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AMMAN — Around 94.1 per cent of media practitioners in Jordan exercise self-censorship while only 3.9 per cent label media freedom as "excellent", according to the Media Freedom Status in 2017 report by the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ).

Launched on Wednesday, the report indicated that a total of 17 violations were committed against media practitioners in Jordan in 2017 during which no physical assaults were reported by authorities against journalists.

"The rate of self-censorship among journalists in 2017 is the highest since 2014 and this is mainly due to journalists' fear of some legislation that may result in their imprisonment as well as the declining financial conditions of media outlets," Nidal Mansour, president of the CDFJ, told The Jordan Times, adding "journalists do not want trouble with authorities and do not want to lose their jobs…they just want to make ends meet and avoid conflicts, which automatically make them resort to self-censorship."

He noted that no "serious" violations were committed against journalists in 2017, adding that taking some measures to remove red tape at public institutions and providing information to journalists would help improve Jordan's positions in media freedoms.

Omar Maharmeh, local news managing editor at Al Ghad, said: "Journalists in Jordan are afraid of being referred to court or detained because of some legislation that restrict their freedoms."

"Last year, some journalists were detained and some others were fined large amounts of money and this is a concern for journalists that is why they resort to self-censorship," Maharmeh told The Jordan Times.

"Journalists avoid writing about sensitive issues as they also fear criticism from the society," he said.

Meanwhile, journalists who labelled media freedoms as "excellent" rose to 3.9 per cent in 2017 compared to 1.5 per cent the previous year.

According to the report, 82 per cent of media practitioners support creating an independent complaints bureau to handle cases of complaints by society members against media outlets.

The report indicated that 62 per cent of legislation in Jordan restrict media freedoms, while 85.9 per cent believe that media outlets helped increase hate speech and marginalisation of others.

With regard to the main channels used for spreading hate speech, the report indicated that Facebook topped the list, followed by Twitter, news websites, YouTube and Snapchat.

The CDFJ report showed that 71.8 per cent of media practitioners believe that the right to access information is guaranteed while 78.4 per cent say the government responds to their questions.

According to the report, 49.4 per cent of journalists said they heard of some journalists being subjected to containment attempts.

"The report indicates that Jordan's ranking can improve… last year there were fewer confrontations between journalists and authorities and banning journalists from covering some events topped the list of non-serious violations," Mansour said.

The report called for a media strategy to enhance the performance of media outlets and media practitioners.

It also called for forming a committee of experts to study amending media-related legislation. It also called for implementing programmes to raise awareness about the use of social media and media literacy.

Jordan ranked 132th out of 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released last month, advancing six positions compared to its ranking in 2017.

According to the Reporters Without Borders' website, the Kingdom scored 41.71 on a global level in 2018, improving from the previous year, when it scored 43.24.

NAUR — The expansion of "Maharati", a programme aimed at enhancing social cohesion by building youth's life skills and supporting sport-based activities was announced on Tuesday at Amman's Naur Youth Centre for Boys, in the presence of Jordanian and foreign officials, local and international organisations and youth from the area.

The programme, which is expected to reach 45,000 youth from various nationalities between the ages of ten and 24, will expand its implementation from 40 to 200 Minsitry of Youth (MoY) supported centres across the Kingdom.

In the presence of Youth Minister Bashir Rawashdeh and UNICEF representative in Jordan Robert Jenkins, Generations For Peace's (GFP) President Mohanned Arabiat, said: “The rate at which this programme continues to scale is astounding. Increasing from 16 to 40 locations last year, and now to nearly 200 in 2018 — these numbers reflect not just communities, but the thousands of youth and adolescents by which they are comprised, and on whom the activities implemented by the Maharati Programme will have a tremendous impact."

He voiced his pride to have built "exceptional partnerships with both UNICEF and the MoY over the years", adding "we are honoured to leverage our expertise in peacebuilding, social cohesion, and sport-based and life skills activities to help advance this programme and its ever further-reaching effects.”

Under Maharati, UNICEF and GFP will work with the MoY to implement activities that build life skills and innovative sports-based activities to foster social cohesion, the GFP representative said, stressing that the programme seeks to "promote lasting positive behaviour-change through a sustained series of activities which will run through December 2018". 

