AMMAN —
During her visit to Jordan, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and
girls Reem Alsalem was hosted by the
Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), which organized a series of events and meetings as part of
its “New Generation” program that aims at promoting the participation of youth,
women, and the civil society in political life, an ARDD statement said.
اضافة اعلان
Alsalem met with
local and international civil society organizations representatives and spoke
at Al-Nahda Women’s Network’s dialogue session, held as part of the “Al
Arba’tain” series of meetings.
Her program
included field visits to local associations and civil society organizations,
attending the fifth periodic meeting of the national Team for Family
Protection, and a meeting with the Minister of State for Legal Affairs and
Chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Women Empowerment
Wafaa Bani Mustafa.
Alsalem also met
donors and members of the local civil society, and representatives of the
private sector and international organizations. At the meetings, it was made
clear that Jordan is committed to extending protection to women and girls
through the UN mechanisms, more so now when the world is witnessing growing
numbers of incidents of domestic violence targeting women.
Toward better protection of women in times of
crises
The Al Arba’tain meeting was organized by Al-Nahda Women’s Network and
moderated by journalist Samar Haddadin who said: “Hosting Reem Alsalem comes at
a time of increased violence against women in Jordan, the Arab world, and the
globe since the pandemic. This meeting aims at learning more about Alsalem’s
work and cases of violence against women, and methods to prevent them.”
Alsalem, talking
about her role, said: “We are elected by members of the United Nations Human
Rights Council. Our appointment is pro bono and depends on our experience. We
are expected to perform with complete integrity, independence, and
objectivity.”
She stressed the
need to observe international human rights, reminding states of their
responsibility to end violence against women and girls, to advocate for
survivors of violence and their families, learn from successful international
attempts to end violence against women, and to analyze laws and regulations
pertaining to violence against women, identify any issues these laws may have,
and make their recommendations known to authorities.
The meeting
brought together a group of youths, women, and representatives of the local and
international civil society.
Alsalem stressed
the importance of coming up with comprehensive programs to combat violence
against women, in collaboration with relevant authorities, private sector
institutions, and civil society, and the need for governments to embrace the
civil society and utilize its expertise.
She also spoke
about the importance of early childhood education and spreading values at a
young age through curricula, to raise a new generation that believes in
equality for all, and secures everyone’s right to live in safety, particularly
of women and girls.
Alsalem
highlighted the importance of increasing women’s political and economic
participation, and encouraging laws and policies that link communities’
development and equality to the safety of women and girls. She spoke about the
intersectionality of women active in politics and as human rights defenders,
about disabled women, and the increased violence women face, and warned against
the expected climate crises and how they will negatively impact women and
girls, who will witness more violence.
Alsalem attended
part of the fifth periodic meeting of the national Team for
Family Protection
and learned about its 35 members representing the public and private sectors,
and civil society organizations and their role in monitoring laws and
regulations pertaining to domestic violence and providing recommendations.
Her meeting with
representatives of civil society organizations concluded with recommendations
concerning protection systems and prevention programs, and ways to collaborate
with civil society organizations to learn from their expertise.
Alsalem is the first Arab,
and
Jordanian, to be appointed as Special Rapporteur on violence against women
and girls. She received a master’s degree in international relations from the
American University in Cairo in 2001, and a master of law degree from Oxford
University in 2003.
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