Queen Rania Visits the Family Awareness and Guidance Center in Zarqa

(Office of Her Majesty - Press department- Zarqa) During a visit to Al Zarqa governorate today, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah dropped in on the Family Awareness and Guidance Center, one of the most active and effective community based organizations working in the area.

At the center, Queen Rania met with the executive committee of the “Community-Family Integration Teams Project” (C-FIT). The project, which is implemented by Columbia’s Global Center/Middle East, National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), and the Ministry of Social Development and funded by UNICEF, was designed to substitute placing some orphans, abandoned children and youth at risk into care homes with physiological and social support programs through local community organizations and allocating more foster families for children in need of care.

Her Majesty was briefed by (C-FIT) Manager Dr. Rawan Ibrahim about the project and how it works to support families in the local community. The Queen applauded the committee's efforts and stressed that collaboration between all partners is essential to the project's success and to meet the community's needs, especially those of children.

The Queen also met with two of the foster families from Zarqa who have recently participated in the project. So far, five children have benefitted from the program in Zarqa through the Family Awareness and Guidance Center. The program is also being implemented in Irbid through the Family and Child protection Society and has so far benefited nine youth who have been placed with foster families.

Her Majesty then toured the Family Awareness and Guidance Center, accompanied by its Director Ms. Nadia Bushnaq, who briefed the Queen on the services provided by the facility in child care and family guidance.

Queen Rania spoke with participants of one of the training courses that the center provides, and checked on its productive kitchen. Her Majesty also chatted with some children benefitting from the center's UNICEF supported project "The Mobile Library" which provides its services to all children in Zarqa.