordanians in cooperation with the private sector.

More than 12,000 unemployed Jordanians were secured jobs during the first phase of the campaign.

The second stage of the campaign, launched on December 15 last year with the aim of creating 25,000 job opportunities in 11 sectors, witnessed a “huge turnout” of job seekers.

Labour Ministry figures indicate that the unemployment rate currently stands at 11.8 per cent.

*Jordan Times