Dutch trade minister visits Zaatari, meets officials

AMMAN — Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag on Saturday visited the Zaatari Refugee Camp where she had a firsthand look at the Jordanian efforts exerted to assist Syrian refugees.

Kaag said that her visit aimed to get an insight on how Jordan has been managing the crisis in a human way that preserves the dignity of Syrian refugees inside the camp, especially by ensuring their right to education, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

The minister added that the tour sought to present two kinds of assistance: one by increasing the sum allocated to Jordan in dealing with the crisis, and the second by getting acquainted with the marginalised local community suffering from fewer jobs and lower development levels.

Kaag and her accompanying delegation paid a visit to the camp’s employment office affiliated with the International Labour Organisation and UNHCR, where she listened to a briefing on the procedures facilitated for resident refugees to get legal jobs outside the camp in coordination with the government.

The delegation also visited the UNICEF-affiliated “Makani” centre where they were briefed on the its education programme which caters for various age groups and offers Arabic, math, drawing, music, sports, computer and English courses. 

Kaag also toured the “women safe zone” affiliated with the UN Women, which works in enhancing women’s resilience and empowerment to provide them with safe living conditions, protection and necessary services through increasing their educational skills in computer, sewing and vocational fields.

On Sunday, Agriculture Minister Khalid Hneifat and National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) General Director Nizar Haddad met with Kaag to discuss means to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector and develop farming methods under the Kingdom’s scarce water resources. 

In the presence of the Dutch Ambassador in Amman Barbara Joziasse, representatives of the ministries of water and irrigation, industry, trade and supply, both parties went over the possibility of using modern technologies in irrigation to best utilise water usage, in a way that can boost production and positively reflects on the entire sector, an embassy statement said. 

The NCARE director general affirmed the need to switch to alternative types of crops that generate higher yields, and to develop the agricultural sector’s management through the selection of saline tolerant crops through the utilisation of saline water and non-conventional water types in agriculture, for the production of fodder and irrigating trees. 

He underlined the need to take advantage of the Dutch experience in planting without soil technique known as hydroponic agriculture.

For his part, Hneifat, highlighted the importance of material and technical assistance from friendly countries, which help in developing Jordan’s capacities in all fields.

The Dutch minister concluded the meeting with a visit to the Jordan Valley where she learned about the Jordanian experience in date palm cultivation.