Newsletter 2018 en

SHARE-NET JORDAN Online Knowledge Node for Reproductive Health Researches Biannual Publication Issue No.6

2017 www.share-net-jordan.org.jo

Introduction

In December 2017, the online Reproductive Health Knowledge Platform and smart phone application were launched at an event attended by 61 participants from various national, civil society and educational institutions. On the sidelines of the event, the Youth Friendly Reproductive Health Services Policy Brief was launched and four introductory workshops attended by 50 participants from national institutions were held to introduce the online knowledge platform.

Share-Net Jordan participated in ShareNet International activities by attending the Global Summit held in Cape Town, South Africa, on Translating Evidence into Better Sexual and Reproductive Health, and the first

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We are pleased to present the sixth issue of the 2017Biannual Bulletin of the Jordan knowledge platform for reproductive health funded

by Share-Net International. This report overviews key achievements with respect to population-related studies and research which were published or in progress during the second half of 2017. In addition, the report lists recently-published local and international reports in the field of population and development to keep researchers, decision-makers, policy-makers, and program implementers updated on the latest news and activities locally and globally in reproductive health.

Collaborative Strategic Planning workshop in Netherlands in November 2017.

In addition, Share-Net Jordan continued to hold workshops on how to apply the collaborative approach to address Child Marriage in Jordan, also conducted a training workshop on priority research evidence in the field of reproductive health in Jordan funded

by Share net International with cooperation Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Meetings were held with members of ShareNet Jordan, the steering committee of ShareNet Jordan and assistance was provided to facilitate application by Jordanian researchers’ for Share-Net International small grants.

It is worth noting that Share-Net Netherlands runs a project that aims to build an interactive online platform to support reproductive health research in partnership with stakeholders from various sectors and facilitate the creation and dissemination of reproductive health information.

For the first and second issues of the Share-Net International E-Newsletter released by ShareNet Netherlands, Share-Net Jordan prepared all the information related to achievements by the Jordan Country Node with respect to the Share-Net project implemented by ShareNet International.

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• Updated Demographic Dividend Policy

Document: The policy document has been updated based on population projections made according to the results of the 2015 Population and Housing Census. The Policy Document sheds light on the impact of the Syrian refugee population on the expected timing of the demographic dividend and recommended the following policy package:

4. Policies on how to take advantage of internal and external migrations. • Policy Brief on Youth-Friendly Reproductive Health Services: As part of its efforts to enhance demographic characteristics, the Higher Population Council prepared this policy brief with funding support from ShareNet Netherlands and provided five recommended policies to address the gaps and obstacles facing the provision of youthfriendly reproductive health services and the demand by youth for these services. The proposed policies were as follows: Youth-Friendly Reproductive Health Services Policy Brief 2017

Population Education

Economic Growth

Health

Demographic Dividend

Rising Incomes

Development

Economy Governance

2017

1. Achieving demographic transition and reaching the peak of the demographic dividend by adopting policies to enhance access to quality health services as well as safe, effective and accessible family planning services.

2. Policies on investing in the demographic dividend 3. Policies on social protection and preparation for the post-demographic dividend phase.

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1. Develop national standards for the provision of youth-friendly reproductive health services while taking into account the local culture and religious values.

2. Provide youth-friendly reproductive health services at public health centers.

3. Enhance the role of counsellors and biology teachers at the Ministry of Education in addressing reproductive health and sex education during counselling and biology classes.

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One: Studies and Research Conducted by HPC in the Second Half of 2017:

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Impact of Population Growth on Development-Presentation: HPC, in cooperation with USAID J-CAP updated the presentations on the impact of population growth at the national level, in governorates and four development sectors. The presentations overviewed the serious impact of high population growth on various development sectors in order to allow policy makers to have a better understanding of the impact of population growth on demand for different types of services. The main studies noted that reducing fertility rates in Jordan to 2.1 child per woman of reproductive age by 2030 will achieve the following savings for the period of 2015-2050:

Three: Develop the electronic infrastructure of HPC

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4. Provide youth-friendly reproductive health services at youth centers.

5. Integrate youth needs for reproductive health services into national, sectoral strategies, strategic plans and development programs.

1. HPC has upgraded its website which now includes monitoring and evaluation systems for the population as well as reproductive health KPIs.

2. HPC upgraded the website of the Jordan reproductive health knowledge platform with funding support from Share-Net Netherlands and the special application for portable devices.

- Education: JD 11.3 billion.

- Health: JD 11 billion.

Two: Reports and studies in progress 1. The national plan to end child marriage 2. The 2017 Annual Monitoring and Evaluation Report for the National Reproductive Health/ Family Planning Strategy (2016-2018) 3. The 2018 executive plan for the National Reproductive Health/ Family Planning Strategy.

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•

Share-Net Jordan organized a training workshop on the collaborative approach in translating knowledge on child marriage in Jordan with funding from Share-Net Netherlands attended by representatives of national institutions.

Five: Local and International Meetings, Seminars, Conferences organized/ attended by HPC

• HPC held a meeting to launch the results of

the Child Marriage in Jordan report under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Planning and International Development. The event was attended by concerned experts and gender specialists at government institutions and was funded by the Danish Center for Gender, Equality and Ethnicity (KVINFO).

• HPC, in cooperation with the Share net

International and Erasmus University Rotterdam held a workshop on priority research evidence in the field of reproductive health. The workshop was attended by national stakeholders, researchers and academics.

•

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HPC held four training workshops to explain to 50 participants from different national partner institutions how to use the new knowledge platform.

