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AMMAN — Jordan today commemorates the life of Her Majesty Queen Zein Al Sharaf, the late Queen Mother, who passed away 24 years ago on this date. 

HM Queen Zein was born on August 2, 1916, the daughter of Sharif Jamil Bin Nasser, governor of Huran, and nephew of Sharif Hussein Bin Ali of Mecca and Wijdan Hanim, daughter of Shakir Pasha, governor of Cyprus. 

In 1934, she was married to His Majesty King Talal Bin Abdullah, and together they had three sons, His Majesty the late King Hussein, HRH Prince Mohammad and HRH Prince El Hassan, and one daughter, HRH Princess Basma. 

Queen Zein was a highly respected, much loved figure in Jordan who represented strength, wisdom and courage throughout many years, challenging times and pivotal events in the country’s history. 

A pioneer of the women’s movement, Queen Zein's own leadership qualities, combined with her strong Islamic values, made her an example for Arab and Muslim women everywhere. In 1944, she created the first women’s union in Jordan, and in 1948, she was instrumental in establishing the women’s branch of the Red Crescent Society.

Queen Zein is widely acknowledged to have played an important role in the political development of the Kingdom in the 1950s, also contributing to the writing of the 1952 Constitution that gave full rights to women. 

She led national humanitarian relief efforts for thousands of Palestinian refugees who came to Jordan following the war of 1948. HM was committed to young orphans, establishing the Mubarat Um Al Hussein Orphanage in Amman, which still bears her name today and to which she remained dedicated until the end of her life. 

Over the years, Queen Zein’s steadfast commitment to her country, and her relationship with its people earned her the title “Um al Urduneen” — “Mother of Jordanians”. Her passing away on April 26, 1994 marked the closing of an important chapter in the history of Jordan, but her memory remains a source of pride, close to the nation’s heart.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah's visit to The Netherlands was a "complete" success in many aspects, primarily as it put Jordan on the focus map of the Dutch government, Dutch Ambassador to the Kingdom Barbara Joziasse said. 

Joziasse said that the King's visit in March to her country was an "opportunity for the Dutch government and people to think about Jordan, its role and efforts in the region".

The ambassador's remarks came during a meeting with journalists on Monday on the occasion of the Netherlands King's Day (Koningsdag), King Willem Alexander’s birthday, on April 27.

The King's Day (formerly Queen's Day) is a public holiday celebrated in various cities across The Netherlands with throngs lining the streets and canals wearing orange, the national colour.

"It is such a special day for the Dutch people," the ambassador said, noting that King Willem Alexander accessed the throne in 2013 as the first male monarch from the Netherlands’ ruling House of Orange. 

Joziasse noted that The Netherlands' classification of Jordan as a "focus country" aims at enhancing bilateral relations in all fields.

"Holland will play the role of facilitator to promote Jordan's story to the EU and the world," the ambassador said, adding, "not every country knows about Jordan's humanitarian role to refugees seeking safe haven and its efforts to achieve peace, stability and security in the region and to spread moderation and co-existence."

"Receiving people in need and keeping a peaceful environment are among the major components of Jordan's story," she continued.

Following the King's visit to The Netherlands, the ambassador said that the two sides have agreed to discuss "terrorism in Europe" during the Aqaba Meetings. 

Over the past two years, the Aqaba Meetings featured discussions held by His Majesty with heads and representatives of a number of countries from East Africa, Southeast Asia and the Balkans.

The world's second-largest agricultural exporter after the US, the Netherlands recently signed an agreement to increase the Dutch-Jordanian cooperation in agriculture and water following His Majesty's visit.

Joziasse noted that her country will improve its cooperation with Jordan in the economic growth sector, job creation, education, vocational training, expertise exchange and energy, as well as agriculture and water.

"All now is in the design phase. I expect the Dutch government to decide its exact programmes in the summer," she said, anticipating her country's government to pledge an "important assistance" to Jordan during the second Brussels Conference on "Supporting the future of Syria and the region".

AMMAN — Jordan is set to benefit from a regional project recently launched by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) to combat marine litter and create a management cycle for marine waste in the Mediterranean Sea, most particularly for plastic, a senior UfM official said.

