AMMAN — As 40 percent of Jordan’s population are under the age of
18, and the country has the second highest share of refugees per capita in the
world, Jordan looks to
UNICEF for support in protecting its most vulnerable
children, especially with the pandemic exacerbating underlying challenges.
اضافة اعلان
“The more that we can provide access to opportunities for those
children, the more likely they are to become self-sufficient and be active
contributors to the society in the country,” said UNICEF representative in
Jordan Tanya Chapuisat in an interview with Jordan News.
Among the major pillars this organization addresses is
education.
The Kingdom works to integrate refugee children,
regardless of their nationality, into the education system, explained
Chapuisat. The current
COVID situation, however, has limited their access to
schooling, especially for those in more vulnerable communities.
“The government has set up an online education system,
but we found that in many cases the most vulnerable children were not accessing
that system,” said Chapuisat. “Trying to make sure that they were given not
only things like tablets, but data packages so that they can access that online
system was critical.”
Currently 45,000 children in refugee camps are provided
with free monthly data to bridge this digital divide, according to UNICEF.
Learning Bridges is a program the Ministry of Education
and UNICEF have adopted to help students recover from the covid-induced
disruption. “This is a parent, teacher and student support system that
supplements the whole online system of the ministry,” explained Chapuisat.
“Over the last
few years, we have had more than 33,000 children in the camps who have been
accessing education as a result of our direct support.”
Yet, Chapuisat believes that there is still a lot of
support needed to ensure refugee and vulnerable children do not fall behind.
Over time, the lack of access creates a learning gap which may eventually
contribute to higher dropout rates. This would have a devastating impact not
only on the communities but on the country.
“You can directly calculate the loss of future earnings
in the country as time continues to go on from a lack of access to education or
access to learning,” she added.
The learning gaps and Covid crisis also helped
exacerbate preexisting challenges faced by the refugee population, early
marriage and child labor.
“UNICEF has been working with different community-based
organizations to really try and support families to not make that harmful
choice for their children,” said Chapuisat.
Partnering with national NGOs and government
institution provides them with access to the vulnerable communities both inside
and outside the camps. Women groups have been particularly vulnerable
throughout this period and have been targets to UNICEF’s emergency programs.
It takes time, however, for tangible results and
behavior change to be noticed. “When it comes to issues of like child labor, or
child marriage, the results are there, but they're longer term,” said
Chapuisat. “It's very much about trying to help families make the different
choices, and those are driven by their economic situation.”
To encourage economic self-sufficiency and increase
access to opportunities, UNICEF also invests in youth empowerment.
According to the organization, over 2,000 young people,51 percent of whom are females, were provided with technical and vocational
training and supported with access to meaningful employment.
“We worked on including youth in programs on social
innovation and business startup initiatives,” said Chapuisat, including one
that provides vulnerable youth with entrepreneurship training followed by an
opportunity to launch an enterprise.
UNICEF adopts the policy of supporting all vulnerable
communities, with the end goal of integrating them into society and progressing
the nation as a whole. “The history of the country shows how people coming here
can take on a very significant role and contribute to the national economy,”
said Chapuisat.
“They are within our communities; they are our
neighbors and so making sure that they are integrated into the fabric of
society is critical for long term harmony in the country.”
Read more
national
.jpg)
.jpg)
