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AMMAN — A helpline aimed at providing support and advice on issues faced by refugees living in Jordan has answered over 1.7 million calls since its inception ten years ago, a statement by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.

One of the largest refugee helplines in the world, the Refugee Helpline Jordan offers support on a wide range of topics including cash assistance, resettlement, registration, access to healthcare, among others.

The line also receives queries about other agency programmes such as partners of the Common Cash Facility or the World Food Programme (WFP) voucher programme, which are then referred to the new WFP helpline for direct assistance.

Launched in 2008 to respond to the needs of refugees living in Jordan, the helpline system was upgraded in 2014 to cater for the increasing number of calls following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis.

In 2017 alone, UNHCR received an average of 45,000 calls per month, and was able to answer around 60 per cent of them.

“Before the upgrade, we had an average waiting time of four minutes, which led many of the callers to abandon the calls. We conducted an additional upgrade at the end of 2017, with enhanced automated response features aimed at reducing the number of abandoned and unanswered calls,” a UNCHR representative said, adding that nearly 150,000 calls were answered monthly, amounting to 70 per cent of the calls.

Following the upgrade, the call volume soared from 160 calls per hour in November 2017 to 1,000 calls per hour as of February 2018, the official noted.

“Our calls come from all Jordan, with a majority from the Amman Governorate (40 per cent), followed by Irbid (23 per cent), Mafraq (14 per cent) and Zarqa (10 per cent). This reflects the distribution of refugees across Jordan and helps us better assess the geographical needs,” the UNHCR official added. 

“Our helpline is one of the approaches UNHCR uses for two-way communication, providing information and feedback for more than 730,000 refugees living in Jordan,” the UNHCR said, adding that the line does not only accept phone calls, but also provides outgoing messaging.

The majority of the calls are related to cash assistance, which is currently provided to 27,000 families in the country. Refugees also call to appeal decisions impacting their cash assistance and a small number of calls are related to technical issues around use of the ATM network.

About 15 per cent of the calls to the helpline focus on resettlement, either to enquire about eligibility or request updates on the resettlement process, according to UNHCR.

On registration, which account for 5 per cent of calls, a recorded message advises refugees to visit UNHCR registration centres, as these queries can only be addressed after confirmation of identity. 

The UNHCR stressed that all calls can be made for free by using the Zain SIM card provided by the Agency, noting that, as of February 2018, over 143,000 families benefitted from the free SIM card.

“In addition to our 14 UNHCR staff who speak directly to refugees from 8am to 4pm during weekdays, we also have 46 automated lines that can help callers using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology,” the UNHCR official continued, noting that around 95 per cent of calls can be handled by helpline staff without the need for referral to another section. 

“Our staff is trained to respond to refugees in distress through basic counseling; if an issue arises that require a referral and follow up, a ‘referral ticket’ is provided for refugees to be linked with other relevant professionals,” the statement read.

“Ultimately, the helpline also serves as a public awareness tool to pass messages to refugees in urban settings This is done in collaboration with direct messaging through urban community support committees and helpdesks across the country, which helps reach populations traditionally out of reach," the statement concluded.

AMMAN — A delegation headed by the rector of the As-Syafiiyah Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia, Masduki Ahmad, on Tuesday took part in a forum between Jordanian and Indonesian academics with the Imdad Media Centre, with the aim of discussing further cooperation in the field of higher education. 

 Organised in cooperation with the Literature and Culture Salon, the meeting was attended by several professors and university presidents in addition to former ministers and ambassadors.

Ahmad expressed willingness to increase the cooperation between As-Syafiiyah Islamic University and several Jordanian institutions and signed agreements with the University of Islamic Sciences, Al Isra University, Al-al-Bayt University, the University of Jordan, the Jordanian University of Science and Technology and Yarmouk University. 

 The agreements involve a number of scholarships for students to engage in exchange programmes as well as research cooperation deals between Jordanian and Indonesian professors, Chairman of the Imdad Media Centre Nabil Al Sharif told The Jordan Times. 

 "Students based in Indonesian universities are appreciated, respected and welcome," the rector said, thanking the Jordanian government for "its great cooperation in welcoming Indonesian students in Jordanian universities and simplifying all procedures for them".

 Several speakers outlined the efforts that shall be exerted by countries concerned with the image of Islam, discussing ways of cooperation to "protect the true reality of Islam from the distorted image being spread across the world in this context of extremism".

 Sharif stressed: "Jordan and Indonesia share an understanding of Islam as a religion of moderation, tolerance and peace," pointing out that "Jordan has taken several initiatives in order to project the right image of Islam, and it is essential to provide such initiatives with exposure to the world." 