Under the “Plastic Busters” project, the UfM seeks to maintain biodiversity and preserve natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal marine protected areas by implementing a harmonised approach against marine litter, according to the inter-governmental organisation, which comprises 43 countries from the EU and the Mediterranean basin.

The 5-million euro project, launched on April 17, covers pelagic and coastal marine protected areas located in Albania, Croatia, Greece, Italy, France and Spain, but will also share results and achievements with partners and stakeholders from the Mediterranean basin at large.

UfM Deputy Secretary General for Water and Environment Miguel García-Herraiz underlined that the capitalisation of the results with the larger Meditarranean basin will be ongoing throughout the project’s four-year cycle.

“It is envisaged to organise training and scientific activities as well as awareness raising initiatives involving partners and stakeholders from outside the first list of beneficiary countries,” García-Herraiz told The Jordan Times, noting that the project will be implemented by the University of Siena, the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research and a wide consortium of national and regional organisations.

Over the four years, the project will address the entire management cycle of marine litter, from monitoring and assessment to prevention and mitigation, as well as actions to strengthen networking between and among partners and stakeholders. 

The project tackles marine litter, and in particular plastic waste, via a coordinated approach that diagnoses its impact on biodiversity in marine protected areas, including the identification of “marine litter hotspots”, defines and tests the surveillance, prevention and mitigation measures of marine pollution from plastic waste, as well as develops a common framework of marine litter actions towards the conservation of biodiversity in Mediterranean marine protected areas, the union said.

The project will also contribute to implementing a regional plan on marine litter management in the Mediterranean, one of the areas most affected by marine litter in the world.

“Jordan’s Ministry of Environment is involved and will closely follow the project’s activities, the scientific information extracted and the recommendations formulated,” García-Herraiz highlighted.

On the occasion of the project’s launch, UfM Co-president for Environment and Director of Policies and Institutional Development at the Ministry of Environment Mohamad Afana, conveyed the following message: “Marine litter has been highlighted as an emerging priority within the UfM Ministerial on Environment and Climate Change adopted by the 43 countries in 2014, and continues to be a top priority in the UfM agenda with respect to both depollution and pollution prevention. This goes with the need for the Mediterranean region to push forward the transition towards a circular economy.”

He concluded that one of the ways in which the UfM Secretariat has helped Plastic Busters is by obtaining funding from the EU Interreg Med Programme. “We will continue working to upscale and expand the project to other countries, including Jordan if possible. Plastic pollution is one of the priority work areas of the UfM environment agenda so we will be pushing in this direction with the full backing of our member states,” García-Herraiz underlined.

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury called for finding new mechanisms to increase financing to Jordan with less interests and longer grace periods, a statement from the Planning Ministry has said.

During his participation in the spring meetings of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund  held in Washington between April 16 and 22, Fakhoury urged the WB to assist Jordan receive concessional financing guaranteed by the donor countries with increased worth that exceeds $1 billion annually.

Fakhoury, who is also a WB governor, held several meetings with the bank’s administration and a number of senior officials during his participation in the event, and took part as a keynote speaker in three panel discussions, in addition to joining the meeting of the WB’s development committee.

He also held several bilateral meetings with representatives of the leading donor countries in preparation for the 2nd Brussels Conference.

He met with President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim, Chief Executive Officer Of WB Kristalina Georgieva, the Vice President of the WB for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Hafez Ghanem, and Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for the World Bank Group Lakshmi Shyam-Sunder.

During the meeting, Fakhoury discussed with the officials means to find various mechanisms to increase financing Jordan, according to the statement.

For their part, the WB’s officials stressed the bank’s commitment to covering the Kingdom’s financial needs in light of the circumstances it is passing through due to being one of largest refugee-host countries. 

The government is currently working with bank priority programmes and projects, as well as preparing for a soft loan with a long grace period for the general Treasury to bridge the financial gap in accordance with the general budget and the financial reform programme approved by Parliament, the statement noted.

The three panel discussions covered mechanisms of response to the refugee crises, activating the creative markets, and maintaining balance between borrowing and growth, according to the ministry's statement.

Speaking at the panels, the minister shed light on Jordan's "pioneering" approach in dealing with the repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis through the Jordan Compact and the Jordan Response Plan.