Speaking at the event, the minister of Youth stated: “We are excited to see and play a role in the expansion of the Maharati Programme as the partnership between UNICEF, GFP and the ministry truly scales the effects of social cohesion, life skills and peacebuilding among youth to a nationwide level, benefitting young people at all youth community centres across the Kingdom.”

In addition to those directly involved in Maharati, the programme’s life skills and sports for peace activities are expected to have an indirect impact on some 150,000 additional youth and adolescents, a GFP official said.

Expressing UNICEF's happiness to be part of this initiative and of the partnership with the ministry and GFP, Jenkins said: “Vulnerable young people should be provided with pathways and opportunities to help them unleash their untapped potentials.” 

GFP is a Jordan-based NGO founded by HRH Prince Feisal with the aim of promoting sustainable peacebuilding and conflict transformation through sport, arts, advocacy, dialogue and empowerment, according to its website.

It was recently ranked 30th in the “Top 500 NGOs in the World” for 2018 by NGO Adviser and is the second-highest ranked peacebuilding NGO in the world. It is also the number one Jordanian NGO on the list. 

AMMAN —  The loud voice of Mohammad Ali was echoing at his school’s rooms as he stood in the playground shouting: “Goaaaal, Goaaaal!”

Ali, at the age of 16, was simply commentating over a match for fun and a way to entertain himself and his friends.

One teacher approached him, saying: “We need you to commentate over the final match of the teachers' competition. Focus on this talent son, this will be your source of income,” the aspiring commentator recalled.

In the beginning, Ali did not take the tip he received from his mentor seriously, but his teacher was simply right. The 27-year-old will be the first Jordanian to comment on the UEFA Champions League final at beIN Sports channel this month after he was voted best Arab commentator by audience during Allo beIN 2018 show.

“I applied for a local TV channel to be their sports commentator but it did not work out, so I was depressed and without any second thought I pitched a video of me commenting over a goal in the Spanish League. There were thousands of videos there and I thought I would give it a try and later I won,” he told The Jordan Times.

Ali recalled that in his early days his attempts to use his talent did not pan out, as a TV show for discovering aspiring commentators has rejected him because he was under 18 years old.

“I was so depressed watching the show on TV,” he recalled.

However, he continued to pursue his dream of becoming one of the successful commentators in the Arab World.

In 2014, he started commenting over matches at JBC Radio.

 “In the beginning, it was like imitating famous commentators and, in 2015, I discovered my own way of commenting,” he added. 

Latin sports commentators were his source of inspiration, according to him. “Listening to them was like listening to Fayrouz [the Lebanese singer],” he said with a smile.

Ali stressed that commenting is not an easy task to do, adding that it needs a lot of efforts to be exerted in terms of preparations.

Ali said that local sports channels ought to keep a look out for the aspiring commentators in Jordan as the Kingdom is abundant with great talent.

Today, the scene for Ali has transformed in his hometown of Irbid; he became an inspiration for his fellow residents, after years of looking for his own source of inspiration. 

A number of residents created graffiti on a wall in Irbid depicting him commentating under the title “The poor people's commentator."

DEAD SEA — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday said inclusivity is "essential" for the success of the future of work.

"Machines and robots will supplement people, but they will not supplant us," Queen Rania said as she addressed the role of automation in the transformation of future jobs.

Her Majesty made the remarks during the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) 27th annual meeting and business forum in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah and HRH Crown Prince Hussein.

Expanding on the idea that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) complement human potential rather than substitute it, the Queen said that innovation is exclusively a human trait. 

“Human beings have original ideas. We perceive without needing to be told. And even when AI is loaded with data, creativity is still a human gift," Queen Rania said during the event, which attracted more than 2,000 international participants, including government representatives, businessmen, and academics. 

Her Majesty explained that automation will provide countless opportunities, including “an explosion of innovation” as machines take over routine tasks. “Yes, some jobs will disappear, but others will evolve or emerge,” she said at the opening of a session titled "The Future of  Work: Addressing Tomorrow’s Skills and Jobs Challenges".

Recognising the unpredictability of what is to come due to automation and the apprehension it has caused nations, Queen Rania reassured the audience, saying that crossing from the known to the unknown cannot be done incrementally. 

“If we are to make it across the chasm, we cannot do it one small step at a time. Living on the edge means being bold — with new partnerships, new playbooks, new resources — and most of all, the confidence, courage, and commitment to take a flying leap," she said.

