Amman (January 12) – The United States, the Government of Jordan, and non-governmental organizations are working together to expand access to women’s and children’s health services.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Health Service Delivery (HSD) Activity, today signed agreements with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Jordan Association for Family Planning and Protection (JAFPP) and the Institute for Family Health (IFH), at a ceremony attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Development and non-governmental organizations.

The Health Service Delivery Activity, implemented by Abt Associates, will help Jordan expand access to quality reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health services. Including NGOs as part of this effort will strengthen the overall health system to respond to the increasing demand on these health services.

“It is a great pleasure to be able to help Jordan expand access to high priority health care services in such a critical time. We believe that this support will help NGOs alleviate the strain on the health system to ultimately improve the health status of both Jordanians and Syrian refugees,” said Mr. Nicholas Kaufman, Acting Director of Office of Population and Family Health (PFH) at USAID.

USAID will work with IRC, IFH and JAFPP to strengthen and expand their scope of service to include relevant reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health services including counseling on nutrition, and screening and referral for non-communicable diseases and gender-based violence (RMNCH+) services. The program will also support the NGOs’ health clinics to attract more clients to a consistent set of high quality services. The three NGOs have clinics located in the areas including Amman, Mafraq, Irbid, Ramtha, Karak and Zarqa, serving both Jordanians and Syrian refugees. Their scope of health services can also be expanded to include additional RMNCH+ services.

The USAID Health Service Delivery Flagship is a five-year program, designed to improve health outcomes for women of reproductive age and children under the age of five, including Syrian refugees living in Jordanian host communities.