The Higher Population Council and the Share-Net Jordan/Knowledge Platform for Reproductive Health Research in cooperation with the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Science for Global Development (WOTRO) held today the final workshop to launch the results of reproductive health-related studies. Research project teams, reproductive health service providers, media and policy makers from the relevant national institutions and youth participated in the workshop.
The Higher Population Council hosts the Share-Net Jordan hub, which aims to establish an interactive online platform to support reproductive health research with the participation of relevant partners in different sectors, facilitate knowledge-building and dissemination in this area, and build the capacity of key partners to identify knowledge gaps. Netherland institutions are providing a number of grants to Jordan to carry out research and studies on various reproductive health subjects in cooperation with Jordanian and international academic institutions.
The Coordinator of Share-Net Jordan Ali Al-Metleq confirmed that this meeting comes within the framework of the Share-Net’s follow-up on the Jordan knowledge platform for the research projects, and making the best use of research results to fulfill national goals. He highlighted the need to strengthen and disseminate reproductive health research findings to expand the knowledge of policy makers to support evidence-based decision making.
The Coordinator of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of the NWO-WOTRO programme, Dr Gerrie Tuitert pointed to the importance of stimulating the exchange of knowledge emanating from the results of studies with relevant actors, and of conveying these findings to policy makers and involve them in the formulation of policy briefs.
The two-year funded research projects which was launched in September 2017 covered varied topics such as, "Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Young People in Jordan: A Mixed Methods study using Interactive Theatre" implemented by the National Center for Culture and Arts. Another study carried out by the American University of Beirut focused on "Understanding and Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Jordanian and Syrian Youth,” in addition to a collaborative research carried out between Harvard University/United States of America; the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development, and WOTRO. Other funded research focused on the reproductive health of refugee female youth and early marriages among refugees.
The event included a panel discussion entitled "promoting reproductive health in Jordan and how research can contribute to better policies and practices", which aims at discussing the results of these studies and produce policy briefs formulated by relevant national institutions and experts in reproductive health together with policy-makers and practitioners. Additionally, the workshop aimed at making recommendations for dissemination of research findings and facilitating knowledge exchange on evidence-based policy making. Thus, the workshop aims at improving and enhancing the use of research findings to enhance knowledge of sexual and reproductive health in Jordan.
