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CHILDREN’S WELFARE & FAMILY HEALTHThe National Children’s HospitalWhile 44% of Jordan's population is under the age of 16, only 12% of governmental hospital beds are allocated to pediatrics. Jordan's rate of pediatric beds (1.3 beds / 10,000 population) falls far short of the internationally recommended rate of 2.5 - 3 beds / 10,000 population. To address this critical issue, a National Children's Hospital has been planned and Queen Noor is actively engaged in securing the resources for its establishment.
The hospital, which will be accessible to all economic strata of Jordan’s population, will be located adjacent to and linked with the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman. The first in the Kingdom to provide pediatric medical services to children from 0-16 years, the hospital will also be a center for graduate medical education in surgical, dental and allied scientific disciplines. It will offer services for the assessment of child development, the treatment of cerebral palsy and family guidance.
The Institute for Child Health & DevelopmentThe Institute for Child Health and Development was founded in 1986 with the support of the Swedish Save the Children (Radda Barnen) to raise child health care standards in Jordan by improving growth monitoring, diagnosis and treatment practices. The Institute, which is Jordan’s first and only facility to monitor and assess child growth and development, serves as a national training center for child development specialists. It conducts primary field research among children, and provides information to parents and teachers to increase awareness of early signs of childhood diseases and abnormalities.
Based in the town of Sweileh, north of Amman, the Institute includes a model Mother and Child Health Clinic that serves a local community of around 16,000 inhabitants. Its Child Development Unit provides development assessment and supervision of minor and moderate handicaps through play therapy and designs programs to improve the monitoring of physical health and psychological and social needs of children under the age of six.
The Institute, in a joint campaign with the Ministry of Health, has introduced "developmental screening" to the work of national maternal and child health center, which will play a vital role in the prevention and early detection of childhood disabilities. The Institute also has an aggressive outreach program that offers follow-up care and education for new mothers and their family on hygiene, nutrition, family planning and proper methods of breastfeeding. Harvard University’s Institute for Social and Economics Policy in the Middle East cited the Institute as a model for its comprehensive approach and described its "psycho-social" services as a unique regional model.
The Institute houses a Toy Library, the only one of its kind in Jordan, which provides families of handicapped children with a package of stimulating play techniques and appropriate play tools. It evaluates the quality of toys and play equipment in Jordan and reaches children throughout the country by conducting remedial training workshops for parents and health providers. The Institute was conceived as a preliminary component of the planned National Children’s Hospital, a long cherished dream for Queen Noor. Population Programs for GrassrootsThe NHF launched a three-year population program in August 1994, which adopts an innovative approach to population issues that empowers women to make intelligent decisions regarding their own well-being and that of their family and community. The program introduced reproductive health and family planning concepts in thirteen remote villages throughout Jordan that benefit from other NHF projects. As a result of the program’s success, another phase was launched in 1996 to reach more than 11,000 people in southern Jordan through a USAID grant.
The program, implemented in co-operation with the government of Jordan and the UNFPA, will help address Jordan’s present annual population growth rate by training local community leaders and health workers, promoting an awareness of population issues among the grassroots and advocating culturally-sensitive family planning through small group sessions, village campaigns and the production of motivational guides, posters and video films. The population Program, in co-operation with NHF’s Theater-in-Education Program, also produces interactive plays, whereby the actors engage the men and women of rural communities in discussion that raise awareness of family planning concepts, health and social issues.
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SOS
Children’s Village |
King Hussein and Queen Noor inaugurate the Amman SOS Village on 7 May 1987. |
The two villages provide family homes for orphaned and abandoned children, who live under the care of Jordanian "mothers" in a close knit community. The Villages comprise 8 - 12 homes with 9 family members, kindergartens for the children of the villages and the local community as well as a supermarket. Some of these affiliated schemes, which also include a vocational training center outside Amman help offset operating expenses and offer training and employment opportunities for the SOS youth.
Two youth houses were established in 1993 to provide accommodation and vocational training for the older boys and girls of the two villages until they are able to lead independent lives.
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Queen Noor with the young boys living in the SOS Youth House. |
The two villages were established by SOS-Kinderdorf International, the Herman Gmeiner Fund and the SOS Children's Village Association of Jordan. The SOS Children’s Village Association of Jordan finances the two villages and the two youth houses through private donations from Jordan and abroad. This is done through a sponsorship program that gives Jordanian and international families and institutions the opportunity to sponsor a number of the children.
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Queen Noor and Princess Raiyah celebrating Eid Al-Adha with the children at the Aqaba SOS Children’s Village. |
On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Amman SOS Village, President of SOS Kinderdorf International Mr. Helmut Kutin announced that, in light of the success of the Jordanian experience, the commitment of the devoted SOS mothers and the dedication of the SOS Village Association of Jordan, SOS Kinderdorf International will establish a third SOS village in the northern city of Irbid.
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Queen Noor celebrates with the children the 10th Anniversary of the Amman SOS Village. |
Both the SOS Children's Village and the Institute for Child Health and Development have developed training programs and recommendations for a unique institutional structure for the Hashemiyah Palace, previously a guest palace for visiting dignitaries, which King Hussein and Queen Noor have converted into an orphanage.
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King Hussein and Queen Noor with the orphans at Hashemiyah Palace. |
Queen Noor is the Honorary President of the SOS Children’s Village Association of Jordan and an Honorary Member of the General Assembly of SOS-Kinderdorf International. Click here for Queen Noor's message on the occasion of SOS-Kinderdorf International's 50th anniversary. For more information on the SOS Children's Villages in Jordan, please e-mail at sosjor@nets.com.jo .
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King Hussein and Queen Noor distribute "Eid" presents to the SOS children. |
| NOOR Al HUSSEIN FOUNDATION |
| INTEGRATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT |
| WOMEN & GENDER |
| CHILDREN'S WELFARE & FAMILY HEALTH |
| ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT |
| EDUCATION & CULTURE |