Preventing Children’s Deaths in Jordan

On Saturday, as I set out to hike up the stunning Wadi Feynan in South Jordan, a Bedouin lad on a donkey rode up to me and introduced himself as 16-year old Khaled with his donkey Ferrari. He rode beside me a little way before heading off to find his herd of goats scattered about the valley. His happy, carefree manner and endearing sense of humour brought home to me the reason I am here in this amazing, complex country.

Every year in Jordan at least 5,000 children do not survive to the age of 16. That is similar to the numbers of children dying in the UK – yet in a country with a population less than a sixth of the UK. And the real tragedy is that many of those deaths are preventable. Outside infancy, nearly a half of all child deaths (280 children aged 1-14 each year) are from external causes – mostly road traffic accidents, but also from falls, drowning, fires and electrocution, suffocation. A further 220 infants and children each year die as a result of infections.

Over the past year I have had the privilege of working with UNICEF and the Jordanian National Council for Family Affairs to develop a national system for reviewing and learning from children’s deaths.

The overall aim of the project is straightforward: to systematically gather comprehensive data on all children’s deaths in order to learn lessons and make recommendations for system improvements to prevent future child deaths and improve child health and welfare.

A straightforward aim, perhaps, but far from straightforward to achieve.

Jordan is an amazing and profoundly complex country: a haven of peace and stability in one of the most troubled regions of the world; a country where progressive, liberal values are dominant, yet sometimes seem to hide some deep and confusing traditional ways; a country where rapid urbanisation and development have both improved living standards for many, but also caused huge problems of overcrowding, traffic congestion and pollution; a country where the generous and hospitable nature of the Jordanian people has seen huge influxes of refugees, now making up close to a third of the total population.

With wide discrepancies in the life chances of children from the wealthiest and poorest segments of society, and significant pressures on resources and infrastructure, making changes to improve children’s lives remains a massive challenge.

This week marked the end of the project. We delivered the finished protocol and forms, and ran a training workshop for senior representatives of the different agencies who will be involved in running the programme. With a sense of fulfilment, I started writing my final project report, and recognised that, in spite of the inevitable challenges, we had met all the project objectives we’d set 12 months ago. With my colleagues Vicky and Hamza, we set off to our final meeting with UNICEF and the National Council, ready to hand over the baton and fly back to England to enjoy my retired life.

Only to be told that they would like me to prepare a proposal to support the implementation of the programme over the next 12 months!

Perhaps I should take a lesson from Khaled and Ferrari, take it with a smile, and launch into this next phase.