1. The Ma'An Towards a Safe School Environment program aimed to reduce violence against children in Jordanian schools through various interventions between 2009-2016. 2. A 2007 national study on violence against children informed the launch of this nationwide program led by the Ministry of Education and UNICEF. 3. The program worked to reduce violence by teachers and educators in all public, UNRWA, and military schools in Jordan through activities like advocacy groups, surveys, teacher training, media campaigns, and community outreach. 4. An evaluation found the program achieved a 43% reduction in verbal violence and 47% reduction in physical violence across over 3,000 public schools, with marginally higher reductions in UNRWA

1. AANASSOCIATES

2. ENVIRONMENT
• This report presents the evaluation of the Ma’An (Together) Towards a Safe
School Environment - (referred to henceforth as Ma’An, Ma’An Programme or
the Programme).
• Violence against Children (VAC) is a global challenge that transcends
boundaries. The key drivers include personal characteristics of the victims and
perpetrators, societal norms, and the physical environment of both.
Reportedly, two-third of Jordanian children aged 2 to 14 years, experience
physical, sexual, or emotional violence.

3. UNICEF
• To map the forms and extent of violence Jordan undertook a national VAC study
in 2007, supported by the UNICEFJCO. The study findings contributed to the
launch of a nation-wide campaign (Programme) - ‘Ma’An (Together), towards a
safe school environment’. The joint UNICEF-Ministry of Education (MoE)
Programme aimed at reducing VAC in schools. The Programme’s goal was to
‘reduce the incidence of violence by teachers and educators in all Public and
UNRWA schools by 40 percent in the first year and by 90% in the third year.'

4. BASIC AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS
• The Ma’An Programme covered all public schools run by the MoE for Jordanians
and Syrian refugees, military schools and UNRWA schools located in host
communities and designated refugee camps. The intended beneficiaries included
children enrolled in Basic and Secondary schools. The other beneficiaries included
principals, teachers, counsellors, parents, and religious leaders.

5. UNICEF
• This is an ex-post, summative-formative evaluation with the purpose ‘to
determine the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of Ma’An
Programme interventions on reducing violence against children in schools in
Jordan’. The evaluation covers the entire Ma’An Programme (Ma’An) including all
the components and activities implemented from November 2009 until December
2016. The primary users of the evaluation are MoE, UNRWA, Military Education
Schools, UNICEF, and Ma’An implementing partners.

6. MIXED-METHODS APPROACH
The evaluation employed a Mixed-Methods Approach. Both quantitative and qualitative data
was collected and used. The evaluation used ‘Quasi-Experimental’ research design.
The key activities accomplished by the Programme include: administrative actions in
the MoE; creation of School Advocacy Groups (SAGs) and implementation of Ma’An Online
School Surveys (MOSS) at school level; capacity development of school based education
professionals (principal, counsellor and teachers) for classroom management and other
themes such as better parenting; media campaigning; community outreach and mobilization;
and the involvement of religious leaders.

7. REDUCTION IN VAC IN UNRWA
The programme is seen to be relevant as there is wider societal recognition of VAC (in
schools also) as a critical issue with serious consequences for children. Overall, the results
indicate significant reduction in verbal and physical violence across all grades. The change
percent of 43% reduction in verbal and 47% reduction in physical violence in a 3,241 MoE
schools is note-worthy and appreciable by any standards. Reduction in VAC in UNRWA run
schools is marginally higher and merits praise. There are mixed results as to the effectiveness
of various strategies and interventions applied during the Programme due to unforeseen
external factors and internal oversight.

8. TARBIYAH COMPONENT CONSTITUTE
The majority of funds were allocated to capacity development of MoE and institutional partners. The
interventions for SAG revival and the Tarbiyah component constitute 26% (11% CD-SAG, 15% Tarbiyah) of the
funds, and appears to be a significant investment that has yielded results worth scaling up of SAG to all public
schools and the testing of the Tarbiyah model in a larger number with a poor performance on VAC control in
public schools. The most profound impact of the programme is in terms of increased awareness on various
aspects of VAC in schools. The Programme has indeed created a national acceptance and a momentum
against VAC in schools, with a balanced, inclusive, gender sensitive and HRBA approach. The
achievements realised at astoundingly low costs is commendable, however, the accomplishments warrants
continuity and further strengthening.