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AMMAN — A network of 61 international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) working in Jordan have recently come together to produce “Walk the Talk”, a review of the achievements and remaining challenges of the commitments made to improve the resilience of refugees and host communities in the Kingdom.

The common memorandum was published a few days ahead of the second two-day Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region”, which kicks off today to discuss the humanitarian support to the region and the bolstering of the UN-led political peace process, co-chaired by the EU and the UN.

“As the international community and the government of Jordan are expected to renew their commitments to supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan, the Jordan INGO forum [JIF] has reviewed the progress made and gaps in relation to the Jordan Compact, two years after its signature,” said JIF advocacy coordinator Mathilde Vu, noting that the publication aims to “provide a detailed assessment of the major commitments made in the livelihood and education sectors, and offer an evidence based comparison between what was committed, what has been achieved and what we recommend”.

Dubbed “Walk the Talk”, the common publication started by highlighting the several areas of improvements in terms of school attendance, noting that the enrolment of Syrian refugee children in public schools increased from 126,127 children in 2016-2017 to 130,382 in 2017-2018. 

A total of 6,000 out-of-school children were provided with certified non-formal education, such as catch-up and dropout programmes, while 209 double-shift schools opened across the country. Some 118,107 children, including those vulnerable in host communities, were also provided with non-certified learning support services, according to JIF.

The forum further commended the government’s decision to extend a grace period enabling all children to enrol in schools regardless of their nationality and documentation status, noting that it also allowed refugee children who had missed the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year to enrol in the second semester.

“Opening school to all children, regardless of the documents they possess has been a very positive step — but, once again, very much focused on enrolment numbers. We now need extra efforts to reinforce the quality of education, and tackle the underlying barriers to education, which are mainly poverty driven,” Vu told The Jordan Times, stressing that these indicators “are not comprehensive enough. School enrolment numbers say nothing on actual school attendance, school retention or the quality of education. Unfortunately, the reality of dropping out has been overlooked, whereas we know that a large percentage of school Syrian refugee children in Jordan were at one point enrolled in education and have since dropped out”.

She cited the 68 per cent of drop out rate of previously enrolled Syrian refugee children, underscoring that the formal system remains “overburdened, with overcrowded classrooms and condensed teaching time in double-shift schools”.

While acknowledging the many positive steps taken in the educational sector such as large teacher training programmes and the establishment of a national centre for curricula development, the advocate pointed out that “it is clear that the enrolment target set in the compact was not achieved, as the quality of education and of the learning environment have dropped and violence in and around school constitute a strong concern.”

“Ultimately, Syrian refugees still face poor employment prospects upon completing basic education, despite the efforts exerted by Jordan to largely facilitate their access to work permits,” she commented on the livelihoods aspect, adding: “While the numbers of registered workers are progressing, work permits do not necessarily mean new jobs, decent working conditions or increased revenue generation for Syrian refugees.”

“Poverty levels remain very high and restrictions still impose barriers on access to formal work in specific sectors or to skilled positions and it remains extremely difficult for Syrian refugees to create and register their own business,” Vu continued, calling for “more flexibility to yield real results”.

Currently in Brussels to represent the views of the 61 INGOs working in Jordan, Vu voiced their hope to see “both Jordan and the international community renewing their commitment to supporting Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians, both in terms of financial pledges but also additional reforms that strengthen their resilience”.

“We are particularly attentive to the protection of refugees, which is a condition sine qua non for the implementation of the Jordan Compact: the questions of legal registration, freedom of movement and the respect of the principle of non-refoulement should be reconfirmed in Brussels,” she concluded, noting “INGOs will continue monitoring the commitments from Brussels, and give reality checks as we move forward.”

AMMAN — Jordan is following up closely on developments in the de-escalation zone in the southwestern region of Syria, Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said on Monday.

At a press conference at the Prime Ministry, following a Cabinet session earlier in the day, Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the Kingdom is monitoring and following up on media reports about field developments in the de-escalation zone, according to a government statement.

Media reports highlighted military developments by armed forces within the zone.

The minister added that Jordan's stance towards the Syrian crisis has always called for a political solution to the eight-year long conflict.

He noted that officials are constantly in direct contact with influential players involved in the Syrian crisis, with “a pro-stability language”.