 "Building on Indonesia's interest in the 2004 Amman Message, we are happy to have reached an understanding for our cooperation to continue along these lines," Sharif said, voicing his hopes to meet representatives of other countries and cultures in order to "regain the true reality of Islam".

AMMAN — Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) on Wednesday started the "Free veterinary days" to address the problem of animal abuse in Petra, after the issue was raised by tourists and local stakeholders, and broadcasted by several media outlets.

The two-day event, held under the patronage of HRH Princess Alia, was supported by the Greater Amman Municipality, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Jordanian Vet Association, the Jordan University for Science and Technology and SPANA.

Princess Alia called for implanting a systematic campaign to educate people on animal welfare, highlighting the need to change the general perception that animals are "totally separated from humans". Human welfare is directly correlated with the human emancipation and social development in general, she noted. 

Chief Commissioner Falah Al Omoush praised the princess for her continuous efforts in raising awareness about the treatment of wild and domestic animals, and for buying equipment and medicine for animal clinics to end the suffering of animals.

Omoush noted the centrality of the tourism sector for the local economy, which attracts tourists from around the world who spend significant amounts of money in the Kingdom.

"I thank His Majesty King Abdullah for bringing visitors to Jordan from all corners of the world," Omoush emphasised, adding "our religion urges us to take care of animals".

He said that PDTRA is exerting all efforts to solve the problems related to the treatment of animals in Petra, as part of a comprehensive strategy.

The team will start taking immediate action by opening a veterinarian clinic where they will provide services on "a permanent basis", such as injections and medication, aiming to reduce the suffering of animals used for work purposes.

The PDTRA team and other organisations involved in the project will start an awareness campaign targeting tourism sector's employees, school students and the local community, Omoush said.

Owners of working animals will be forced to use safe routes instead of hazardous trails, he underscored.

On the implementation of the law, the commissioner noted that PDTRA will start legal action against anyone who is found to mistreat animals, therefore "ruining our tourism and reputation".

"Although the number of complaints about animal abuse are based on obvious facts, some are exaggerated," noted Deputy Chief Commissioner of PDTRA Suleiman Farajat, stressing that the campaign aims to ensure the well-being of animals and the preservation of the site.

On behalf of the FAO, the main technical partner, Wafa Al Ramadneh said that the organisation started tackling the issue of animal welfare in 2009.

"The FAO believes that animals need healthcare and welfare," she said, outlining the three pillars of the organisation: providing treatment for animals suffering from diseases, increasing awareness of owners and building local capacity for the campaign's sustainability.

"We will start assessing animal owners to see how they behave with animals and what hygienic conditions the animals live in, in collaboration with other UN organisations," Ramadneh concluded.

AMMAN — The women’s movement in Jordan on Wednesday launched a coalition to work on increasing female participation in the labour market and ensure a safe environment for them.

“Coalition Rights” comprises 9 women organisations in addition to unions and labour entities which seek to lobby the MPs and the government to amend certain articles in the Labour Law,” said Sadaqa executive board member Sahar Aloul during a press conference held at the General Federation for Labour Union (GFLU), stressing that  “this aims to eliminate discrimination against women and boost their participation in the labour market”.

Jordan was ranked 142 out of 144 countries in women’s labour force participation in the Gender Gap Index published by the World Economic Forum 2017. The index highlighted that most women in the Kingdom do not enter the job market or pull out for a brief period due to the barriers posed by the lack of daycares, access to transportation, and pay inequity.

In February, the Lower House’s Labour Committee amended provisions in the draft labour law that ensured pay equity, the presence of daycare centres at workplaces and the introduction of paternity leave.

Rana Abu Loha, from the GFLU, said that the federation is always striving to increase women’s participation in the labour market, stressing that “this is on top of our priorities”.

Jordanian National Commission for Women  Secretary General Samla Nims added that the coalition will lobby the MPs before the draft Labour Law is sent to the Lower House for discussion and approval.

“We are pleased with the labour committee’s amendments but, of course, this is not the end,” Nims stated.

She noted that the coalition’s priority is “to ensure social justice for women joining the labour market”.

For her part, Sadaqa executive board member Randa Naffa listed the main barriers standing in the way of women entering the labour market, citing the lack of pay equity, of daycare centres of proper transportation system women can rely on.

Aroub Soboh from “My Nationality is the Right of My Family” said the coalition will also list their demands related to children of Jordanian women who are married to non-Jordanians “who should not be treated like foreigners in the Labour Law”.

