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Our Work for Children in Jordan

»ÆÉ«ÊÓƵhas been working in Jordan since 1974, with a special focus on the most vulnerable children and families. Today we are a leading charity for children in Jordan, committed to developing, implementing and sustaining highly successful programs that provide children with a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We give families the support they need to create sustainable change in their lives.

Together with government and other strategic partners, our dedicated staff work tirelessly in refugee camps and host communities to improve the lives of and opportunities for children, youth and their families across the country.

Here are some recent examples of our work:

A healthy start in life

• We’re working to improve the health of vulnerable children through a preventative and community-based approach, we’re screening for specific health conditions, such as communicable diseases, and we’re assessing health needs and monitoring program results
• We’re helping strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable caregivers and households, so they’re able to invest in their children’s health, education and protection

The opportunity to learn

• We’re supporting the right of every child to access quality education and gain the skills and knowledge needed to thrive, we’re working to improve the learning results and well-being of vulnerable children by enhancing the learning environment in schools, Ìýand we’re supporting the social, emotional and cognitive development of children from birth through young adulthood
• We’re ensuring that young children have access to a protective and nurturing learning environment that supports their overall development and readiness to transition to formal education, using a center-based approach with a curriculum that focuses on instilling positive attitudes toward learning, education and school, as well as acquiring good health and hygiene habits, developing positive relationships, and increasing school readiness skills
• We’re helping strengthen the education system by supporting the development of teachers at all levels, including their social and emotional wellbeing and the quality of teaching practices, we’re supporting early childhood care and development by operating early education centers across the country, we’re working with the government to develop a national quality assurance system for kindergarten providers, we’re also working to ensure children receive a basic education by providing remedial education support for out-of-school children
• We’re implementing Healing and Education through the Arts (HEART), our unique arts-based approach to providing psychosocial support to children affected by serious or chronic stress
• We’re running parenting workshops to increase the capacity of caregivers to support their children’s development and education
• We’re running our Arsenal Coaching for Life program for girls and boys living affected by conflict and violence, now living in refugee camps, to build their courage and inner strength through soccer – specifically engaging girls at risk of early marriage
• Through a key partnership, we distributed over 50,000 school backpacks to children, helping to alleviate the already heavy financial burden on families affected by the Syrian crisis in Jordan
• We’re making it possible for refugee children and adolescents to learn, as many have missed years of school and may spend their entire childhoods in exile – including through our kindergartens in Jordan’s largest refugee camp
• We working with adolescents and youth to strengthen their capacities and facilitate a successful tradition into safe and decent livelihoods

Protection from harm

• We’re carrying out a wide range of child protection activities including child resiliency activities, supporting child protection committees, establishing safe spaces for young children to play, providing awareness raising sessions for parents and referring children in need of support to mental health professionals
• We’re preventing and responding to child protection concerns, including child labor, homebound girls and child marriage
• We helped launch a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of child marriage, and we’re addressing child marriage among child refugees, referring cases to specialized agencies for focused support.

Emergency response

• We continue to reach thousands of displaced and refugee children through our child-friendly spaces, where we provide psychosocial support and recreational activities for children, especially those who have witnessed unimaginable horrors of violence and conflict, helping them to overcome their distress and begin to recover their childhoods
• We’ve adapted and are implementing our Literacy Boost approach in refugee communities in Jordan, helping children read and write by training teachers, parents and community members to support literacy, both in and outside of the classroom, focusing on the most vulnerable children