On Monday, April 22, 2019, The Department of Social Work at the Applied Humanities and Languages School (SAHL), at the German Jordanian University (GJU) in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) organized a lecture by its representative in Jordan, Robert Jenkins, to introduce the organization to the students and to highlight the programs and projects implemented in Jordan in the fields of childhood, youth, education and refugees.
During his lecture, Jenkins reviewed in the presence of the President of GJU Prof. Manar Fayyad, the mechanisms through which the organization and its projects operate. Explaining that in the past five years UNICEF has focused on the emergency response to the needs of Syrian refugee children.
He added that UNICEF had supported education and protection services for Syrian children in host communities, camps and water for Syrian refugees in the Azraq and Zaatari camps in cooperation with the Jordanian Government and local partners. Pointing out that the organization is now expanding its programs to include all the most vulnerable children in the Kingdom, regardless of their nationality and status.
He said that despite the positive trends in the country’s human development index, there was still a marked disparity between the various groups in society in terms of access to services and employment opportunities for young people, which were high. Noting that UNICEF is working with the government and local partners to implement their programs, this helps to mitigate these differences.
Jenkins also pointed out that UNICEF is carrying out training programs for the rehabilitation of youth to the labor market to contribute to the alleviation of unemployment rates. Stressing the importance of raising awareness of the impact of early marriage on girls and their children especially their opportunities in education.