USAID subsidises massive project targeting child labour, human trafficking in Jordan

A local NGO has launched a massive project to promote awareness about several social problems plaguing Jordanian society, including domestic violence, child labour and human trafficking.

The project, which lasts until the end of September and covers all of Jordan’s 12 governorates, is subsidised by USAID. The head of the NGO that launched the project, Asma Khader, said that the project aims to change certain unacceptable social behaviour.

She shed light on credible reports which showed that the number of working children in Jordan who are aged between 5 and 17 years is more than 37,500 from both genders. There were 14 cases of human trafficking in the kingdom, affecting 23 victims, according to a report produced in 2011-2012 by the International Labour Organisation.

Meanwhile, the USAID representative at the project’s inauguration ceremony, Glenn Moller, said that its goals are to reinforce the partnership that strengthens social coherence, based on the needs of society. He added that the challenges that face Jordanian society are, “Social changes, political changes and demographic changes, as well as Syrian immigration.” The latter are, of course, mainly refugees fleeing from the violence in their country.