Expanding on the insecurities that accompany rapid automation, the Queen pointed out that while automation and AI might be threatening jobs, mainly entry-level positions, this drastic transformation does not have to come at the expense of young people. This can be alleviated through “reimagining education”, and “leveraging technology to give all people access to knowledge”, she stated. 

The Queen also said that AI promises to offer “exciting new tools to improve people’s lives” from “providing early and accurate diagnosis of disease” to “assisting with surgery”, and underlined how technology can “help us make big gains in productivity, generating economic growth and spurring new demand”. 

Despite these favourable consequences, the Queen cautioned against excluding certain groups from its potential benefits, stating that the MENA region has only realised 62 per cent of its human potential, "because we are leaving people, notably women, out of the workforce”.

She stressed that technological advancement cannot replace dependable basic human nature and instincts. 

“As we grapple with digital codes that are redefining our lives in real time, there are older codes that still require our attention. Human codes like empathy, compassion and understanding, that can influence and guide our actions,” Queen Rania said.

“Artificial intelligence is no match for lived experience. No algorithm’s power will ever equal a human heart. And I am convinced that if we attack our challenges with human imagination and compassion, the future workplace could be a better one for us all,” she concluded. 

The panel shed light on the challenges facing labour markets and ways to strengthen their resilience and adaptability. 

Participants also looked into the best means to identify opportunities to foster inclusive and sustainable growth and create greater opportunities specifically for women and young people.

DEAD SEA — Jordan has become the first country in the SEMED region to join the EBRD’s Green Cities Framework, planning and investing in its future green development.

Amman’s Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh and EBRD director for municipal and environmental infrastructure, Susan Goeransson, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on developing aGreen City Action Plan (GCAP) and strategically address the city’s needs for sustainable growth, an EBRD statement said. 

Funded by the government of Austria, the GCAP will complement the measures that Amman, a member of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, has adopted to improve the city's environment, in line with Jordan’s National Green Growth Plan.

The plan aims to tackle the most pressing climate change and environmental challenges, including in solid waste management, water and wastewater, urban roads and lighting, urban transport and public building energy efficiency, in order to reduce local pollution, improve energy and resource efficiency and promote climate change adaptation, the statement said, noting that the activities will be developed jointly with GAM and the Ministry of Environment.

The initiative is part of the EBRD’s Green Cities Framework that builds on the EBRD's two decades of experience investing in municipal and environmental infrastructure.

EBRD’s Green City Framework has been concluded in Yerevan, Tbilisi and Tirana, while further Green City Action Plans are being launched in Minsk (Belarus), Sofia (Bulgaria), Chisinau (Moldova), Belgrade (Serbia), Batumi (Georgia), Gyumri (Armenia) and Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Amman is expected to be the Framework’s first city in the SEMED region.

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the United Kingdom are providing a financing package equivalent to JD22 million to the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) to help improve solid waste operations in the capital and at Al Ghabawi, Amman’s only sanitary landfill facility, which also serves Zarqa and Ruseifa.

The EBRD's investment of JD11.1 million is co-financed by a JD5.3 million grant from the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and a JD5.5-million grant from the UK's Department for International Development, an EBRD statement said on Wednesday.

GAM will use the funds to purchase 75 refuse collection vehicles to improve the city’s solid waste management. 

Due to the Syrian refugee crisis and the growing population, especially in the capital, waste infrastructure, which the investment is directly addressing, according to the statement.

The financing agreements were signed on Wednesday by Janet Heckman, EBRD managing director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, and Amman’s Mayor Youssef Shawarbeh during the EBRD's annual meeting, held at the Dead Sea until May 10.

The EBRD has signed several financing agreements with GAM, totalling approximately JD87 million, in response to the solid waste crisis. 

Donors, including the EU, the UK, Taiwan ICDF, the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multidonor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taipei China and the UK) have also provided co-financing and technical assistance to improve GAM’s operations, the statement said. 

Among the investments financed is the construction of a waste-to-energy landfill gas system, the first of its kind in the country.

Since it began operations in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has invested over 1 billion euros across a wide range of sectors including power and energy, municipal infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services, and small and medium-sized enterprises, the statement concluded.

DEAD SEA — With temperatures are expected to increase in Jordan by 2050 as a result of climate change and growing demand on scarce water resources, innovative solutions and better water management are needed to address the situation, experts said on Wednesday.

