Civil and women’s movements repeat appeals to gov’t to facilitate their work

AMMAN — The civil and women’s movements on Saturday repeated appeals to the government to facilitate their work of reaching out to and distributing necessary items and food to increasing humanitarian and domestic violence cases.

National Council for Family Affairs Secretary General Mohammad Miqdadi, who is president of the National Team of Family Protection (NTFP) that includes 32 governmental and non-governmental organisations, said only certain government entities are operating “but this is not enough to help the cases that are in need”.

“There are a few governmental entities that are working with a limited number of staff such as the Family Protection Department and the Ministry of Social Development, but those working with domestic violence cases do not have appropriate access to the cases,” Miqdadi told The Jordan Times.

Miqdadi added that the NTFP plans to address the Cabinet in the coming days to “help facilitate the civil society’s sectors work to reach the increasing number of domestic violence and other humanitarian cases”.

Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI) Executive General Asma Khader, whose organisation runs a hotline, said: “The civil society needs to be able to obtain permission to reach out to cases that do not reside close to our experts and social workers or live in rural or remote areas”.

“We really hope that we could, at least, get one or two permits so as to be able to reach cases who are in dire need of help or humanitarian support because domestic violence cases are on the rise,” Khader told The Jordan Times.

Jordanian Women’s Union (JWU) Director General Nadia Shamroukh also added her voice to Khader saying that the union, which runs a hotline and shelter, contacted the government repeatedly to get the necessary permission to reach out to urgent cases.

“We are receiving more cases because of the COVID-19 lockdown and we need permits so that we can reach people in need and also buy food and supplies for our shelter. Domestic violence should be a priority for the government,” Shamroukh told The Jordan Times.

Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) Secretary General Salma Nims said her organisation, which runs a hotline, contacted several entities to urge the Prime Minister to include “us in the Social Protection Committee that was established recently to insure that the impact of the decisions taken in response to COVID-19 would take into consideration the impact on different groups.

“We also asked the government to include the civil society organisations that are playing an active role in the framework of inclusive and social protection, such as violence against women and children, accessibility for people with special needs, as well as reproductive health needs,” Nims told The Jordan Times.