User:Samia Smadi
Wafa Bani Mustafa
Member of Parliament
The Jordanian House of Representatives
Bani Mustafa served as an elected Member of Jordanian Parliament for three subsequent terms (2010- 2017), Bani Mustafa was the youngest elected MP in 2010, and won her second Parliamentary seat outside of the reserved woman’s quota seat. Throughout her career, Bani Mustafa has launched and served on committees to propel women rights in Jordan and the broader Middle East. Aside from tackling women empowerment, Bani Mustafa has expanded to work regionally and globally on human rights issues in general and on the youth, human security, and the protection of women and children from exploitation in particular. For her work in advocating human rights, Bani Mustafa stands an example for women initiative in Jordan. Bani Mustafa (born 1979) holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and a Master’s Degree in Psychological Counseling.
Political standing: She was the first woman to head a bloc in the Jordanian Parliament, and has represented Jordan in the Women’s Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly Union for the
Mediterranean (PA-UfM). Within Jordanian Parliament, Bani Mustafa has also served as Chairwoman of the Order and Conduct Committee. Bani Mustafa is currently a member in the Public Freedom and Human Rights Committee and the National Media and Orientation Committee. She is also the head of the Parliamentary Initiative bloc to be the first woman to chair a bloc for two times.
Regionally and Internationally, Bani Mustafa is a founding member of the Climate Parliament Network and a founding member of the Arab Parliamentary Forum for Development and Population. Moreover, in April, 2017, she has been elected as a member in the IPU Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade representing the Arab group. Due to this growing political influence, RASED (a Jordanian NGO) ranked Bani Mustafa amongst the top five best performing Parliamentarians in both 2016 and 2017. She was selected among 50 international women leaders. In 2018, she occupied the position of Women in Parliament (WIP) Ambassador for Jordan.
Women politics: During her second session in Parliament, Bani Mustafa became the first Coordinator of the Jordanian Women’s Caucus, currently holding the same position. She is the Chairperson of the Coalition of Women MPs from Arab Countries to Combat Violence Against Women. HRH Princess Basma is the Honorary Chairperson of the Coalition. This is currently developing into a potential wider Convention to Combat Violence against Women in the Arab Region. Besides the positions held, Mustafa participates in a number of global conferences for women empowerment in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East in order to expand and share her understanding. Recently, Bani Mustafa has progressed to become a trainer on advanced campaign skills for experienced politicians from 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Bani Mustafa has worked on a number of legislative amendments for the benefit of women, advocating civil rights for the children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians. In addition, she called for amendments to the Residency and Foreign Affairs Law on behalf of granting residency for the children of Jordanian women married to non- Jordanians. Also, she has lobbied to include a new article in the Penal Code criminalizing acts of sexual harassment, and advocated for the elimination of Article 308 which waives charges against a rapist if he marries his victim.
Legal expertise: Bani Mustafa is a practicing lawyer and an active member of the Jordanian Lawyer’s Association. She was appointed by Royal Decree to be a member of the Board of Trustees in the National Center of Human Rights, where she also serves as a Chairperson of the Legal Committee. In the Parliament, Bani Mustafa applied her legal knowledge as both the Rapporteur (16th Parliament) and participating member (17th Parliament) of the Parliament’s Legal Committee.