Jordan today shares the world celebration of the International Child Day, which falls on the 20th of November every year. The World Children's Day aims to increase the attention and welfare of children worldwide, as well as contribute to the realization of human rights, this category of attention comes because they are the basis for building the future of societies.
The Higher population council, in a special press release, stressed that the issue of child protection in Jordan is the cornerstone of key government policies. Many government and national institutions have developed comprehensive child-care strategies, programs and plans, the state has developed many child-related legislation since its inception, including the nursery system No. 77 of 2018, the residential Child Care Licensing and Management System, the Family Protection homes System, the Child-Care System from birth to age 18, the Juvenile Assistance System and the Disability Centers System No. 40 of 2014,plus it is worth noting that Jordan is one of the countries that signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Council noted that in the area of education, the Ministry of Education, through the National Strategy for Human Resources Development (the Children's focus), sought to obtain a qualitative early childhood education, with the aim of raising children's readiness for education; expanding early childhood education; developing a policy and regulatory framework for early childhood learning; raising the enrollment rate of kindergartens from 59% to 80% by 2022; developing quality curricula, and building partnerships with the private sector and civil society to prepare children for basic education.
In addition to the compulsory and free basic education for all students of school age in government schools, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the implementation of Act No. 31 of 2007, stipulates that children with disabilities must be integrated and received education at all levels of education, noting that in the health field the State has committed itself to free health insurance for children under six years in the hospitals of the Ministry of Health and its health centers.
HPC noted that children of disabilities, separated from their parents, deprived of parental care, and children who belong to marginalized minority communities, live and/or work on the streets face disparities. According to poor Refugees’ children, they lack child protection services, although corporal punishment has been legally banned in schools, alternative care centers and rehabilitation centers, the use of violence in these places as well as in home remains widely accepted socially and culturally.
HPC noted that Population and Family Health Survey Report 2017-2018, prepared by the General Statistics Department, referred to the way parents and caregivers discipline children, which has long-term consequences for their physical and psychological development, well-being and general condition, and the survey form included a model developed by the UNICEF multi-indicator cluster survey program to find out how children are being polled, the model was filled out for one child randomly selected from 1 to 14 years of age in each family, and a series of separate questions were addressed to the responder on the family form (usually the head of the family) on disciplinary practices that the responder or family members may have used with the child during the previous month, the survey showed that 15% of children aged 1-14 were faced non-disciplining approach during the month before the survey, 76% have been subjected to any kind of psychological punishment, 59% subjected to any kind of corporal punishment, and 13% subjected to any kind of severe physical punishment.
According to HPC’s study on Child Marriage in Jordan based on the analysis of the Population and Housing census data 2015 showed that the proportion of women under 18 married in 2015 in all married women at the same year was 18.1% at the national level, While the rate of married Jordanian women’s reached 11.6 %, the rate of married Syrian women’s reached 43.7 %, and married to the other nationalities reached 13.5%.
HPC had prepared a national plan of action to implement the recommendations of the study "Child Marriage in Jordan" to limit marriage of persons under 18 years for 2018-2022, in a participatory approach, approved by Prime Ministry, and recently launched.
It is worth mentioning that the date of the declaration of children’s rights came after the end of the First World War, as League of Nations decided to draft a human rights document, including rights such as the right to life, the right to food and shelter, the right to education, freedom of expression, and after the Second World War and because of the psychological and physical impact on the child, the UN increased its attention to the rights of children and the commitment to the children, since the child is considered to be the weakest person in society and during Geneva conference, the children’s rights were proclaimed, and it was considered to be somewhat short and contained only five items but a list of responsibilities to children.
The United Nations Assembly, after the Second World War, also approved the declaration of the so-called rights of the child, which made it the starting point for the adoption of Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, and the importance of that date was highlighted as the first binding law for the protection of the rights of the child. World leaders recognized in 1989 the need for the world's children to have their own convention, because people under 18 often need special care and protection that adults do not need, a convention that recognizes their rights and obliges their countries. The ILO Conventions (Minimum Age Convention No. 138 and Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention No. 182) have also been ratified, it is considered that national legislation against child labor is in full conformity with international conventions.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first international legal document that legally obliges States parties to integrate the full range of human rights, including civil and political rights, as well as cultural, social and economic rights. It has been ratified by 193 States parties to the United Nations system or States that have recognized the Geneva Conventions, and contains 54 articles and two optional protocols.
The Convention obliges States parties to develop and implement all their actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child. These rights are the right of the child to survival, maximum development and growth, protection from harmful effects, ill-treatment and exploitation, full participation in the family and cultural and social life.
The Convention’s four core principles are non-discrimination; concerted efforts for the best interest of the child; the right to life, the right to survival, and the right to development; the right to respect children’s opinion, and each of the rights clearly enshrined in the Convention, are inherently linked to child’s human dignity and development and harmonious development, and the Convention protects children’s rights by establishing standards for health care, education, social, civil, and legal services. Upon approval of the obligation (by ratifying or acceding to this instrument), national Governments have committed themselves to the protection and guarantee children’s rights and have agreed to assume responsibility for this obligation before the international community.