As it stands now, children of these families do not enjoy full employment rights, as is the case for Jordanian citizens, Soboh said. 

“We will lobby the MPs to consider these children as full citizens while continuing to demand full citizenship rights for families of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians,” Soboh stressed. 

Aloul concluded the press conference by inviting anyone interested to join the coalition. “The door is open to any individual or entity that wants to join us and our future efforts to demand full economic rights for women in Jordan,” she stressed.

In September 2017, SADAQA released a study which described the unemployment rates among Jordanian women as “horrifying”, stating that around 45 per cent of women who leave the labour market do so due to a lack of childcare while at work.

According to the International Labour Organisation, increasing women’s economic participation in Jordan, which stood at 13.3 per cent in 2015, could boost the GDP by $8 billion a year.

AMMAN — Authorities on Wednesday morning had to bulldoze their way through a private farm in Irbid Governorate’s Ramtha district to seal an illegal well, according to a government official.

Acting upon reports of a water violation taking place inside the private property, a joint team from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and security forces raided the farm, where they discovered an illegal well, a ministry official said.

“The entrance of the farm was blocked by different kinds of objects and barriers; therefore, bulldozers were used to remove the obstacles and clear the way to the farm,” the official told The Jordan Times.

An Arab national was arrested, and the authorities are now tracking down the owner of the farm, who has been identified, the official added.

“The technical teams sealed the illegal well with fortified concrete. It is also calculating the amount of water pumped from the well so the case can be referred to courts,” the official said.

He underlined that thousands of cubic metres of water were being pumped daily for the irrigation of vast plantations as well as for selling water to people by filling up tankers.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation’s most recent figures indicate that 16 illegal wells were sealed in March in different parts of the country, as part of its ongoing campaign to end water violations on resources and networks.

During the past month, the ministry also removed 814 violations on water networks and resources, in addition to 18 violations on state-owned lands as well as 144 violations on the 110-King Abdullah Canal in the Jordan Valley.

The ministry banned the drilling of wells in 1998 to limit random pumping of water, in order to preserve aquifers from depletion and salinity. Water theft and violations on the water network and resources are being targeted by the ministry’s campaign, launched in 2013.

Up-to-date figures show that, since the start of the campaign, a total of 38,213 violations on water networks and resources have been stopped. In addition, a total of 1,063 illegal wells have been sealed, and 62 drilling rigs confiscated.

“At courts today, there are 286 water-related cases against violators, while the ministry collected JD3.45 million in cost of water pumped from illegal wells,” the official highlighted. 

AMMAN — The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Wednesday signed three agreements to implement the second phase of the Royal Initiative to provide heaters for 35 schools, distribute energy-saving lamps to 150,000 subscribers and implement the programme to award training certificates for energy engineers, at accost of JD1.74 million, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh stressed the importance of the agreements in developing the energy sector in Jordan, achieving the objectives of the national strategy in boosting local energy sources, preserving the environment and reducing the oil bill.

Kharabsheh, who is also the chairman of the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF), signed an agreement to distribute energy-saving lamps with Irbid District Electricity Company Director General Ahmad Theinat, Jordanian Electric Power Company Director General Marwan Bushnaq and Electricity Distribution Company Director General Hassan Thneibat, according to Petra.

The agreement, worth around JD700,000, requires the fund to provide the bulbs, while the electricity distribution companies will ensure the distribution and installation of these lamps and the replacement of the old bulbs, as well as getting rid of them without affecting the environment. In return, the fund will pay the companies administrative fees.

Kharabsheh underscored the significance of this agreement in supporting the ministry’s efforts to reduce the energy bill for the subsidised segments of society. 

The second agreement, signed by JREEEF Executive Director Rasmi Hamzeh and National Energy Research Centre/Royal Scientific Society Director Walid Shaheen, aims to implement the second phase of the Royal Initiative by providing heaters to 35 schools and improving their energy efficiency, at a total value of around JD1 million, Petra added.

The fund started implementing His Majesty King Abdullah’s initiative in February 2017 to provide heaters in schools across the Kingdom, starting with 100 schools located in the coldest regions, Kharabseh highlighted.

The third agreement, signed by JREEEF Executive Director Rasmi Hamzeh and Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (affiliated with the League of Arab States) Executive Director Ahmed Badr and Jordanian Engineers Association President Majed Tabaa, includes training of engineers and granting them energy engineering certificates. 

Worth JD40,000, the agreement will provide training to 50-100 engineers.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have arrested 10 people in possession of large amounts of narcotics, during several raids targeting drug traffickers in various regions of the Kingdom, the Public Security Department (PSD) announced on Wednesday.

