RC a.i on Strengthening Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus in Jordan

Your Excellency Dr Salma Nims,

Your Excellency Dr Mohammed Meqdadi,

Dear colleagues, dear participants,

It is my great pleasure to be speaking to you today at this consultation for Strengthening Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus in Jordan.

I express my sincere appreciation to UN Women and UNFPA for hosting this important consultation, and to Dr Salma Nims, Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women and Dr Mohammed Meqdadi, Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs, for their kind interventions.

At the outset, I would like to commend the Government of Jordan for its clear and growing commitment to eliminate gender-based violence, particularly violence against women and girls.

Because, gender-based violence remains an issue in Jordan and around the world and the COVID -pandemic heightened the risk of domestic violence in particular.

The Public Security Directorate recorded a 35% increase in domestic violence reporting during the confinement period in 2020,

Rapid assessments conducted by both UN Women and UNFPA confirmed these trends.

And a recent study by UN Women also found that women feel less safe as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant negative impacts on their mental and emotional well-being.

Let us be reminded that the root causes of violence against women and girls in the MENA region, as in other parts of the world, are complex, and include women’s limited power and mobility, widely held attitudes and social norms that justify violence and exposure to violence in childhood.

It is then critical that we adopt an integrated and holistic approach to tackling gender-based violence.

Addressing gender norms, inequalities, and women’s empowerment contributes to strengthening coherence between humanitarian and development efforts to reduce risks and vulnerabilities effectively.

Joint, gender-sensitive analysis can provide the critical starting point for a gender-responsive nexus approach.

Research and policy discussions on gender have however tended to focus predominantly on women, while often neglecting the important role that societies’ expectations for male behavior (masculinities) can play in advancing or constraining stability, recovery, and gender equality.

To change discriminatory social norms, we need to work closely with men and boys.

There is still a need for policy and legal changes, expanding the range of protection services available to women and girls, and access to justice.

Enhanced collaboration and joined-up approaches by humanitarian and development actors are necessary to reduce the growing inequality gaps, such as women’s economic and political participation, and gender-based violence.

I am pleased that the UN in Jordan is coming increasingly together including through its next Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 to support the realization of Jordan’s national priorities and the 2030 Agenda,

This consultation brings together the distinct and complementary experience and expertise of UN Women and UNFPA to accelerate our joint efforts in this regard.

Thank you all for your commitment and contributions to this work, and I wish you all a productive discussion.