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Launch of Ma’An Campaign

Speech by Marilena Viviani
UNICEF Deputy Regional Director
Amman, 18 November 2009

Your Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah,
Your Excellency Dr. Walid Maani, Minister of Education
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, I have the honour and pleasure to join you in this historic moment for the launch of the Ma’An Campaign against violence in schools.
This day will go down as a landmark in the history of Jordan and its children as it starts a nation-wide campaign to keep schools safe and free from violence for future generations.

The timing could not be more appropriate as the word celebrates this week the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which puts the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence at its heart.

The United Nations study on violence against children calls upon States to ensure that school principals and teachers use non-violent teaching and learning strategies. It calls them to adopt classroom management and disciplinary measures through specific programmes which address the whole school environment and not based on fear and violence

For this to happen, however, we need to all strive together towards that same goal, both from inside and outside of schools, both  the public and private sectors, both teachers and parents, government, community and religious leaders, as well as civil society as a whole .

This campaign will not succeed without your commitment and engagement and the commitment and support of all members of society.

May I, on behalf of UNICEF, praise Her Majesty the Queen for her unique role in inspiring us all to make schools free of violence.

I wish to also thank his Excellency the Minister of Education for addressing the problem of violence in schools and the leadership he has provided in this campaign. This will hopefully provide a model for other countries in MENA to address this serious problem with the necessary means.

A big word of thanks also goes to all the partners of this campaign, especially to the Educational Directors and the thousands of school principals present here, as well as to the teachers who will be on the front line in this campaign.

You can count on UNICEF’s commitment and support throughout in making this campaign a national success story. “Together”, we are all indeed united to ultimately make our shared world more fit for children.

Thank you.