good governance practices for the protection of human rights

fer is compromised. Moreover, the family is not offered the necessary protection
and assistance, especially when it comes to the care of dependent children.
Response
The family protection initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of Jordan’s State
institutions and civil society to design and implement a comprehensive strategy
to prevent domestic violence and protect victims of violence. The initiative recognized
that capacity-building required the development of professional networks
across State agencies and civil society. Such collaboration is necessary for the
existing expertise in family protection to be mobilized optimally. The initiative
also promoted public awareness of domestic violence and human rights as the
key to policy change and better service delivery.
Design
The family protection initiative was launched in March 2000 by the Government
of Jordan in collaboration with the Department for International Development
(DFID) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From the
beginning, the aim was to put in place a “multi-agency” approach to developing
a policy and strategy on family protection. The National Council for Family Affairs
(NCFA), which is chaired by the Queen, established the Project Management
Team (PMT) as its task force for family protection.
PMT is an inter-agency body with responsibility for project planning, monitoring
and evaluation. Its 12 members, seven men and five women, represent both
governmental and non-governmental organizations, including government departments
responsible for public security, family protection and family affairs,
religious affairs, social development, justice, education, information, forensic
medicine, and health, as well as civil organizations working on family issues.
In its early stages, PMT established working groups to assess existing services and
capacities for family protection, and develop policy proposals and training materials.
The working groups worked on: legal services, children’s services, women’s
services, research, a model family protection department, raising awareness and
multi-agency collaboration. The legal services group, for example, assessed current
laws relating to family protection and developed a training programme for
judges and prosecutors.
Implementation
To promote a multi-agency approach to family protection, PMT has partnered
with 11 governmental and non-governmental organizations over the past five
years to develop institutional capacity to combat family violence, child abuse
and sexual assault. The project has worked within the existing legal and cultural
framework to place family protection on the policy agenda, to develop mechanisms
and skills for policy development and implementation, and to raise public
awareness about family protection.
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