Jordan Times
Monday, March 29, 2004
Queen calls for
increased coordination among parties working on family issues
By Reem Halasa
AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania, president of the
National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), on Sunday called for increased
coordination and cooperation as well as prioritising issues when drawing up
strategies among governmental and nongovernmental organisations working with
NCFA.
Queen Rania was speaking during the third NCFA retreat, which aimed to outline
the council's strategy and action plan for 2004-2008, with participants
assessing the work of the council and discussing results of various programmes.
Participants were divided into four working groups addressing the main
components of the NCFA strategy: Research management and data resources, policy
making and development, coordination and follow-up and assessment, as well as
support and advocacy.
At the end of the retreat, working groups presented their recommendations to the
Queen, who urged the council to further strengthen channels of communication
with both governmental and non-governmental organisations throughout the
implementation process.
Her Majesty said the retreat's recommendations were steps to achieve the goals
set to address family issues.
Establishing centres of excellence concerned with family issues within local
universities topped the strategy agenda.
The recommendations called for establishing a centre for people with special
needs and one for the elderly at the University of Jordan, an early childhood
centre at the Hashemite University, a family research and studies centre at Al
Hussein University, a family protection centre at Muta University, and a youth
centre at Philadelphia University.
They also stressed the need to address domestic violence and early childhood
development as key issues in family affairs.
The strategy called for surveying scientific research conducted by universities
and research centres, and including them in the NCFA database to be accessible
to all those concerned with family issues and decision makers.
Sunday's gathering brought together the NCFA board of directors and participants
representing national, governmental and private organisations specialised in
family affairs, in addition to members of the media and representatives of
ministries, to discuss the framework and strategy of the National Strategy for
Family Affairs and explore mechanisms necessary for the implementation of
various programmes initiated by the NCFA.
The NCFA was established in September 2001 to contribute to improving the
quality of life of all families. The council aims to ensure the right policy
environment to support the development of family protection and unity, and to
identify and implement mechanisms for increased coordination between public
institutions and civil society organisations working in the field of family
affairs. It also collects data and information, monitors and shares information
on the well-being of children and families, and contributes to policy
developments.