Momani underlined the "strategic importance" of maintaining the de-escalation zone and expanding it to safeguard the Kingdom's security and Syrian interests, adding that Jordan will deal with any developments within to this framework. 

The minister also warned that "whoever comes close to the Kingdom's borders will die".

Replying to journalists' questions on means of safeguarding the Kingdom's northern border, Momani said: "We have a border security system that most countries lack".

It is almost eight years since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, and there is war on the other side of Jordan's northern border, he noted, “yet we have managed to preserve our borders all these years and stopped terrorists from infiltrating into our territory”.

Countries secure their borders with two armies from two sides, he said, but "ours are only protected by the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army", due to the lack of required protection from the other side, Momani added.

AMMAN — Amendments to the Income Tax Law are expected to be endorsed by the Cabinet in the first half of May, Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said on Monday. 

At a press conference that followed a Cabinet session earlier in the day, Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the tax evasion, which can be similar to theft, is among top issues addressed in the amended law. 

Tax evasion in some professional sectors reach 80 per cent, the minister added, according to a government statement. 

Officials and experts have estimated that the phenomenon costs the Treasury around JD1 billion a year, while the collection mechanisms is expected to be revisited in the bill. 

AMMAN — Jordan ranked 62nd worldwide and 2nd in the Arab region at the Global Knowledge Index, released by United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) regional office at the Knowledge Forum held in Amman on Sunday. 

Highlighting the strategic role of knowledge and the importance of developing “objective and scientific tools” to evaluate it, the index analyses 131 countries in terms of the status of their pre-university education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), higher education, research, development and innovation (RDI), information and communication technology (ICT) and economy, in addition to a seventh pillar on the nation’s general enabling environment. 

Launched in partnership with Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), the index concluded that the Kingdom is slightly beyond the global average level of knowledge, with improvements noticed in the sectors of higher education, economy and ICTs. 

“Jordan was able to improve its ranking over the past year to become the second leader in the region by enhancing many of the assessed criteria,” Higher Education Minister Adel Tweisi told The Jordan Times in a recent interview, attributing the Kingdom’s performance to the implementation of measures in the governance and accountability of universities.. 

In addition, Tweisi highlighted the “input criteria related to the number of students admitted per programme and the gradual decrease in admissions on unemployable specialisations”, noting that such measures have “led to the improvement of higher education across Jordan”.

However, Jordan’s performance was not as positive in the areas of pre-university education, RDI and TVET, ranking below the global average in these fields.

“The results achieved by Jordan reflect the Kingdom’s keenness to persevere in the achievement of advanced positions in all areas of the index,” Education Minister Omar Razzaz said in a speech during the recent Knowledge Forum, stressing that “the trained and qualified manpower is the real wealth of a nation”.

Meanwhile, Director of the Arab Knowledge Project at UNDP Hani Turki noted that “despite the achievements made on the way to progress, previous reports have shown that the Arab region is suffering from a double knowledge gap, one that separates our countries from the developed world, combined with a second internal gap between the Arab nations themselves”.

“The progress achieved by several Arab countries in the area of knowledge development is still lacking the required ambition,” Turki added, calling for more efforts for “the improvement of the position of the Arab region in the worldwide picture”.

The Global Knowledge Index was launched during the Knowledge Summit 2016 to highlight the strategic role of knowledge and the importance of developing objective and scientific tools to measure and evaluate knowledge.

The GKI aims at measuring knowledge as a broad concept that is intricately related to all aspects of modern human life in a systematic approach that builds on solid conceptual and methodological principles.

AMMAN — At a screening of short documentaries during the Sheffield Film Festival in early April, the majority of the screened films were produced by women-only crews.

“I think that female filmmakers are much more powerful than men,” Noe Mendelle, the director of the Scottish Documentary Institute, who ran a 10-day workshop in Amman in coordination with Royal Film Commission-Jordan, said. 

"Unfortunately, women do not typically receive the opportunity to enter the industry and prove their power, due to their gender," she added.

Young filmmakers Asmahan Bkeret and Ban Maraqa emphasised that Mendelle was the first individual who believed in their potential.

“She’s really empowered us because she’s a feminist,” Breket said.

