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| Jordanian children at SOS-Irbid |
November 17, 2011: In Jordan, where adultery is a crime that can result in a prison term, the children of the transgressors also pay. Not only are boys and girls separated from their incarcerated parents, these children lose their right to an identity and are forbidden from using their family name.
Children born out of wedlock in Jordan are forcibly removed from their parents’ custody. The new names given to them by authorities often elicit life-long stigma, making it difficult for them to find employment or even obtain a phone card.
Almost 60 percent of all Jordanian children in the care of SOS Children's Villages were born out of wedlock or have one or both parents in prison. Hewing to its principle of advocating for children’s rights, SOS has taken steps to encourage Jordan’s government to adhere to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. That agreement states that all children have the right to a name and to know and be cared for by their parents.
SOS Holds Talks and a Roundtable on the Rights of Jordanian Children
In 2009, SOS Children’s Villages-Jordan began talks with the Ministry of Social Development, urging the government to uphold the rights of children to an identity and a family name. On October 26, together with Jordan’s National Center for Human Rights, SOS-Jordan held a roundtable to launch a campaign on the rights of children born out of wedlock and children without identity. The gathering was attended by 80 participants, including Jordan government representatives, religious leaders, and members of civil society.
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| SOS advocates for the rights of all children |
Lina Mola, director of SOS Children’s Villages-Jordan, said the forum was the first step toward supporting children who are discriminated against because of the state-condemned actions of their parents.
The event provided a forum for open discussion among stakeholders, including affected youth. “The problem is not with us,” said one young person who suffers from such stigma. “It is with the perception that people have of us.”
A Broad, Long-Term Campaign on Behalf of Children
SOS Children's Villages advocates internationally for the rights of children who have lost or are at risk of losing parental care. The SOS Campaign to protect the rights of children without parental care, extends beyond Jordan. SOS views progress in other Middle Eastern countries as a hopeful model for desired changes.
“In Algeria, fathers are now obliged to take a paternity test,” says Mola. “We would like to see the same progress in Jordan and enable mothers to give [children] their names without fearing for their lives.”
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