He also stressed the importance of the private sector's role in realising the goals of development and creating jobs in light of the instable status in MENA region.

In regard to borrowing and growth, Fakhoury outlined the best practices of administering the public debt and the role of the international community to support countries that face financial challenges.

He explained that the external shocks and the accumulating burdens of the Syrian crisis, which affected all aspects of life and exceeded the capabilities and resources of the Kingdom, have been risking Jordan's national achievements of development that have been attained over decades.

The WB development committee meeting focused on increasing the bank's capital, the role of sustainable financing in enhancing sustainable development, especially in countries of middle and low income, and creating a general framework for risk management of projects.

On the sidelines of the event, Fakhoury discussed with WB senior officials the preparations for a $500 million soft loan to support the general budget and create jobs, as well as the possibility of a grant through the Concessional Financing Facility to reduce the interest of the loan, according to the statement.

He also discussed work to prepare the “matrix of structural reforms” for the next five years, which focuses on creating job opportunities.

The minister chaired a roundtable meeting with representative of the main donors (the US, the EU, Germany, Japan, France, Canada and the UK), in addition to Sweden, which expressed interest in supporting the method of guaranteeing loans.

Also on the sidelines of the visit, Fakhoury held a series of meetings with a number of senior officials including Michael Kohler, director for the Neighbourhood South at the European Commission's Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag, the UK's Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt and International Finance Corporation’s  CEO Philippe Le Houérou.

He also met with US senior officials to follow up on the US 2018's assistance to the Kingdom.

Pointing out the FY 2018 Omnibus of US Government Funding Bill’s recent endorsement, Fakhoury said that the FY2018 military and economic appropriations for Jordan amounted to $1.525 billion, $1.08 billion of which entail economic assistance, $745.1 million for budget support and $425 million as military assistance.

AMMAN — The issue of child marriage in Jordan is escalating into a case of human trafficking, the Tamkeen Centre for Legal Aid and Human Rights warned in a press statement on Monday, pointing out that “the age and lack of awareness of married young girls in Jordan makes them vulnerable to exploitation, turning them into victims of the psychological, social and health consequences deriving from child marriage”.

“Most child marriage cases in Jordan shall also be considered as human trafficking crimes according to the definition of forced marriage,” the statement said, noting that “the position of the girl in the marriage is usually not taken into consideration and several marriages are celebrated without the wife’s consent or obtaining it through deceptive methods”.

“A child marriage case should always be considered as a forced marriage since we could not even consider a child’s ability to make such decision,” Tamkeen Director Linda Kalash told The Jordan Times, calling on legislators to include this type of trafficking in the new draft law on anti-human trafficking. 

 Kalash highlighted the “extreme” age gaps recorded in several marriage cases, noting that “such marriages are directly linked to the sexual exploitation of children, with consequences in the social, physical and sexual fields". 

The statement referred to a previous report by the Department of the Chief Justice and the government’s Department of Statistics, which showed that a total of 10,434 minors were married over the past year, with 846 cases registering an age gap beyond 15 years between husband and wife.  

Out of the 846 cases, 29 marriage contracts surpassed the 33 years of age difference, and 9 marriages exceeded the 50 year age gap.

 "The ages registered in the report constitute a clear violation of the provisions of the law, which require the age difference among parties not to exceed 15 years,” the statement said.

The centre called on the government to amend the Anti-Human Trafficking Law in order to combat child marriage, in addition to reforming the public education system including early marriage awareness in schools’ curricula. 

An in-depth report by the Tamkeen centre on the child marriage issue in the Kingdom will be published during the following week, Kalash told The Jordan Times. 

Earlier this year, Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI)’s President Inaam Asha reported that 55 out of 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 18 in Jordan are subjected to early marriage, constituting 13.4 per cent of overall marriages in 2016. 

The institute called for the abolition of the provision in the Civil Status Law allowing child marriage by giving judges the authority to allow girls at 15 years to get married if the groom is considered competent.

“The definition of a man’s competency to marry a girl under the age of 18 differs from one person to another, which might be considered for some as financial and for others as cultural for example,” Asha noted. 

