Amman, Jan 3 (Petra) -- Noor Al Hussein Foundation's Institute for Family Health (IFH) on Monday held a handover ceremony for a psychological support project targeting Iraqi children living in Jordan.
Terre Des Hommes Lausanne (Tdh), an international NGO which launched the project in September of 2008 in Jordan, did so with funding from the European Commission and UNICEF Jordan.
While the funding ends in August 2011, the center, located in Hashmi Shamali, will not be closing its doors.
Instead Tdh has reached a partnership agreement with the Noor Al Hussein Foundation's Institute for Family Health (IFH) that will allow the local organization to take over the management and funding of the center.
TDH formally recognized the agreement during a special handover ceremony with IFH in the presence of Her Majesty, Queen Noor.
Project Manager Steina Bjorgvinsdottir says the overall goal of the project was to provide Iraqi children and their families with specialized psychosocial assistance.
"In a move like this, when people become refugees," she explained, "the family dynamics change so the work that we've done is to try to heal the family dynamics so that the family can come together as one and they can live a healthy family life." Bjorgvinsdottir says that the project in Jordan has helped more than 1,500 individuals by providing them with individual or family counseling since the center first opened its doors in East Amman in September 2008.
While the majority of the center's clients are Iraqi, Tdh also serves vulnerable Jordanian children and their families.
What's unique is that they've found a local organization with the same standards that wants to continue the work.
"This is quite special," remarked Bjorgvinsdottir, "although this is something that most international organizations would strive for, in practice its not something that takes place." Institute for Family Health Director Manal Tahtamouni said that the IFH will have to secure new donor funding to continue offering psychosocial services at the center in Hashmi beyond 2011 in addition to the comprehensive array of health services and outreach programs it wants to offer to improve the lives of the communities' most vulnerable.
"IFH will include health services, reproductive health, training, and outreach activities," said Tahtamouni. "We will also try to target more vulnerable Jordanian families." Tahtamouni says the official hand over ceremony marks an important milestone in Jordan the celebration of a partnership between an international NGO and a national organization. "It's a success story we need to present to the international family," she said.
© Jordan News Agency - Petra 2011