In Jordan, where around 65 per cent of water is used for irrigating crops, there is a need for the government, the private sector and civil society organisations (CSOs) to come together and think "out of the box" to address the rising challenge of water scarcity, experts said during a session held as part of the 27th Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

"Jordan has water that is enough for 2 million persons, but we have around 9.5 million inhabitants in Jordan currently so the situation is very tough," Dureid Mahasneh, chairman of Edama Association, said during the session titled "Working with civil society to increase resilience to climate change and water scarcity."

The influx of refugees over the years coupled with transboundary water issues with neighbouring countries and the impact of climate change have worsened the situation, he said.

In good seasons, the average annual rainfall in Jordan is about 8.5 billion cubic metres and in the average for all seasons is around 4.5 billion cubic metres.

Of the total, around 7 per cent is used, while the rest evaporates.

"More water is expected to evaporate as climate change is expected to increase temperatures in Jordan between 11.3º-1.8ºC by 2050," said Mahasneh, calling for joint efforts to address the situation.

Haled Irani, president of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, stressed on the key role CSOs play in raising awareness about the impact of climate change and in raising awareness about best means to protect water resources.

"Jordan is a water-stressed country and CSOs have a major role in advocacy and raising awareness," said Irani, underlining the need for joint cooperation between the government, CSOs and the private sector to address challenges in this regard.

Indicating that Jordan is the 4th poorest country in terms of water in the world, Basim Al Saleh, managing partner at GreenTech, said that there was a need for thinking innovatively with regard to solutions to address the water situation in Jordan and the impact of climate change.

He added that the development bank needs to increase support to ideas by the private sector and adopt the latest innovative solutions to address challenges in this area.

According to EDAMA, around 65 per cent of water is used for the agriculture sector, which contributes only about 5 per cent to the gross domestic product.

"This is mismanagement…we need better management of the water resources…there is also a need for proper regional cooperation in water management," Mahasneh said.

Tarek Hosny, managing director of Schaduf, stressed on the need for proper water management systems and educating farmers on the need to adopt the latest solutions and raise awareness amongst them on crops that do not consume lots of water.

The experts also called for intensifying efforts to educate the public and stakeholders on the impact of climate change and how best to preserve water resources.

"We should not assume that local people know what climate change is and what its impacts are… CSOs have a great role to play in raising awareness in this regard," Irani said.

AMMAN — The subtle and dynamic architectural style of Jabal Amman neighbourhhod has shaped its vibrant heritage which functions as the heart of the “cosmopolitan” city of Amman, an expert has recently said.

Speaking on Monday at a lecture on the architectural identity of Jabal Amman, as part of the 5th Jabal Amman Cultural Week organised by the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Rami Daher, associate professor and consultant in architecture and urban design, said that the diversity of “Ammanies” is one of the main traits of the city, which has been home to people from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds since the establishment of the Kingdom in 1921.

Daher reviewed the architectural models that have featured Jabal Amman’s buildings throughout the 20th century.

Until the 1950s, houses and old foreign embassies in the “quaint” neighbourhood were built using the “Third Bay” architectural model, featured mainly with the arching windows. After the 1950s, the horizontal structure was adopted in houses and dwellings design, Daher explained. 

He explained that the first commercial and public institutions featured the modern public model, represented by major buildings in the 2nd circle area like the Islamic Scientific College. 

In the last couple of decades of the 20th century, the curtain wall structure or the international style emerged in the neighbourhood, Daher said at the lecture, titled “Jabal Amman: the city’s cosmopolitan neighbourhood and forgotten modernity”.

“The heritage of Jabal Amman evolved from its buildings that are characterised with their subtle and dynamic architectural styles,” he said.

However, Daher warned that the renovation of old buildings without understanding the history of Jabal Amman might ruin the heritage of the place. 

“Developments must be contemporary not copying old architectural models.”

He cited the example of the rehabilitation project of Rainbow Street which he participated in.

 “The project sought to cause minimal and complementary interventions for places. We wanted to celebrate the mixed urbanity of the street. In Rainbow Street you can see a public school next to a coffee shop and a falafel restaurant next to a desserts shop; we did not want to change that,” Daher said. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) on Monday was awarded the first place at the Best Water Conservation Project category in the Arab Youth Forum in Kuwait for its “Water Wise Women” initiative, aimed at raising community awareness on water security.

With youth participants from across the region, the forum served as a platform for the exchange of successful experiences and expertise through the presentation of several initiatives and projects in the field of water conservation. 

Implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Germany Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the “Water Wise Women” project trained over 300 women based in the most vulnerable areas of the Kingdom in plumbing and water saving. 

“The main person who consumes water in the household is the woman,” said director of JOHUD’s natural resources management programme, Muttasim Al Hayari, explaining “because of that, we thought of this initiative designed to reduce water consumption at the household level, and to empower women for social development”.

 “Rather than short-term awareness raising, Water Wise Women was designed for long-term behaviour change by building on local women as change agents,” director of JOHUD’s women Empowerment and gender Programme, Iqbal Hamad, told The Jordan Times, noting that “the initiative uses locally appropriate know-how and outreach into their neighbourhoods to introduce and maintain behaviour change in water use.”

Each participant was trained through eight different levels by a German expert from GIZ, covering topics such as water leakage eradication, harnessing technology, reducing water usage in the household, and improving hygiene. 

All trainees are now expected to disseminate the information within their local communities by reaching out to approximately 25 women, in addition to being provided with a toolbox to fix leaks in their homes and their neighbours’ houses.

But the programme goes beyond the eradication of leakages, raising awareness on the management of water and the reduction of its usage within the household.

Following the implementation of the project, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation found a 40 per cent reduction in household water consumption in the areas targeted by the initiative, as reported by the “Apolitical” platform for public service. 

In addition, 23 trainees have formed a cooperative through which they put their plumbing skills to commercial use for schools and government departments. 

“The trainees have reached out to more than 18,000 local families and a society of water wise women for the environment was established,” Hamad said, noting that “this society is now a key source for the analysis of water concerns either at the household or at the community level, in addition to providing feedback to the government institutions with the aim of enabling better policy making”.

AMMAN — Jordan is reviewing and updating its National Implementation Plan (NIP) to eliminate and restrict new persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are organic chemicals toxic to humans and wildlife, according to environment and sustainable industrialisation experts.

 The review and update of the NIP is part of Jordan’s commitment to its obligation as a party to the Stockholm Convention on POPs, which the country signed and ratified in 2004, according to Mohammed Khashashneh, head of the Hazardous Waste Management Directorate at the Environment Ministry.

 The convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment, according to the Stockholm Convention website.

 Initially, 12 POPs have been recognised as causing adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem and they were placed in three categories, including certain pesticides, industrial chemicals and by-products, according to the convention’s website, which indicated that between 2009 and 2017, the Conference of the Parties adopted amendments at its meetings, adding sixteen new chemicals to the Stockholm Convention.

 The fact that new POPs had been added over the years to the convention necessitates the update of each party’s NIP, Khashashneh underlined.

 “The update of the NIP will entail carrying out a national survey on Jordan’s inventory of newly-added POPs, identifying priorities of dealing with the new POPs, action plans for eliminating or restricting new POPs — a process that entails institutions' participation — and the cost of eliminating or restricting the production, use, release and disposal of new POPs,” Khashashneh told The Jordan Times.

 Khashashneh, who heads the presidency of the 2017-2019 session of the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention on POPs, noted that not all of the identified POPs are found in Jordan, underlining that the country has already eliminated the presence of some of the POPs. 

“Jordan is free from the first twelve POPs and is now working on eliminating the presence of the ones that can be found,” he said, noting that Jordan shipped in late 2016 its inventory of POPs to France for safe disposal at special treatment units.

 The convention’s website indicates that exposure to POPs can lead to serious health impacts including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, greater susceptibility to disease and damages to the central and peripheral nervous systems.

 The plan, scheduled to be ready and finalised in October this year, according to Khashashneh, is being reviewed and updated in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

 Sulafa Mdanat, UNIDO country representative, said that POPs are global pollutants emitted from different sources, such as agricultural activities, industrial processes and waste treatment processes, noting that as the Stockholm Convention has added some chemicals to the list of POPs, the national plan with its relevant action plans needed to be updated.

 “The updated NIP is expected to contribute to reducing adverse impacts of the global pollutants on human health and ecosystem in the country and beyond,” Mdanat said.

 UNIDO and the Environment Ministry organised earlier this week a workshop to kick start activities of the update and review of the NIP.

 “We are extremely happy to partner with the Ministry of Environment on yet another initiative which is funded by the Global Environment Facility. As a specialised agency, UNIDO has a mandate that focuses on promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation,” Mdanat highlighted.