Queen Rania Visits Dar Al Aman, Follows Up on Rehabilitation Services

AMMAN (JT) - Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday visited Dar Al Aman, the child safety centre affiliated with the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), to follow up on the facility’s progress and its work to protect young victims of abuse and neglect.

Queen Rania, who has chaired the JRF board of trustees since 1995, pioneered the first Arab initiative of its kind by establishing the Child Safety Programme in 1997.

The programme's objectives include enhancing positive child-rearing practices to protect children, as well as ways to identify, confront and eliminate different kinds of abuse through awareness, training, prevention and intervention as well as rehabilitation programmes.

During yesterday’s visit, the Queen, accompanied by Minister of Social Development Hala Latouf and JRF Director General Valentina Qussisiya, was briefed on the facility’s rehabilitation services.

Currently, Dar Al Aman accommodates 32 children and provides counselling and rehabilitation services to children living with their parents, when it is needed.

The centre also follows up on cases of children who could be subjected to any form of abuse and works to place them with families or care centres when deemed necessary.

At the Dar Al Aman library, the Queen met with caregivers and inquired about their conditions.

She also joined children listening to an audio story through the technology available in the language lab.

In addition, Queen Rania checked the children’s nursery where she was briefed on their activities and the use of music as a means of therapy.

During a tour of the centre, she talked to children who were making Ramadan sweets with the caregivers’ assistance, while others who were making Ramadan and Eid greeting cards presented the Queen with one.

At the end of the tour, the Queen met with the centre staff and thanked them for their efforts in educating, guiding and caring for the children, underlining the importance of teamwork.

She also congratulated them on the occasion of the holy month.

The first child safety centre in the Arab world, Dar Al Aman was established in 2000 to provide shelter and care for sexually, physically and emotionally abused children who are evaluated and treated before being integrated into their rehabilitated families.

Since its inception, the centre has offered counselling and rehabilitation services to hundreds of children.