Queen Rania Visits Family Protection Department
Amman/Dec.8(Petra) - Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah on
Wednesday underlined the need to safeguard the security and well
being of the family underlining that any violation of the dignity of
its members would be a breach of basic human rights.
Queen Rania's comments came during a visit to the Family Protection
Department (FPD) in Wadi Al Seer, where she met Director of the
Public Security Directorate (PSD) Major General Mohammad Majed
Al-Eitan, Assistant to PSD Director for Criminal Investigation Major
General Bashir Majali and Head of the FPD Colonel Fadel Hmoud.
During the meeting, Queen Rania underlined the need to
institutionalize services provided to citizens, while facilitating
accessibility and procedures. She also noted the importance of
having qualified staff, know-how and continued training to be able
to continue to raise the level of existing services.
As Jordan and the world prepare to mark Human Rights Day on Dec.
10, Queen Rania met with FPD staff, highlighting the importance of
national commitment to human rights and underlining that public
awareness and inter-agency cooperation are key to safeguarding
family rights and empowering its members which would enable them to
become active citizens in all sectors of society.
Colonel Hmoud and FPD staff briefed Queen Rania on the Family
Protection Department's efforts and work which encompasses a wide
range of specialized consultants to deal with all kinds of cases.
Colonel Hmoud noted the number of reported cases had risen from 631
in 2000 to 1330 last month mainly due to more cases reported after
the opening of such centers in four governorates - Irbid, Salt,
Zarqa and Aqaba.
Queen Rania, who in a speech last year had said "the right to human
dignity is non-negotiable" is an advocate of human rights, and is
honorary chairperson of the Royal Commission for Human Rights which
resulted in the establishment of National Center for Human Rights
that aims to foster and deepen greater awareness and understanding
of human rights to an elevated level that would affect policy making
in accordance with international standards.
In her capacity as president of the National Council for Family
Affairs (NCFA), Queen Rania has been outspoken on the need to
develop effective policies to ensure family protection and unity,
and has worked hard to identify and implement mechanisms for
increased coordination between public institutions and civil society
organizations working in family affairs.
Jordan's Family Protection Project Management Team (PMT) were
chosen as recipients of the 2003 UN Prize for Human Rights as part
of the UN General Assembly's commemoration of Human Rights Day, for
having "helped lift the taboo on the subject of domestic violence
and promote open debate on issues of human rights, equity and
gender." PMT representatives from participating institutions
presented the award to Queen Rania for her leading and inspiring
role in preventing domestic violence and abuse in Jordan.
The project that became a model for addressing domestic violence
issues in the region and gained remarkable international respect,
was commended by Queen Rania who said choosing PMT was a recognition
and great honor for the country and a renewed impetus for further
progress. She underlined that "lifting the taboo on issues related
to domestic violence and its damaging consequences on society is
vitally important as we strive to safeguard the rights and dignity
of our most vulnerable citizens." The Family Protection Project,
spearheaded by a local team of representatives from all the
concerning stakeholder institutions in the Kingdom, is a
groundbreaking Jordanian initiative that combats the universal
problem of those caught in domestic violence and provides protection
for them.
Since its inception four years ago, Queen Rania has been the
project's key supporter and advocate, leading it to success, with
representatives of the Public Security Directorate, officials from
the ministries of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Information, Education,
Justice, the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) and NCFA working with
decision makers and experts to provide specialized preventative,
therapeutic and rehabilitative services and support to abused women
and children.
Highlighting the national agenda focusing on empowering all members
of society, the NCFA this year marked the 10the International Year
of the Family as it works with other partners on improving the
quality of life of all Jordanian families by ensuring the right
policy environment to support the development of family protection
and unity, and to identify and implement mechanisms for increased
coordination between Jordanian public institutions and civil society
organizations working in the field of family affairs.
Last year, Queen Rania marked Human Rights Day with 1.4 million
students in the Kingdom's schools where she joined students at
Al-Kamalieh Girls' High School in Sweileh to read and discuss the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by a UN
General Assembly resolution on December 10, 1948 and commemorated as
Human Rights Day starting in 1950.