Mendelle said she tried her best to favour as many women as possible when running workshops. “I think it’s really important. When I started as a filmmaker, I was one of the few women directing. I wanted to work with female technicians, but you didn’t have female technicians around.”

From Mendelle’s point of view, women filmmakers are more sensitive to their subjects and can explore different issues than men, who “typically go to [sets] with confidence and will not share the emotions of the subject”.

Bkeret and Maraqa were able to produce a film centred on a bedouin Palestinian woman, Hakima, because they could empathise with her. "Because Hakima had had bad experiences with her own husband and does not trust men, the filmmakers were not allowed to bring a man to help them with the documentary."

Moreover, men might not have recognised the importance of Hakima as a subject, and even then, they would not have been able to get her to “open up”, Maraqa said.

“Women face more challenges than men,” Mendelle claimed. “It’s much harder for women to get accepted to film courses and once they’re there, it’s much harder for them to compete for access to equipment or access to directing. The women that you saw there the other night [at the Sheffield Film Festival] have to work extra hard to be able to push their ideas forward.”

Annemarie Jacir, one of the few female directors in Jordan and the director of award-winning feature films such as “Wajib”, “Salt of this Sea” and “When I Saw You”, recalled the sexism she faced when she started in the industry. 

“As a director now with several features under my belt, things have changed a bit, but I also have [had] experiences where younger women I work with [who] have been harassed and made to feel uncomfortable by men,” she said.

Maraqa and Bkeret agreed, noting that the sexism in the industry often deters them from continuing jobs on set.

“Every set I go to, I’m usually the only woman there. When anyone sees me they say, ‘oh, are you the makeup department? Are you doing hair?’ That’s always what it is. There are hardly any women on set,” Breket said. “I was on one set where there were really attractive women. It felt very sexual. I was always on the men’s teams and I would hear them talking, ‘Did you see her? She’s so hot.’”

“Most women who start in the film industry quit because filming starts early in the morning and sometimes lasts until very late, and many families don’t accept that,” Maraqa said. 

Because men can work for longer hours, Bkeret added, employers prefer hiring men.

Mahmoud Hussein, a film lecturer at SAE Institute Amman, agreed that it is “not easy to find girl students because it is a lot of work that lasts for 10-12 hours”. As a result, of the 120 students enrolled in SAE Institute’s film department, approximately only 25 women are registered.

“Jordan is a small country… and we have a lot of different kinds of women. Here in Jordan, whenever someone tries to do a movie about a woman, it doesn’t dig deep into this society, so it doesn’t portray women in the right way of how they should be represented,” Hussein said. “She’s either [depicted as] open-minded to the extreme or conservative to the extreme. What about the women in between?”

Jacir concurred with this sentiment. “[Women are portrayed accurately] in some independent Jordanian films. But in terms of what the general public is viewing in Jordan, no, I don't think so.”

Hussein added that when filmmakers also try to appease Western audiences, they do not realistically represent Jordanian women. “Unfortunately, there are some filmmakers who make films for the Western audience, so they are trying to focus on what the West audience wants to see, so that they can sell a movie. But that means women in Jordan aren’t represented very well.”

However, in the past few years, women have been trying to change the atmosphere and their representation in the film industry as it grows. According to Mendelle, “there are some female directors starting to come through in Jordan, and the Royal Film Commission has been very supportive of women. They are trying really hard to encourage women to direct.”

Jacir sees potential for the film industry in Jordan to include more women, believing that the industry is “much more progressive on this level” than the American counterpart. 

“I think we [women] should therefore continue to form our own way of working and of telling stories, to find a way that works best for us, and not try to emulate something else,” Jacir concluded.

AMMAN — The seventh edition of Amman Jazz Festival will kick off in Amman on Thursday, with different variations of the music genre expected to be performed during the festival.

The director of the festival Lama Hazboun said this year’s festival will present “heavy jazz music”, with troupes coming from Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Hungary and Sweden taking part in the event.

“We are going to showcase European, American, classical, modern and Latin jazz,” she told The Jordan Times on Monday, noting that six performances will be held at Haya Cultural Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“After that, the activities will continue in informal venues until May 1,” she added.

Commenting on the limited number of activities planned for this year, Hazboun noted that a number of other festivals are going on at the same time.

