NCFA updates the National Framework for Family Protection against Violence
05-07-2016
Celebrating the International Women's Day, and based on their belief that the woman is a key development partner and a major contributor to building and stabilizing the family and society, national institutions seek to put more efforts in the face of challenges that confront the Arab women in all venues, particularly with regard to family violence. In that same spirit, NCFA has worked to update the National Framework for Family Protection against Violence, now that ten years has passed since its first edition.
In this regard, NCFA has conducted an analytical review of the whole framework in partnership with the National Team and UN organizations in Jordan (UNICEF, UNFPA and UNCHR) with a view to identify loopholes in the framework, determine the effectiveness of the participatory approach being applied, investigate the clarity of the roles of national institutions in the management of family violence cases, pinpoint points of weakness and strength and prepare an updated version of the document that reinforces the system of family protection at the level of policies and implementation on the ground.
The first version of the framework prepared in 2006 in partnership with the Family Protection Project is considered a national scientific and practical point of reference in family protection as it sets the foundations for service delivery and protection and works to bridge the gaps found in practice at the national level. The framework aimed at defining roles, responsibilities, jurisdictions and the way governmental and nongovernmental relevant institutions should handle family violence cases. It also aimed at coordinating and achieving complementation of efforts of relevant authorities through a system of integrated national procedures. The document was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in their decision no. (4637) in 21/4/2009 as a national reference document that addresses response towards family violence cases and ensures the commitment of all relevant entities to its contents according to their respective roles.
During the review process, several critical issues were identified that needed to be addressed (by decision makers in those relevant entities). The most critical challenge was related to the commitment of institutions to the implementation of the framework as a point of reference in handling family violence cases in the absence of a supervisory body that oversees its implementation. Other challenges included the fact that certain institutions did not regard the issue as a priority in addition to the poor coordination and documentation among partners, the conflicting figures (statistics) on family violence, the lack and inefficiency of service providers and the variation in the level of services provided by the institutions leading to inadequacy and weakness in the national institutions' response system at the national level. Hence, NCFA, partnering with other institutions in this field, are working to determine the prospects of improvement to address the challenges and set froth regulatory and institutional frameworks in a manner that strengthens and enhances the system at the national level.
March,7th,2016
