Study recommends the empowerment of the Ministries of "Public Works and Housing" and "Youth" to meet child rights
03-09-2015
A recent specialized study recommended that more financial support should be allocated for the "Ministry of Public Works and Housing" and "Ministry of Youth" to enable them to best fulfill child rights and achieve justice in the distribution of financial allocations across the Kingdom.
The latest Child Budget Analysis (CBA) for the budgets of the aforementioned ministries which was prepared by NCFA in cooperation with UNICEF was launched in the Millennium Hotel. Study recommendations included the need to activate the enrollment of children in youth center activities, attract more numbers and overcome all difficulties that prevent their enrollment, particularly in light of the decreased enrollment percentage which reached 14.8% of the targeted group in 2014. Accordingly, the study recommended that special indicators for child activities should be set to evaluate and assess program performance and to achieve the envisaged child-related goals effectively and efficiently.
A Child budget is a financial allocation assigned by the government in its budget to the benefit of children to be spent on the realization of their social and economic rights, (including health, education, welfare, safety against all kinds of violence and exploitation), the provision of due care and the provision of adequate legal protection and care for juvenile delinquents in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Child Budget Analysis (CBA) aims to analyze national institutional policies and plans pertaining to the fulfilment of child rights and their respective budgetary allocations to identify the effectiveness and efficiency of the child-specific expenditure and to provide information which can be used to advocate for the fulfillment of these rights.
According to NCFA Secretary-General Fadel Al-Hmoud, the current study was preceded by three child-friendly budgets for the ministries of Education, Social Development, Justice and Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.
Al-Hmoud added that "due to the importance of these budgets that target decision makers and legislators with regard to the endorsement of the state budget, NCFA will resume its meetings with the chair and members of the financial committee in the House of the Representatives to mobilize their support for the budgets. Moreover, in cooperation with UNICEF, NCFA will continue to implement the recommendations of the study to develop its work in this area".
On his part, UNICEF Representative in Jordan Robert Jenkins stressed the importance of the project in creating a better future for childhood in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and international conventions on human rights, noting that the study has come out with key findings which will have a desirable impact on the enhancement and protection of childhood, particularly at the level of policies and programs. Jenkins also expressed his satisfaction for the re-establishment of the Ministry of Youth in Jordan which is a good indicator that Jordan gives priority to young people with regard to access to services.
According to Jenkins, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing could be relied upon through their investment in addressing road accidents, especially as children constitute the highest percentages of road accident victims and therefore should be our top priority, stressing at the same time the importance of investigating the extent and effectiveness of their investment in such an issue of concern.
On her part, the project counselor Arwa Al-Najdawi gave a briefing of the study findings which included the need to allocate more resources for the "Traffic Safety on Roads" Project so as to help curb road accidents resulting from road flaws and decrease casualties and fatalities resulting from road accidents, especially with regard to children, in line with the strategic goals of the Ministry.
