--- title: "Jordanian and Syrian women work together to transform Jordan’s agricultural sector" description: "In a community organisation in Jordan’s Balqa governorate, around 20 female farm workers are gathered for a training to learn how to protect their rights at work, while their children play in the next room." url: "https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2026/jordanian-and-syrian-women-work-together-to-transform-jordans-agricultural-sector" language: "en" published: "2026-11-09T07:27:31Z" modified: "2026-11-09T07:27:31Z" --- # Jordanian and Syrian women work together to transform Jordan’s agricultural sector NRC provides legal assistance and support to refugees and vulnerable Jordanians across northern and central Jordan, supported by a team of volunteers who support outreach to communities. In this picture, ICLA officer Ghadeer leads a training session for volunteers. Photo: Samer Adnan/NRC In a community organisation in Jordan’s Balqa governorate, around 20 female farm workers are gathered for a training to learn how to protect their rights at work, while their children play in the next room. Published 09. Nov 2026 [Jordan](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=71) Hosted by a local organisation, the Development and Reconstruction Association Charity, trainers from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) provide Syrian and Jordanian farm workers with skills to resolve disputes and protect their rights. The training builds workers’ negotiation skills so they can communicate with their employers more effectively and with confidence. Workers are coached in different approaches to raise issues with employers and deal with different types of managers. It is practical and interactive, covering both formal and informal ways to resolve workplace disputes. Workers role-play real-life scenarios to rehearse the skills they are taught. Two farm workers role-play new techniques to resolve disputes. Photo: Samer Adnan/NRC "You don't like the salary of [JOD] 270? Then don’t work. Someone else will accept [JOD] 250," says Um Fadi, playing the role of the employer, to nods of recognition from the group. Um Fadi said the words came from her own experience, having worked as a labourer on farms for more than a decade. Aisha, a farm worker, attended an earlier training and has already put her new skills to use to help her family of nine. Aisha heard about NRC’s workplace negotiations training when NRC volunteers visited her home, and she decided to join. "I attended the negotiation workshop and discovered how I could help my daughter," she says. Despite working on farms for more than 30 years, Aisha was not aware of her rights under Jordanian law, nor how to claim them. Aisha’s 19-year-old daughter was working on a date farm, earning one JOD an hour, to help support the family, but after her work was completed, the farm owner refused to pay her. Drawing on the skills she learned at the training, Aisha approached her daughter’s employer to resolve the issue. When her initial approach did not work, she reached out to respected community leaders, who helped to mediate the dispute and advocate for a fair resolution – a tactic she also learned at the training. This approach worked, and the farm owner paid the owed wages in full, which Aisha’s daughter used to help pay her sister’s university enrolment fees. Aisha describes how she used the skills she learned during the training to help her daughter recover owed wages from her employer. Photo: Samer Adnan/NRC NRC is partnering with community-based organisations across northern and central Jordan to provide legal awareness sessions, legal assistance and counselling, and coaching on workplace negotiations techniques to Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians working in the agricultural sector. These services are part of the 20 Dunums for Change project, which aims to economically empower Syrian and Jordanian farm workers and improve working conditions, funded by Agence Française de Développement. NRC reaches workers even in remote areas thanks to a team of Jordanian and Syrian volunteers who visit farms and informal settlements to talk to agricultural workers and identify those who could benefit from legal support. Among NRC’s volunteers is Basma, a 40-year-old Jordanian farm worker who has changed the lives of dozens of women working in agriculture. Basma started working in agriculture in the Jordan Valley more than a decade ago, with little understanding of labour laws or workplace rights. "When I started working, I didn't know workers' rights or the challenges workers face," Basma recalls. "I didn't know how the sector operated or what my rights were. I thought everyone lived the same reality." Basma (right) and a fellow volunteer attend an NRC training. Photo: Samer Adnan/NRC Workers often faced difficult working conditions and unsafe transport and long hours, without health and safety equipment, Basma explains. "Working in okra fields is especially hard because the crop can injure workers' hands. Many women developed inflammations and sores. Gloves would have helped, but they were never provided." Today, Basma continues her advocacy as an NRC volunteer supporting outreach to communities to provide legal support. She supports refugees and vulnerable communities working in agriculture by providing information about labour rights, sharing available legal services and connecting workers with legal assistance when needed. "People trust me because I am one of them," she says. "I understand their challenges because I have lived them." *Sign up to our newsletter to read more stories from around the world.* [Sign up to newsletter](https://www.nrc.no/sign-up-to-newsletter) ## More on [#Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA)](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=154) [#Employment laws and procedures](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=355)