“Even though this will be the smallest festival of them all, it is the only one specialised in jazz music,” she pointed out, noting that the new generation has started to embrace music in all its genres. 

“Jordan is now open to all kinds of music, especially those taught at public schools,” Hazboun added.

A number of workshops will also be held on the sidelines of the festival, according to the director, who said “this will help further promote the jazz festival in the Kingdom. We will be holding activities in Azraq and Um Qais so that people outside Amman can benefit from it.”

Funded by the EU and the EU National Institutes for Cultures, the event is organised in partnership with the embassies of Hungary, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Institut Francais, Goethe Institut and Instituto Cervantes.

AMMAN — A number of Jordanian universities and European institutes have launched a project to collect local narratives about the World War I period in Jordan, an official said on Monday.

The project will be implemented by the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO), the French Institute in Jordan, the Goethe Institute in addition to four Jordanian universities — University of Jordan, Yarmouk University, Mutah University and Al Hussein Bin Talal University — Abdul-Hameed Al Kayyali, Middle East Researcher and Historian at IFPO, told The Jordan Times.

In the first phase of the one-year programme, 16 students from four Jordanian universities will receive training in researching and recording oral history by an experienced anthropologist and a historian working with private archives and oral history, Kayyali told The Jordan Times on Monday.

In parallel, eight professors from those universities will participate in a workshop in order to prepare them for supervising the students’ field work and learning experience, he added.

"This intensive training will cover various methodological, practical and ethical questions related to conducting oral history research,"Kayyali said.

After completing the research, the narratives will be archived at the National Library of Jordan, according to the historian.

The project aims to focus on the social, rather than the military and political aspects of World War I and their implications on Jordan, which is a perspective that has often been neglected by academics, Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University Hani Hayajneh said.

"The project consists of collecting oral testimonies from Jordanians, who have heard stories from people that lived during that period," Hayajneh told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday.

While oral history is mostly neglected in Jordan, Hayajneh said, it is a significant means to document and analyse the historical consciousness and the sense of identity of various social groups that lived during this period.

Furthermore, the use of oral history invites students to ask important questions about the sources used by historians in order to write social history, according to Hayajneh.

The overall aim is to constitute a pool of young researchers and to sensitise the younger generation about cultural heritage, said the dean.

During World War I, Sharif Hussein initiated the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman rule as head of the Arab nationalists and in alliance with Britain and France; his sons, the emirs Abdullah and Faisal, led the Arab forces, with Emir Faisal’s forces liberating Damascus from Ottoman rule in 1918. 

By the end of the war, Arab forces controlled all of modern Jordan, most of the Arabian Peninsula and much of southern Syria, according to the Great Arab Revolt's website.

AMMAN — Government agencies have decided to adopt new security and preventive measures for financial institutions following repeated robbery incidents over the past four months, official sources said.

Six banks and one money exchange shop in the capital witnessed robberies since the beginning of the year, with some cases involving armed robbers while other robbers used fake weapons for intimidation. Six of the seven robbers were arrested so far, while one suspect, who escaped with over JD95,000 in cash from a bank in the Wihdat neighbourhood, remains at large.

“Minister of Interior Samir Mubaidin instructed the Public Security Department [PSD] to connect banks and other financial institutions with the PSD’s command and control centre during a visit to the department on Sunday,” Sartawi said.

The new measure, the police official told The Jordan Times, falls under “a security code that ensures around the clock security surveillance by the PSD’s command and control centre so that the response will be quick in the event of any emergency”.

“We are in the process of connecting our centre with financial institutions and this will be in place soon,” Sartawi added.

Also Monday, the Lower House’s Financial Committee met with representatives from the Interior Ministry, the PSD and the representatives from the Central Bank of Jordan and the Bank Association to discuss adopting new measures to “protect vital financial institutions”, Balqa Deputy Mutaz Abu Rumman said.

“We recommended that financial institutions install anti-robbery alarm systems, panic bottoms as well as hiring retired army personnel and security guards to work at these facilities,” explained Abu Rumman, who is the deputy chair of the committee.

The lawmaker noted there are 26 working banks in Jordan with 931 branches all over the Kingdom, adding: “We are hopeful that the new measures will help stop robberies targeting these institutions.”

Following the latest bank robbery last week, Mubaidin described the robbery cases on banks and money exchange shops as "worrying", noting that they have become a public concern.