One case included two suspects who tried to transfer drugs through the Mafraq-Amman highway inside two vehicles. Security personnel ambushed them and seized 30 palm-sized sheets of hashish, according to a PSD statement cited by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

In Amman, security agents arrested three people selling drugs inside a vehicle and seized 469 bags of synthetic cannabis (locally known as joker), some narcotic pills and money.

Four drug traffickers, including two Arab nationals, were also arrested in Mafraq, some 80km northeast of Amman, after they were found hiding some drugs in the residence of one of them, which they used to sell narcotics. Agents seized 9,000 captagon pills.

In Irbid, some 80km north of Amman, security personnel seized 9 palm-sized sheets of hashish and 2.5 kilogrammes of Tramal pills after searching the residence of a trafficker who fled once he saw the security agents. The suspect is still at large, according to Petra. 

AND personnel in Zarqa, some 22km east of Amman, arrested a drug trafficker who was selling narcotics on the street, seizing 24 bags of joker, 15 pieces of hashish and Captagon pills.

All the arrested suspects were referred to court, prior to transferring them to the State Security Court’s prosecutor general office, the statement added.

Another PSD statement, carried by Petra, announced that a joint force of PSD and Gendarmerie Department personnel also arrested four wanted people, including one classified as dangerous, during raids in the Central Badia region. 

Criminal investigation agents at the Royal Badia Forces had been monitoring a group of people with criminal records, and identifying their safe houses through intelligence efforts.

Afterwards, a joint security force raided the places and arrested the four suspects, including one suspect classified as “dangerous” wanted on eight charges and with a criminal record of 14 cases such as vehicle theft and drug related crimes. 

Security agents retrieved a stolen vehicle and seized a firearm, adding that investigation began to refer the arrested to the concerned authorities. 

AMMAN — Authorities uncovered 5,671 cases of electricity theft during the first quarter of this year, Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) Chief Commissioner Farouq Hiyari said on Wednesday.

A total of 484 cases were referred to the courts, while rulings were issued in 478 cases, he was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra as saying.

Among these cases, 122 cases were filed by the Jordanian Electric Power Company (JEPCO), 201 by the Irbid District Electricity Company (IDECO) and 30 by the Electricity Distribution Company (EDCO), the chief commissioner pointed out. 

JEPCO is responsible for providing power to the central region that comprises the governorates of Amman, Zarqa, Madaba and Balqa, while IDECO supplies the northern governorates of Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun and Mafraq. The southern governorates of Aqaba, Tafileh, Maan and Karak receive power from EDCO.

The cases were discovered as part of 75,759 periodic inspections implemented by EMRC staff and stakeholders, he stated, adding that the commission alone uncovered 2,791 cases while electricity distribution companies found 2,050 cases and public security and gendarmerie departments’ personnel discovered 830 cases.

Last year, courts issued rulings in 478 cases, 150 of which were registered within JEPCO’s region, 201 cases in IDECO’s zone and 127 cases within EDCO’s area.

If convicted, suspects in electricity theft cases face imprisonment from six months to two years, or a fine between JD2,000 and JD10,000, or both penalties.

Under the law, all those who intentionally vandalise, destroy or hinder the work of power facilities or cause them any damages shall face imprisonment terms between one to three years or a fine ranging between JD2,000 and JD100,000 or both penalties. Penalty can be stiffened if the violation causes danger to the public safety. 

In July 2015, the EMRC launched a campaign to raise awareness on the need to combat power theft.

As part of the campaign, about 100,000 brochures have been distributed, and several bulk messages were sent to mobile subscribers on the issue in collaboration with the ICT Ministry, highlighting penalties imposed on those who steal electricity.

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday held ten public hearing sessions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the first session, the court issued rulings against two defendants for plotting to carry out terrorist acts and planning to kill foreign soldiers and tourists in addition to blowing up a church as requested by the terror group Daesh. The court sentenced each of them to 15 years of hard labour.

The SSC also decided to issue rulings against two defendants for promoting and trying to join Daesh, and sentenced them to terms between three and five years of hard labour.

AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani on Wednesday conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah's greetings to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during his visit to Baku, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Aliyev praised Jordan's role in achieving peace and security regionally and globally, expressing his appreciation to Jordan in receiving refugees and providing them with services.

Momani commended the level of bilateral relations, especially at the political level, stressing on the need to improve economic ties, citing the example of the Jordanian-Azerbaijani joint committee meeting held earlier this year.

Momani reviewed challenges facing Jordan and thanked Azerbaijan for hosting the ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, where which he will be heading the Jordanian delegation.