State of Jordan's Children

STATE OF JORDAN'S CHILDREN

Basic Data (From UNICEF's 1999 The State of the World's Children):

Total Population of Jordan 1997: 6.7 million
Under 18 population 1996: 2.8 million
42.4 % of population are 14 or younger, while 31.4 % are between 15 - 29 years old.
Number of births 1997: 217,000.
Annual number of under-5 deaths 1997: 5,000
Under 5 mortality rate 1997: 24
Under-5 children under-weight (1987 - 1997): 9%
Fertility rate 1997: 5.2
Life expectancy 1997: 70.
GNP per capita 1996: US $1650
Education is free for all primary and secondary school students and compulsory for all Jordanian children under the age of 15.
Total adult literacy rate 1995: 87.
Primary school enrolment ratio (1990-1996): 94%
Net primary school attendance (1993 - 97): 97% (for boys and girls)
Level of access to sanitation: 77%
Secondary school enrolment ration (1990 - 96): 63%.
Access to safe water (1990 - 1997): 98%
Percentage of central government expenditure allocated in 1990 - 97 to health (7%), education (15%) and defense (20%). **

[** To put in context, developed countries allocate 13% to health, 4% to education and 9% to defense; while the world as a whole allocates 11% to health, 6% to education and 6% to defense]. The Middle East and North Africa allocates 5% to health, 14% to education and 20% to defense.

State of Jordan’s Children:

Jordan joined the United Nations Children’s Fund’s "Child Survival Revolution" in 1980, achieving Universal Child Immunization (90% immunization against the six killer diseases) in 1987, three years before the targeted date of 1990. In the wake of the 1990 World Summit on Children, Jordan continued its work on achieving the Mid-Decade goals related to universal immunization coverage against the 6 killer diseases, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT), provision of primary education for all, universal salt iodination and ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which were all reached by 1995.

Jordan has also put education high on its national agenda to ensure that all children have a right to free and quality education. In 1988, Jordan launched a 10-year reform plan with the aim of improving the quality and relevance of education through revamping curricula to gear them towards focusing on developing students' skills in problem solving, critical thinking and linking knowledge to life. The Ministry of Education is preparing to launch the second reform plan 1998-2002 that focuses on upgrading teachers' skills, school administration, educational information systems, improving pre-school education, and children with special needs.

Some statistical information from UNICEF’s Progress of Nations 1997 and State of the World's Children 1999:

Immunization coverage rates of polio and measles are above 90%.
Jordan’s under-five mortality rate (24 / 1000 births) ranks as third best on a regional level.
The percentage of children who are malnourished in Jordan are 9%, which ranks Jordan according to its GNP as 3^rd in the region.
9 out of 10 births are average or above average birth weight.
The salt factory that procures 95% of salt in Jordan commenced the production of iodized table salt in March 1995 to curb the long term effects of iodine deficiency among children. Currently the percentage of iodized salt consumption has reached 75%.

Jordan and the Baby-Friendly Initiative:

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Baby-Friendly Initiative in 1990, with support from world leaders, health experts and nongovernmental organizations, to convince hospitals, health services and parents that breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life. In order to become baby friendly, hospitals and maternity centers must practice ten steps to successful breastfeeding developed by UNICEF and WHO, which include informing all pregnant women about the benefits of breastfeeding, helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within half an hour of birth and practice "rooming in" by allowing mothers and babies to remain together 24 hours a day.

Jordan adopted the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in 1993, starting with Al-Bashir Hospital in Amman and Badi’a Hospital in Irbid; the former is the largest and the first hospital in the country to be certified as baby friendly. Information campaigns and workshops have been conducted since to raise awareness and commitment nationally. Jordan has also approved a national breastfeeding policy and has prohibited the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in all public hospitals

Queen Noor chairs a multi-sectoral national breastfeeding committee that ensures the successful implementation of the baby-friendly hospital initiative and the Jordanian code of marketing breastmilk substitutes. In Jordan (1990 - 1998), the percentage of babies (0-3) months exclusively fed breastmilk is 32, and for children (6-9) months, 48% are breastfed with complementary food, whilst at 20-23 months, only 13% are still breastfeeding. 94% of mothers initial breast-feeding in Jordan and 27% initiate breast-feeding within the first hour after birth.

Experts in child nutrition, health and development believe that breastfeeding is the most effective way to provide a baby with a caring environment and complete food. Breastmilk provides an infant’s total nutrient requirement for the first four to six months of life, and when combined with appropriate weaning foods, it is an invaluable source of nourishment until past the second birthday. Breastfeeding, which saves the lives of more than 1.5 million children in the developing world by preventing malnutrition and infection, offers many health benefits to mothers that include child spacing, reducing the risk of anemia, osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis as well as protection against ovarian and breast cancer.