In a high level meeting on Monday, March 7 the Steering Committee for the Hayati Ahla program in Irbid attended by the Irbid Governor, Mr. Khaled Abu Zeid, the  Ministry of Interior/ Local Development Directorate Director and head of the steering committee, Governor Dr. Ra’ed Al Adwan said that the project implemented by the USAID-funded Jordan Health Communication Partnership (JHCP), with technical assistance fromthe Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs aims to establish healthy behaviors and increase health competence  through a number of developmental activities that will continue until the end of the year.

The committee, Chaired by Dr. Al Adwan, consist of the Governor of Irbid, USAID Project Management Specialist Dr. Basma Khraisat, MoH (title) Dr. Bassam Hijawi,  the Sec Gen Heath Irbid,  and Awqaf Irbid, Mr. Whitney and Ms. Dajani of JHCP  (any others)

During the steering committee meeting held at the JHCP offices, Al Adwan indicated that the Ministry of Interior/Local Development Directorate gives developmental issues a great deal of  importance, and believes that comprehensive development is the surest way to reach societal security which is important to every country.

Irbid Governor Mr. Khaled Abu Zeid, also a member of the steering committee, said that the governorate will dedicate all available resources to ensure the success of the project, stressing  the fact that Irbid, with its population exceeding one million, requires  uniting all developmental efforts in general and in the area of health in particular.

Mr. Abu Zeid also stressed  the importance of distributing services fairly in all districts of the governorate in a way that suits the demographic distribution

JHCP Chief of Party Mr. Edson Whitney stressed in his welcoming remarks on the importance of collaboration between the project and the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious (Islamic?????) Affairs and said that the project has major developmental initiatives, the  top of which are the issues of women and children’s health and reproductive health. The project extensively focuses on spreading the concept of a healthy birth spacing  as well as gender equity to ultimately reach a demographic situation in Jordan that is in line with the available resources in the country.

JHCP Deputy Chief of Party, Ms. Rula Dajani presented the general work plan for Irbid Health Project which included the project’s goals and achievements and those that are planned for the coming phase, in addition to the timeframe for implementing the different activities.

The Irbid Health Project currently involves four main task forces: service delivery and community outreach; Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and youth; media; and religious leaders.

The service delivery and community outreach task force aim to unify health messages through a number of programs including “Wait and Learn” program, “Consult and Choose” kit, and “Arab Woman Speaks Out” program.

The ICT and youth task force works through the life planning online tool 5/10/15, Health Competent Schools Initiative, and the health web portal www.sehetna.com. As for the media task force, it includes the national life planning campaign “Hayatee Ahla” and media coverage contributed by journalists. And finally, the religious leaders task force includes the Family Health Program through the Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks and a commitment by all to continue to support this important initiative.