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AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has arrested 21 suspects involved in drug cases and seized various amounts of narcotics, stolen vehicles and weapons, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Wednesday.

The arrests were made during a series of security campaigns and raids carried out since the beginning of this week targeting drug dealers in various parts of the country.

AMMAN — The American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI) has decided to add His Majesty King Abdullah’s sixth Discussion Paper on “The Rule of Law and Civil State” to the syllabus of its Certified Anti-Corruption Manager certification, the institute’s President L. Burke Files announced on Wednesday.

The announcement was made during a seminar co-organised by the Centre for Law and Governance and the AACI under the title: “Governance and the Rule of Law: Impact on Sustainable Development and Investment”, under the aegis of former prime minister Abdullah Ensour.

The King’s sixth Discussion Paper focuses on several areas including: Rule of law as the basis of prudent management; the fight against nepotism and favoritism, and the rule of law as the bulwark of the civil state.

AMMAN — A Royal Decree was issued on Wednesday, appointing Samir Ibrahim Mohammad Mubaidein as member of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) council as of the date he assumes office.

Mubaidein can serve until the end of his predecessor Nazih Ammarin's term that ends on April 6, 2022, according to a Royal Court statement.

AMMAN — World University Service of Canada-Jordan's office on Wednesday, in cooperation with the Canadian International Consulting Company and the Vocational Training Foundation, launched the Economic Empowerment and Career Development Project for Women in Jordan funded by the Canadian government, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

HRH Princess Basma Bint Talal attended the project, which aims at empowering women to achieve sustained economic growth by focusing on employing women and removing gender barriers that prevent women from entering and staying in the labour market.

The Princess praised the project for stimulating economic growth plan.

AMMAN — A World Bank (WB) project worth $200 million will help Jordan expand access to early childhood education and improve student assessment, teaching and learning conditions for Jordanian and Syrian refugee children, a WB statement said. 

The Education Reform Support Programme was approved on Tuesday by the WB Group’s board of directors and is expected to benefit some 700,000 Jordanian and Syrian refugee children in addition to helping train over 30,000 teachers across the Kingdom.   

Over the last two decades, Jordan’s primary gross enrollment ratio increased from 71 per cent in 1994 to 99 per cent in 2010, with the transition rate to secondary school increasing from 63 per cent to 98 per cent, according to the statement. 

However, challenges remain on certain aspects, which have been further exacerbated by the influx of Syrian refugees. The expansion of education access to Syrian refugee children has stretched resources and constrained the ability to maintain and improve the quality of education.

“The Government of Jordan realised early on that keeping Syrian refugee children out of school would have detrimental impacts in the long-term on peace, stability and economic development,” Saroj Kumar Jha, WB Mashreq regional director, was quoted in the statement as saying. 

“The government’s commitment to protecting Syrian refugee children’s right to education and integrating them in the public formal sector has put severe strains on the country’s fiscal balance and ability to deliver public services. The World Bank is committed to helping Jordan improve the access and quality of education to achieve the full potential of educational investments,” he added.

In spite of steady improvements over the past few years, the key challenge of low access to quality early childhood education has remained, leading to poor school readiness, particularly for children from poorer and disadvantaged backgrounds, including Syrian refugee children, the report stated. 

Poor student learning outcomes are also regarded as a main challenge, mostly attributable to the existing learning environment and teaching quality. 

One in five students in grade two can not read a single word, while nearly half are unable to perform a subtraction task correctly, thus lacking the basic skills for further mental development, the statement continued, noting that Jordan also faces a major challenge in its student assessment system which does not provide early and effective feedback on performance.

“The Education Reform Support Programme is well aligned with the government’s National Strategy for Human Resource Development (2016-2025) and supports four of its five main themes: expanding access and improving quality of early childhood education; improving teaching and learning conditions; reforming student assessment and certification system and strengthening education system management,” Karine Pezzani, WB senior operations officer, said in the statement.

The $200 million programme is financed at 25 per cent by the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) and brings the WB Group’s total commitments to Jordan to $ 1.060 billion, of which $890 million is on concessional terms with funding from the GCFF and the International Development Association. 

Launched in 2016, the GCFF provides concessional financing to middle income countries hosting large numbers of refugees at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Discrimination against women with disabilities is affecting their participation in the economic and political life in Jordan, an activist and member of Insan Society said on Wednesday during a workshop titled: “People with Disabilities rights: Achievements and Challenges”. 