For her part, SIGI’s Executive Director Asma Khader noted  that both amendments to the law and the society are needed to put an end to the issue.

AMMAN — The Eurasian Silk Road Universities Consortium (ESRUC) on Wednesday celebrated the opening ceremony of its 7th Annual Convention, held at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) under the theme “Bridging cultures between Arab and world universities".

Running through April 28, the ESRUC convention provides a platform for the promotion of a greater understanding of the value of cultural diversity and cross-cultural connection, supporting the preservation of the material and intangible heritage of all ESRUC members, according to the ESRUC website.

The convention’s inaugural ceremony saw the attendance of over 50 academics from Jordan, Palestine, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China, in addition to Turkish Ambassador to Jordan Murat Karagöz and Higher Education Minister Adel Tweisi.

Conveying his greetings to PSUT for holding the convention, Tweisi said: “This encounter will lead to the exchange of experiences that will contribute to the enrichment of the expertise of our universities,” stressing the role of the Jordanian higher education sector in “bringing comprehensive development in a range of fields”.

"The globalisation process has caused rapid and extensive changes in the world, increasing the political and economic pressures, in addition to the displacement of people from their homelands and the limitation of their freedoms,” Ataturk University's President Ömer Çomaklı said, stressing the need for “dialogue, peace, equality and human rights" to put an end to this situation.

“This can only be achieved through further access to culture and knowledge,” he added, calling for the collaboration between countries to “put the field of higher education to good use for the benefit of fellow nations”.

Elaborating on his country's ties with Jordan, Karagöz said: “The exchange we have achieved up to this point is still not enough and, if we want to keep on fostering this relationship, it is our obligation to place our impetus on higher education and heritage as tools to overcome prejudices.”

"When we talk about the Silk Road, it is normal for people to think about trade — but we should not forget that its most important legacy lies in its role to bring people and their cultures together," the ambassador continued.

PSUT President Mashhoor Refai thanked ESRUC and Ataturk University for choosing his university as the host of the convention, highlighting its “excellent” relations with Turkish educational institutions and its internationalisation through a total of 22 exchange programmes. 

Connecting eastern and western nations, ESRUC brings together 250 universities from more than 35 countries with the aim of strengthening cooperation in the fields of scientific research and cultural exchange, in addition to building stronger economies in the member countries. 

AMMAN — Japan on Wednesday announced a new provision of its emergency grant aid to UNHCR and UNICEF, at a total value of $2 million for continued emergency humanitarian assistance in Jordan, an embassy statement said. Under the new emergency grant aid, UNHCR and UNICEF each received $1 million towards providing primary healthcare services, lifesaving vaccinations, nutrition and paediatric medical services for Syrians.

“The Government of Japan has again shown its generosity towards providing assistance to those affected by the Syrian conflict,” said UNHCR Representative Stefano Severe, adding that the grant will ensure “timely assistance through UNHCR to provide Syrians in dire need with life-saving medical services”. For his part, UNICEF Jordan representative Robert Jenkins, noted: “Children are suffering the most from the prolonged Syrian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of girls and boys in Jordan struggling every day to meet their basic needs,” thanking the Japanese government for its constant support.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health on Wednesday urged the public, especially children and those with chronic diseases, to take precautions as dust-laden winds pass through the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The statement called for implementing preventive measures to avoid respiratory diseases, noting that asthma patients and those suffering from seasonal allergy could experience an intensifying in symptoms.

The ministry urged patients to avoid staying outdoors for a long time during dusty weather and to head to hospitals in cases of emergency.

AMMAN — Twenty two Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) from Karak, Zarqa, Mafraq and Amman this week completed a series of capacity-building workshops by meeting potential donors with whom they discussed future funding opportunities.

In the final workshop of the Middle East Partnership Initiative’s civil society project carried out by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, the CBOs received critical feedback from a number of donors including the German Agency for International Cooperation, CARE, UNDP, UNHCR and the Middle East Partnership Initiative, among others.

The final presentation on project budgeting followed a number of trainings started in September 2017 on community development, human rights, research methods, problem assessment, project design and proposal writing, as well as monitoring and evaluation, said Mahmoud Nabulsi, WANA’s civil society team leader.

