Civil society, women’s organisations form coalition to promote reproductive health rights around Kingdom

AMMAN — Solidarity is Global Institute (SIGI) on Sunday launched a national coalition to promote reproductive health rights and combat violence against women in the governorates of the Kingdom.

The coalition, titled “Munira”, was launched during a meeting held at SIGI’s headquarters with representatives from civil society and women’s organisations in the Amman, Balqa and Mafraq governorates.

The meeting aimed to tackle the dangers of early marriage and reproductive health rights and safety, as well as raise the awareness of newly-weds on various issues related to marital life and future decisions, according to a SIGI press release.

“We named this project Munira because of a woman called Munira Shaban who dedicated over 60 years of her life to working in the health sector and in refugee camps on topics related to sexual and reproductive rights and early marriage,” SIGI Executive President Asma Khader said at the meeting.

Shaban contributed positively to the lives of dozens of women and young girls living in Syrian refugee camps, Khader told The Jordan Times.

“That is why we decided to honour the hard work of this distinguished woman by naming all our health and reproductive rights projects after her,” Khader added.

The Munira project, which will be implemented over a period of two years, will work to empower society by strengthening “important and much-needed” awareness about reproductive health,  according to Khader.  

“The project will include many activities such as training and building the capacity of local organisations working in the field of reproductive rights, awareness-raising lectures and working with providers of reproductive health services,” Khader said.

 She added that the project will also focus on revising “all the laws” that discriminate against women and organising awareness-raising campaigns to lobby decision makers to adopt the necessary legal measures to ensure the safety and security of women and children in Jordan.

“Our ultimate aim is to eradicate child marriage by lobbying for the abolition of the exception clause in the Personal Status Law,” Khader added.

The project also aims to increase respect for women’s bodily integrity by emphasising their right to make independent decisions concerning their bodies, further focusing on a greater partnership between men and women in making decisions regarding marriage, reproductive health and family planning, according to the SIGI statement.

The Munira project is supported by AmplifyChange, a London-based fund that supports civil society organisations who advocate for improved sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The vision of AmplifyChange is to secure universal sexual and reproductive health and rights for all through building a stronger civil society with diverse, resilient organisations that work together to form movements for change, according to the fund’s website.