Partners in Creating the Future
Jordan shares the world celebration of the International Children's Day
Jordan shares the world celebration of the International Children's Day
Saturday, 20 November 2021

Jordan today, Saturdays shares the world celebration of the International Children’s Day, which falls on the twentieth of November of every year. This year, it came under the theme "A better future for every child", that aims to emphasizing, promoting, and drawing attention to children's rights, to build a better future and world for all children around the world and improve the well-being of children.

 

The Secretary-General of the Higher Population Council, Dr. Abla Amawi, stressed in a press statement on the occasion about the importance of this day, which comes within the framework of the Higher Population Council's interest in the population dimension as an important axis of development.

She pointed out that the 2021 Child Rights Index ranked Jordan 73rd out of 182 countries around the world, after obtaining a total of 0.771 points out of one point.

This indicator has been issued annually since 2013 by the Foundation for the Rights of the Child in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and to provides an overview of the state's performance in the field of children's rights, and lays a basis for improving various aspects of children's rights in 182 countries through 5 main areas.

Jordan ranked 50th globally with 0.947 points in the field of the right to protection, and 70th with regard to the right to health , with a total of 0.924 points, and ranked 80th in the field of the right to life after obtaining 0.839 out of one point, and regarding the right to education, Jordan ranked 126th globally with a total of 0.636, and with regard to the sub-index related to the enabling environment for children’s rights, Jordan obtained a score of 0.583 His rank was between 77-86.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It indicated that the number of children in Jordan under the age of 18 reached (4344515) people, constituting (40.2%) of the total population in 2020, and they are distributed according to gender, including (51.4%) males and (48.6%) ) Females, and that the analysis of the results of population projections for Jordanians shows that the proportion of children under the age of fifteen will decrease in the coming years as a result of the expected decrease in reproductive levels, as it will decrease from (33.1%) in 2020 to (23.8%) in 2040 according to the low scenario. This is considered important indicators of the decline in dependency rates in the Jordanian family and an important indicator of the trend towards a decrease in the expenditures of education, health and other services on the family and state budget, in which the savings can be used to increase investment in better quality services for children.

 

The Secretary-General of the Council indicated that Jordan has made great strides in the process of promoting children's rights and childhood development, one of the most prominent indicators of this, is the increase in the total enrolment rate in the various stages of education, reaching 41.1 percent for the academic year (2019/2020) for kindergarten enrolment (41.7% males and 40.5% females), and 97.9% for the basic stage ( 97.8% for males and 97.9% for females), and for the secondary stage 77.5% (70.8% for males and 84.9% for females), Jordan has also maintained gender equality in education, where the enrolment rates between the sexes are close in the basic stage, while in the secondary stage it appears that the rate of school enrolment is less than the proportion of female enrolment).

She referred to a study issued by the Ministry of Education and UNICEF in 2020 entitled "Jordan's Study on Out-of-School Children", the results of which revealed that the number of out-of-school children for the age group (6-15 years) in the academic year (2017/2018) amounted to (112016) children who make up 6.2% of all children in the age group (6-15 years), and at the national level the percentage of males out of school is higher compared to the percentage of females, with the exception of Jordanian children of the age group (6-11 years), where the percentages of females are higher compared to males (2, 3% compared to 1.6%).

 

Moreover, the General Secretary of the Council indicated that the effects of the cumulative numbers of dropouts are clearly visible on the educational level of the employed in the Jordanian economy, in which 50% of them have an educational level below secondary, In addition, this has affected many social problems such as child labor, marriage under the age of 18, juvenile delinquency, and the consolidation of the cycle of poverty.

Amawi stressed that Jordan has made great strides in meeting the health rights of children, and highlighted the most important indicators of these achievements from the reality of population and family health surveys, including; The mortality rate for children under the age of five has decreased, the infant mortality rate has also decreased, and the percentage of children aged (12-23 months) has increased and have received all basic vaccinations, indicating that one of the most important challenges in the field of health care for children, the prevalence of anaemia among Jordanian children, where one out of every three children (32%) aged (6-59 months) suffers from anaemia, and anaemia is more prevalent in the northern region at 38% compared to children in the central and southern regions 29%) for each, and that the feeding practices of only 23% of children in Jordan aged  between (6-23 months) meet the minimum standards, in addition to the high death rates in general among children born to Syrian mothers. The mortality rate for children under the age of five reached 25 deaths per A thousand live births.

 

The Higher Population Council indicated in the statement that despite the low rate of infection with the Corona virus among children in Jordan (under the age of 18) compared to the rest of the age groups, which amounted to 17.7% (updated until 11/16/2021); However, the indirect effects were significant on children. A UNICEF study entitled "Social and Economic Challenges Facing the Most Vulnerable Children and Youth and Their parents in Jordan during the (Covid-19) Pandemic" indicated that 23% of sick children during the (Covid- 19) pandemic 19) They did not receive the necessary medical care, and 25% of families were unable to access the national online education platforms, and only 31% of families were able to obtain home internet service, and 56% of them reported that they resorted to using violent methods Psychological abuse against their children during the curfew, and in contrast, more than a third of parents resorted to the use of physical violence.