The National Council For Family Affairs (NCFA) and UNICEF on Wednesday organized a consultative meeting on the action plan for child protection for 2023 and reviewed the key outcomes of cooperation between the two sides on child protection programs for 2018-2022.
Speaking at the meeting, NCFA Secretary-General, Mohammad Miqdadi, lauded UNICEF’s efforts and all partners, including national institutions and international organizations, with regard to the protection sector, in a way that enhances the concept of a participatory approach and joint cooperation.
Miqdadi also referred to the government’s latest and key achievements on the protection aspect, adoption of Child Rights Law, which is a cornerstone to protect children from violence, including the legal texts on child labor and school dropout.
The gov’t action also provided health care for children and secure places to play and other articles that guarantee safe childhood, calling on to steer focus on the “effective” preventive programs in ensuring protection for this group.
Miqdadi indicated that the national study on violence against children in Jordan, which was prepared by the NCFA, in cooperation with UNICEF, showed that children from the national sample in 8-17 years age group were exposed to physical violence at a 74.6% rate.
Results of the study also showed that 58.3 percent of the sample members were exposed to psychological violence and 27.3% suffered at least one form of sexual violence, he noted.
Meanwhile, 13.2% of the same group age were exposed reported at least one form of cyber-bullying, he noted.
For his part, Mariyampillai Mariyaselvam, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF, stated that this meeting with partners focuses on a presentation of the key achievements in the last five years under cooperation of Jordanian government and UNICEF, as well as the importance of benefiting from these steps when setting priorities for the coming years, hailing Jordan’s national achievements with regard to child protection.
Mariyampillai also stressed the role of dialogue among stakeholders involved in building forthcoming plans, to ensure that recommendations serve future aspirations in accordance with systematic frameworks.
A set of axes were discussed, including the focus of policies, strengthening the response system and child protection, in addition to awareness and preventive programs to protect against violence, Mariyampillai said.
Source: Jordan News Agency