Taiwan extends support to refugee girls through Mercy Corps

AMMAN — Mercy Corps and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Jordan extended their partnership on Tuesday, November 30, by signing an agreement to support the second phase of Mercy Corps' "ISHRAK: Adolescent Girls' Empowerment initiative."اضافة اعلان

According to a press statement, the one-year agreement includes a generous donation of $300,000 funded by Taiwan for a project that will promote leadership and wellbeing of refugee girls. The signing ceremony was held in light of the international campaign 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which ran from November 25 to December 10.

The signing ceremony, between Ismael Mae, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Jordan, and Kari Diener, country director of Mercy Corps Jordan, was held at the Mercy Corps Jordan office in Amman in the presence of a US embassy representative. 


(Photo: Mercy Corps)

Through the ISHRAK initiative, Mercy Corps will partner with refugee girls and caregivers in Zaatari and Azraq camps to implement behavior change strategies that promote gender equality and girls’ empowerment. Girls also will benefit from mental health and psychosocial support to enhance resilience and wellbeing through expressive writing and filmmaking curricula and will also build on their improved skills, agency, and self-confidence to lead community initiatives that address needs expressed by their peers and the wider refugee community. 

In her speech, Diener thanked the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office representative in Jordan for Taiwan’s continued and increased support. "This is a true partnership built on mutual trust and respect. The donation enables Mercy Corps to work with adolescent girls to increase their safety, wellbeing, and skills in Za'atari and Azraq camps,” she said. 

Diener also explained that the initiative is part of a larger program to support girls in refugee camps funded by, amongst others, the US government through the US State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and  Migration, as well as several charitable foundations. 


(Photo: Mercy Corps)

For his part, Mae expressed his gratitude for the achievements of the long-term partnership between Taiwan and Mercy Corps for various humanitarian and refugee relief works in Jordan since 2013. He also reiterated Taiwan’s constant stand in cooperation with the international community and like-minded countries to continuously provide the needed assistance to the disadvantaged people in Jordan and the region. 

The project will target girls’ parents and caregivers under a psychosocial support program that will allow parents to employ more positive parenting techniques and create a more supportive environment. Mercy Corps will leverage its longstanding relationship with the Jordan Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Sub-Working Group, which includes a variety of members such as UNHCR, Institute for Family Health - Noor Al-Hussein (IFH), UNFPA, INGOs, and national organizations to refer cases that require specialized protection services.

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