The Arab Renaissance for Democracy & Development (ARDD) launched Rukni (My Place) initiative in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support women’s communication with local community organizations, focus on their services to support women’s roles in protecting their families and communities, and facilitate women’s access to protection services wherever available. Rukni initiative entails cooperation with local community organizations to provide alternatives safely and privately to social and legal protection services through establishing specialised offices focused on women’s needs in these organisations. These offices are equipped with digital communication services that enable access to all protection and emergency services around the Kingdom, in addition to specialised staff that provides confidential and credible guidance.
The initiative is part of ARDD’s programs focusing on social protection and gender justice; it was launched in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Rukni initiative is part of the Digital Capacity Development for Women and Girls project, done in collaboration with Amman’s I Am a Human for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Madaba Cultural Forum for Children.
Asia Yaghi, head of I Am a Human for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, spoke about the importance of this initiative, which “is unique among organizations working with people with disabilities as it serves a large number of women, with focus on those with disabilities. Our role in I Am a Human fall in locating the survivors of violence and protecting them”.
Yaghi assured that the unit will keep providing consulting and referral services to the relevant bodies in order to help women everywhere.
Dr. Hiba Haddadin, head of Madaba Cultural Forum for Children, said: “We are proud of launching Rukni in our organization, as it provides social, health and legal services to many women and girls.Our organization deals with many cases that require specialised services, and we will work through Rukni to better identify those needs and refer cases to specialised agencies dealing with women and girls in particular.”
ARDD CEO Samar Muhareb stressed the women’s role in protecting their families and communities and emphasized the need to empower women with proper knowledge and support.
“We thank local organizations for their cooperation and stress their essential role in providing protection, especially in times of crisis. This initiative supports local humanitarian work and the provision of decentralized protection, legal and social services.”
UNDP is at the heart of the United Nations work on sustainable development and a leader for the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. The Digital Capacity Development for Women and Girls project addresses the lack of connectivity of those marginalized communities with vulnerabilities and different status including refugees and migrants by reducing the digital gender divide in and implementing an innovative method for survivor and women at risk to seek help in partnership with ARDD.