Monday, 16 December 2019
On Thursday, The Higher Population Council, through the Share-Net Jordan project, held a follow-up workshop on Jordanian studies in the field of reproductive health, which was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO-WOTRO), and the projects funded by the Netherlands Share-Net International. Project members and representatives of governmental institutions, civil society organizations and academic institutions in the public and private sectors participated in the event.

The workshop aimed at informing the members of the Share-Net Jordan project and the relevant national bodies of the work progress regarding four Jordanian studies funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research in the field of reproductive health. The workshop also aimed at presenting the feedback from the studies’ participants, reviewing the most prominent results reached, and resulting to recommendations for Policy briefs’ topics according to the results of the four studies; the preparation of the studies is expected to be finalized in the year 2020.

The study projects tackled topics related to “the rights of the youth and women in regards of reproductive health in Jordan, and the extent of variation in reproductive health services between the Kingdom’s governorates”, which is being investigated by the National Center for Culture and Arts and the American University of Beirut, and “understanding the reproductive health needs of Jordanian and Syrian youth”: (A collaborative research between Harvard College/ The United States of America, the University of Jordan, the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research WOTRO).

Furthermore, the study projects discussed topics related to “family planning through behavioral economics/ an analytical field study”, which is being conducted by the University of Texas, the University of Science and Technology and the Jordanian Ministry of Health, and “Syrian Refugee Youth in Jordan: Child Marriage in Perspective/ a qualitative study”, which is being conducted by Yarmouk University, Ahel Al-Jabal Association for Human Development and the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Furthermore, the participants were briefed during the workshop on the recommendations that were implemented for six completed Jordanian studies funded by Share-Net International, in addition to discussing the obstacles in the face of benefiting from such research projects and providing recommendations to overcoming them, all within the framework of facilitating the exchange of acquired knowledge with relevant authorities in order to employ the research findings in shaping reproductive health policies and practices.

The six studies covered topics related to “Socio-cultural Barriers to Accessing Contraception among Palestinian Refugees in Jordan: A Qualitative Study” by UNRWA, “the reality of reproductive health for persons with disabilities: an analytical field study” prepared by the Higher Council for Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and “A Rapid Assessment of the Health Facilities Providing Maternal and Childhood Services in Jordan”, which was conducted by the University of Science and Technology.

The topics of the studies also included “The Positive Effects of Engaging the Husband in the Care of a Pregnant Wife: An Educational Project” prepared by the University of Jordan and the University of Science and Technology, “Preparing a National Implementation Plan to Integrate Sexual and Reproductive health Concepts in Educational Environments” and “Developing Outcome Indicators to Assess the Impact of Integrating Youth Reproductive Health Information Programs in Higher Education Curricula in Jordan”, which were conducted by the University of Jordan.

In conjunction with the workshop, a lecture was conducted in aims of building the participants’ capabilities in preparing policy briefs within the framework of facilitating the exchange of acquired knowledge with relevant parties (practitioners/ policymakers) on the use of the research results in policies and practices.

Furthermore, the Higher Population Council is the host of the Share-Net Project (Knowledge Platform on Reproductive Health - Jordan), and is the national contact for Share-Net International to implement its activities in Jordan through the HPC’s local partners, as this project began in 2016 and continues until the end of the year 2019.

The project aims at creating an interactive Internet platform to support research projects related to reproductive health, in partnership with concerned parties from various sectors, in addition to facilitating knowledge building and disseminating regarding reproductive health, and building the capacity of key partners in identifying knowledge gaps. Through this partnership, the Dutch institutions offer a number of grants to carry out research projects and studies on various subjects for Jordan through accredited research centers.

Share-Net International is a foundation established by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a knowledge platform bringing together the experiences of Dutch institutions and partners from the countries of the South, and international institutions working in the field of reproductive health for the purposes of promoting the role of knowledge in building evidence-based policies and practices, and guaranteeing the strategic use of resources to ensure their maximum use at the local and international levels, in order to collaborate in creating a platform to support reproductive health research.