“By adopting positive behaviors among men and women alike, we will attain a better situation both in terms of promoting gender awareness in service provision and supporting women’s active role in society.” This was the common understanding with which the participants came out from the sessions: “Unifying the Principles of Action on Gender Issues”, held by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) on Friday and Saturday, 1 and 2 September 2023, in partnership with UN Women Jordan and within a project funded by the European Union.
The training sessions targeted a group of employees and service providers in the Ministry of Social Development’s Community Development Centers, as part of the project “Empowering Each Other: United for Change”, which aims to develop the skills of humanitarian workers and build their capacities to promote a supportive environment for women, contribute to providing them with social protection, and improve their well-being.
The trainings aimed to effectively engage women, men, and decision-makers in civic activities to address social protection and gender justice issues in their communities, as well as supporting women’s civic participation in refugee camps and host communities to contribute to enhancing their social protection and security, and to help create a supportive environment for them that can last beyond the project interventions.
Meanwhile, the participants in the trainings learned about the skills of taking facts and legal information from the survivor, asking direct and clear questions, simplifying terms and questions related to the topic, as well as recognizing the different bodies capable of providing various humanitarian services to victims of violence and providing appropriate means of communication with liaison officers.
The training sessions focused on the principles of humanitarian action – the Sphere Handbook and the Code of Conduct for Humanitarian Workers, how to deal with survivors of violence, the application of the no-harm principle and the principles of accountability for service providers to affected groups, as well as introducing the concept of gender and the concept of gender-based violence and its different types.
The session also highlighted the legal framework for criminalizing violence in general and domestic violence in particular, how to file a complaint, protection from domestic violence, reporting cases of domestic violence, the Protection from Domestic Violence Law, and the role of the Family and Juvenile Protection Department and the Ministry of Social Development in protecting against domestic violence.
Finally, participants concluded the need to develop national capacities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, with a focus on advocacy, data, and coordination efforts, as well as engagement, collaboration, and interaction between women and men to address social challenges, adopting positive behaviors that raise awareness of the pivotal role of men as actors in supporting women, and improving the institutional response to gender-based violence.
These sessions, which come within the “Empowering Each Other” project, are implemented in partnership with UN Women and are funded by the European Union, within the framework of ARDD’s activities and programs, in an attempt to emphasize the complementarity between civil society institutions and government institutions and the need for concerted efforts between them. The project seeks to enhance the role and capacities of women and men in this regard, as well as strengthening the infrastructure with the necessary skills and capacities to provide the necessary support and prevent gender-based violence.