The minister stressed that bank robberies cannot be considered security faults, especially since the Kingdom's security apparatuses always support security staff at banks. 

Central Bank of Jordan Governor Ziad Fariz also commented on the recent string of robberies last week, stressing that the banking sector is a main pillar in the sustainable economic development process, which plays a main role in preserving the national economy and enhancing its growth.

AMMAN — The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) on Monday said it requested the telecom operators to ban the taxi hailing app Careem.

The TRC on Sunday sent a letter to the country's telecom companies following a recent ruling by West Amman Court which banned ride-hailing app Careem from operating in the Kingdom until it gets the necessary licences from the concerned authorities, the TRC told The Jordan Times on Monday.

The application will be banned on all telecom networks including 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation networks, the TRC said, noting that it sent the letter to the operators in implementation of the court ruling.

Users have voiced outrage about the decision to ban the app.

"Yellow taxis commit many violations when driving. They never stop talking to passengers and they pick and choose passengers," Areej Hammoudeh, a teacher of Arabic at a private school in Al Rabieh area, told The Jordan Times on Monday.

She said she “tries to use public transportation because it is cheaper, but sometimes I am forced to use taxis. Although cars working with Careem are more expensive, at least they never say no when I want to go anywhere… they are available anytime and are one click away”.

"Passengers should have the right to choose, I pay more for Careem cars because I am happy with their service. I had a very bad experience with yellow cabs," she added.

Ahmad Al Sheikh, who works as an accountant at a food processing factory, echoed similar sentiments."I have a car, but sometimes I use taxis when my wife needs the car. Most of the time, yellow taxis refuse to drive me to my workplace near Al Wihdat saying there is so much traffic in the area," he said.

"Because I do not use the taxis much, I started ordering Careem cabs. Although they charge more than the yellow taxis, they are always available and do not say no to any destination so it is more convenient to use them… banning the application will affect many who like to use the service," Al Sheikh continued.

Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a lawyer hired by several owners of yellow taxis’ offices who filed lawsuits against Careem recently, said: "Yellow taxis investors paid millions of dinars for their investments and it is fair that the app is banned."

"Investors in yellow taxis pay fees annually to the government, and it is unacceptable to allow people to drive their own cars and start working as taxis as this is against the laws in Jordan," the lawyer told The Jordan Times on Monday, adding that "investors pay income tax and hire thousands of drivers”.

He stated that "the court ruling that banned Careem from operating and demanded the ban of the app on all app stores was a right decision”.

According to yellow taxis investors, the prices of taxis dropped from JD60,000 to around JD40,000-JD45,000 after the apps were allowed and started to be used by passengers.

There are around 17,000 yellow taxis currently operating in Jordan.

According to the 2010 Public Transport Law, it is mandatory to obtain a special licence to operate a public transport vehicle.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Monday approved a memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian government to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian company for marketing agricultural products.

In a press conference, which followed a Cabinet session earlier in the day, Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that establishing the company aims at enhancing the opportunities for exporting Jordanian and Palestinian agricultural products to external markets, stressing that the company constitutes a support to Palestinians and their economy. 

Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, noted that the company forms an added value to the Jordanian agricultural sector and the overall economy, through offering transit services to Palestinian products and finding jobs in relevant sectors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

He announced that signing the memo will take place on the sidelines of the first Jordanian agricultural forum that will be held in the Dead Sea area in the few coming days. 

The company will also play a role in effecting a gradual change in the agricultural pattern through encouraging "contract farming" and ensuring commitment by the company and contracted farmers, Momani added.

Momani also said that the council of ministers has approved a recommendation by the Energy Ministry to establish a corporate social responsibility fund for renewable energy companies working in the Kingdom, whose investments are estimated in the hundreds of millions. 

The ministry will be responsible for presenting technical and logistic support to the fund's management, according to Petra.

Momani added that the fund aims at assisting the development sector through working with local community institutions and citizens in developing areas adjacent to renewable energy projects.

The government gives special attention to renewable energy schemes and succeeded in attracting major regional and international firms to invest in the sector to generate electricity, where the investment volume in the field exceeds $2 billion that contributed to generating more than 1,300 megawatts of power until the end of 2016, Petra added.