“After each training, the CBOs carried out a work assignment under the supervision of the WANA’s team which guaranteed the correct implementation of the theories explained during the workshops,” he told The Jordan Times after the session, noting that "at the beginning, the CBOs had some challenges in submitting the assignment as it was their first time putting the knowledge into practice, but they quickly got used to it and found the technical feedback very beneficial". 

A participant in the training, Amal Al Sayed from the Society for Community Development, expressed her happiness with the benefits of the programme, which she said “contributed to her organisation’s collaboration in a joint project with the Ministry of Social Development which will help her develop a training toolkit and implement training workshops on addressing violence alternatives for women prisoners". 

 “The workshop on developing financial and administrative policies was particularly useful to me as I have become familiar with what the donors are asking for in terms of administrative requirement and budgeting, all of that through a participatory hands-on approach,” she said, adding “the variety of sessions included in the project helped us gain both practical skills such as project design and a number of networking opportunities with large international institutions and important local institutions such as the Hayat-RASED Centre.” 

For Nabulsi, the programme was a great success in terms of “setting up networking opportunities between associations and donors”. 

He expressed WANA’s keeness to “continue cooperating with the associations and involve them in future programmes that contribute to their development”.

Programme Director of the German Foundation for Civil Peace Service in Jordan Karim Al Thabet, whose organisation's programme focuses on CBOs at the governorate level, called on associations to “recognise their identity within their community and legal framework” and to “continuously communicate with their local communities in order to provide them with the best suited services”.

“The WANA Institute’s training has contributed to building the capacity of these associations and supports the process of representative communication," he commented, underscoring the importance for CBOs to enhance their cooperation with existing local bodies.

Al Thabet stressed the need for CBOs to “change their structure in terms of quantity and quality, by increasing the number of their employees and volunteers, in order to achieve the goals of their programmes and donors optimally”.

AMMAN — The National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) on Saturday held the first social dialogue session on the collective bargaining agreement and unified labour contract for private school teachers, which saw the attendance of representatives from the Ministry of Labour, the Social Security Institution and the Education Ministry. 

Organised with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the session covered the challenges faced by both school owners and teachers in the private sector, discussing the renewal of the current collective bargaining agreement and unified contract. 

The agreement was signed last year in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Law No. 8 of 1996 and its amendments between the General Union of Private Schools Owners and the General Union of Workers in Special Education. 

Gender consultant at the ILO Reem Aslan told The Jordan Times that the discussion was held upon request by a group of teachers asking to consider their rights while discussing the challenges faced by private school owners in implementing the provisions of the agreement. 

“The current agreement covers the annual raise and the need to transfer the teachers’ salaries to their bank accounts,” Aslan said, adding that “the period of the unified contract will finish with the end of the present academic year, and it is time to start the negotiations regarding the next contract”.

The expert explained that “88 per cent of teachers are women, most of whom are not paid the minimum wage or included in the social security system”.

Labour Ministry Secretary General Hani Khleifat noted that the meeting “opens the door to social dialogue with all parties involved in the private education sector, in order to formulate a set of recommendations to be submitted to the institutions concerned with the collective labour contract”.

In addition, Khleifat stressed “the importance of achieving gender equality in our legislation in order to increase women's participation in the labour market,” adding that “Jordan has committed itself to achieving the principles of pay equity and the promotion of female economic participation by ratifying the ILO Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration, and the Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation”. 

"Tensions between school owners and workers relaxed during the dialogue,” Aslan noted, adding that an agreement was reached to rephrase seven articles on the annual salary raise, bank transfers, the provisions related to the experience of the teachers, their probation period and the minimum time for hiring. 

Earlier this year, over 60 teachers called on the Ministry of Education to take measures against the violations committed by several private schools regarding the salaries of their employees in a meeting organised by the Stand Up with the Teacher campaign. ​

Started in 2015 with the support of NCPE and the ILO, the campaign aims to help female teachers working in private schools ensure that their basic labour rights are respected, according to the campaign organisers.

The campaign’s meeting concluded with Education Minister Omar Razzaz’s announcement of the ministry’s decision requiring all private schools across the Kingdom to transfer the teachers’ salaries to their bank accounts.