The Inspirational Development Group (IDG), a business consultancy, held a workshop for 43 women in Amman last month designed to develop female leadership skills so they are better equipped to improve their performance and face daily challenges.

The two-day event aimed to help women excel in their professional and personal lives, said HRH Princess Noor Bint Asem, an IDG consultant for the Middle East. “It was about bringing together a group of aspiring female leaders that have the drive, passion, and resilience to take their careers to the next level,” she said. “It’s really about making it a norm not an exception where women are encouraged and are given equal opportunity to work. While also [helping] women who have the responsibility of their family to adapt in a way where they don’t have to choose—that they’re not cornered in a position where it’s either or.”

She added that women face the same basic challenges around the world. However, these can be magnified in certain cultures. With only 12.6 percent of women working in 2014, Jordan suffers from one of the lowest rates of female participation in the workforce globally.

The workshop, which was the first open event held by IDG since setting up a base in Jordan in 2015, was led by Kathie Knell, a leadership and management expert and deputy chairperson for NATO’s Gender Perspectives Committee.

IDG is planning to hold another workshop later in the year that will focus on diversity and inclusion, inviting both male and female participants.