Amman, 25 November 2014 – The USAID Takamol Gender Project today launched an online initiative on Facebook called “Faces of Takamol Al Udron,” part of the global "16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV)" program. 

The initiative celebrates the lives of sixteen Jordanians who are champions for gender equality and, in some cases, survivors of gender based violence. Their stories stand in testament to the real life challenges in the protection of Jordanian women, men, girls and boys from GBV.

Beth Paige, USAID Mission Director said, "USAID globally works to address this issue as a strategic priority. This is not a uniquely Jordanian problem, so it is important to join a global campaign and create a critical mass behind this issue on an international level," adding that, "’Faces of Takamol Al Urdun’ comes in line with our strategic objectives, and we hope it creates awareness and pushes the envelope on gender based issues by exhibiting Jordanian stories packaged with messages for positive change."

Nermeen Murad, USAID Takamol Chief of Party stated, "GBV is not an abstract concept that is limited to conferences and books. GBV is about the real life suffering of human beings based on gender discrimination. Additionally, it is not only about the suffering of women, it is also about abuse of boys and girls and even men. This is a universal problem and we want to bring forth the faces of GBV in Jordan to Jordanians so that we all come together to create change".

Faces of Takamol Al Urdun aims to create dialogue around GBV and contextualize these experiences within the Jordanian culture, legislative frameworks and ongoing efforts targeting GBV.

On each day of the campaign, a quote accompanied with the photograph of the person associated with that statement, will be published via Takamol Facebook page, in order to generate online conversations on the GBV issues.

Takamol is a three-year USAID-funded project working to empower government, civil society institutions and individual change agents to address challenges facing gender equity, gender mainstreaming and female empowerment. The program is implemented by IREX, an international nonprofit organization.