On June 17th women in Jordan will make history, when at least six women will be elected to parliament as part of sweeping election reforms enacted by King Abdullah earlier this year. Last February, the King added six new seats to Jordan's 104-seat parliament, seats that will be reserved for women as a way to boost their participation in the upcoming elections and in the country's political life thereafter. Women candidates will be placed on a separate electoral list and the six who achieve the highest percentage of votes in their district will be elected to parliament.

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) has been working with Jordanian women candidates to provide them with the skills and resources necessary to wage effective electoral campaigns. To view a short story on this aspect of Jordan's upcoming elections, please visit: http://www.onlinevideoservice.com/ndi/jordan

In addition to the women candidates’ training program, NDI has also been training journalists to provide more analytical coverage on the elections and assisting local civil society organizations to study and analyze the electoral process.