• Under the patronage of the H.E. the Minister

of Education, Dr. Omar Razzaz, HPC launched the results of the study and policy brief on Integrating the Concepts of Work, Vocational Work, Entrepreneurship and Creativity in School Textbooks. The event was attended by concerned local agencies as well as a representative of ESCWA.

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Fourth: Capacity Building in Research and Studies

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members updated on all developments and achievements of the project in 2017 as well as its future plans.

Five: Latest local and international population-related reports and publications

• Under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal, the Updated Demographic Dividend Policy Document was launched with the participation of stakeholders from the public sector, civil society, youth organizations and representatives of Arab population councils.

The policy document was shared with all stakeholders and concerned parties.

• HPC launched the policy brief on Youth

Friendly-Reproductive Health Services as well as the new reproductive health online platform at an event attended by concerned local entities.

• HPC continued to hold Share-Net Jordan

meetings as well as the Share-Net Project steering committee meetings to keep

1. Publication on the role of the husband during pregnancy Prepared by Dr. Hala Bawadi from the University of Jordan and Dr. Zaid Al Hamdan from the University of Science and Technology, and Dr. Najib Al Shreiji, and funded by ShareNet International, this study provides advice to husbands on what to do when their wives are

pregnant. The publication relied on numerous studies that show that husbands play a vital role during their wives’ pregnancy and delivery and that pregnant women who receive support from their husbands face less problems during pregnancy and had easier and faster deliveries.

The publication presented a number of guidelines including the following:

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behind, and first Inclusion within reach: actions for a more equal world. In brief, the report tackles the following issues:

Second: Emotional support This includes ensuring that the wife is not under stress to guarantee normal fetal development, and being by the wife’s side throughout the pregnancy, and taking into consideration mood changes triggered by changes in the hormone levels of the wife.

Third: Physical Support A pregnant wife should be encouraged to walk and should be accompanied for walks, assisted with household chores, and given the opportunity to have adequate rest.

2. The State of World Population 2017: Worlds Apart: Reproductive Health and Rights in an Age of Inequality In the State of World Population report for 2017, UNFPA focused on reproductive health and rights and the correlation between reproductive health and inequality. The report covers five key pillars, namely inequality in health and rights, the intersection of inequalities in women’s health and rights and economic inequality, the costs of inequality, towards equality by reaching the furthest

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• In developing countries, limited access to

sexual and reproductive health services and negative health outcomes correlate strongly with poverty. The poor sexual and reproductive health of poor women can block opportunities, blunt their potential and solidify their position at the bottom rung of the economic ladder.

• Although access to services and reproductive

health outcomes correlate with whether a woman is on the top or the bottom of the wealth scale in any given country, numerous social, institutional, political, geographic and economic forces are also at play.

Reproductive health inequalities are deeply affected by the quality and reach of health

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First: Care provided by the husband for his wife Providing care includes not smoking, tracking the weight of the wife, ensuring that the wife eats diverse, adequate and frequent portions of food to avoid nausea, drinks sufficient amounts of liquid (10 cups of water daily), and accompanying the wife to the obstetrician/ gynecologist, and providing a safe and suitable environment.

• Inequalities in sexual and reproductive

health correlate with economic inequality.

Within most developing countries today, access to critical sexual and reproductive health care, safe delivery is generally lowest among the poorest quintile of households.

• Inequalities in reproductive health and

economic inequality may be mutually reinforcing. Intersecting forms of inequality may have huge consequences for societies as a whole, with large numbers of women suffering ill health or being unable to decide whether, when or how often to become pregnant, and thus lacking the power to enter the paid labour force and realize their full potential. The damaging effects may span a lifetime for individuals and reach into the next generation.

• The report added that dimensions related to gender inequality such as unequal access to reproductive health and rights have not received adequate attention, and indicated that 197 governments in the 1994 Programme of Action of the

International Conference on Population and Development agreed that reproductive health is a universal human right and recognized the right of all girls and women to have the information, power and means to decide whether, when and how often one becomes pregnant.

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systems and by gender inequality, which can have a profound impact on how much control a woman has over her own sexual and reproductive health. Overcoming these obstacles and addressing underlying gender inequality are critical to progress in reducing inequalities in sexual and reproductive health, and may also lead to progress in reducing economic inequalities.

• Expanding access to sexual and reproductive

health is only half of the solution. The other half depends on how well we address the other dimensions of inequality that hold women, particularly the poor, back from realizing their rights and ambitions and living their lives on an equal footing to men.

• The report concluded by presenting a number

of procedures to address inequalities that prevent women, especially the poor, from realizing their rights and ambitions:

- Meet all commitments and obligations to human rights agreed in international treaties and conventions.

- Tear down barriers—whether discriminatory laws, norms or service gaps—that prevent adolescent girls and young women from accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services.

- Reach the poorest women with essential, life-saving antenatal and maternal health care.

- Meet all unmet need for family planning, prioritizing women in the poorest 40 per cent of households.

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- Provide a universal social protection floor, offering basic income security and covering essential services, including maternity-related benefits and support.

- Bolster services such as childcare to enable women to enter or remain in the paid labour force.

- Adopt progressive policies aimed at accelerated income growth among the poorest 40 per cent, including through stepped-up human capital investments in girls and women.

- Eliminate economic, social and geographic obstacles to girls’ access to secondary and higher education, and to their enrolment in courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

- Accelerate the transition from informal jobs to formal, decent work, focusing first on sectors with large concentrations of poor, female workers, and unblock women’s access to credit and property ownership.

- Work towards measuring all dimensions of inequality and how they influence each other and strengthen links between data and public policy.