“Social boundaries and injustice against women with disabilities are worse than the disability itself,” Neimat said during the event organised by the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI), in cooperation with the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

SIGI’s President Inaam Asha said that the first victims in unstable areas like the Arab region are the women, stressing that women suffering from disabilities are even more susceptible to acts of violence. 

Citing figures published by the Department of Statistics in 2016, Neimat said that, out of 57 per cent of women suffering from disability in Jordan, only 21 per cent are working. 

She noted that employers usually refuse to hire people with disabilities, claiming that they are “less productive”. 

“Having equal opportunities in work and education are great concerns for people with disabilities due to the lack of accessibility in streets and at workplaces for example,” Neimat added. 

Lara Iskandar from the Higher Council for the Affairs of People with Disabilities (HCD) said that, despite these challenges, the new law for people with disabilities is “a great achievement since it’s the first anti-discriminatory law in the region”.

The new law considers people with disabilities based on their rights and duties, rather than individuals who need to be cared for. 

Endorsed in September, the law defined disability as the environmental and social boundaries that prevent people with disabilities to take part in society.

The law criminalised depriving a person with disability from his/her rights to education or work. 

A specialised committee called “Equal Opportunities Committee” will be formed by representatives of ministries, the concerned authorities and experts to receive complaints about discriminatory acts perpetrated against people with disabilities, Iskandar noted. 

Meanwhile, GAM’s Head of People with Disabilities Services Khadeja Nsour noted that the municipality on Tuesday signed a memorandum with the HCD to facilitate the transportation system by importing 100 accessible buses as well as providing the Bus Rapid Transit with the needed facilitation to make it accessible.

AMMAN — Empowering women through sport was the topic of a panel discussion organised on Tuesday by the Australian Embassy with the participation of Lama and Rana Qubbaj, two jiujitsu world champions, and Rasha Batarseh, the project manager of “Football for Girls”. 

“Wherever you go in the world, there is still a gender-based discrimination towards female athletes,” Lama Qubbaj told The Jordan Times after the panel.

The 28-year old is part of the Jordanian national jiujitsu team, and a four-time world champion who ranked first in the world in the more than 70kg category. 

She denounced the lack of governmental help when it comes to supporting female athletes. “It is a constant struggle; we [her and her sister Rana] try to get exposure and find sponsors in order to get the funds to compete,” Lama stated. 

Rana Qubbaj agreed with her younger sister, saying “it is not possible to make a living from jiujitsu.” 

The 31-year-old, who has been a five-time jiujitsu world champion, added: “I work at a bank and my sister Lama is a freelance architect.”

The two created Arab Girls in Gis (traditional clothing for jiujitsu) to help girls interested in trying the martial art. “We wished we had a community like this when we started seven years ago,” Rana said. 

“The presence of a support programme is extremely important,” Rana explained, noting that “it can be very frustrating to start jiujitsu as a girl.”

Starting with only three girls three years ago, Arab Girls in Gis now counts more than 150 members. 

“People were saying: girls can’t fight, but we showed them that we do fight and we are even better than boys because we are more technical, not as aggressive,” Rana explained. 

The two sisters now wish to establish a centre where these girls can practise and everybody can be free to try out the martial art 

At the moment, Arab Girls in Gis only provides members with support and guidance, not a physical space due to lack of funding. 

“The problem is that we can not financially afford to quit our jobs and invest all our money in starting a gym for girls, even if that was what we wanted,” Rana added. 

During the discussion, the speakers denounced the lack of media coverage of female sport events and the inherent disinterest of the public. 

“Football for Girls”, a project funded by the Australian embassy, aims at empowering girls aged between 12 and 16 years old through football. 

“It was not easy to persuade girls to join the project, but some of them were looking forward to play a sport like their brothers or their neighbours do,” said Rasha Batarseh, project manager of Football for Girls. 

More than 250 girls are currently involved in the project’s 21 teams which targets schools, refugee camps and orphanages across Jordan, with a special focus on remote villages. 

“We can see a different mentality between the villages and the cities,” Batarseh said, noting that “besides the lack of nearby clubs for girls to play in, parents are also less supportive because of the higher levels of conservatism in rural areas.”

She stressed the successes that Football for Girls has achieved so far. “It helps girls at a personal level: most of them were aggressive and problematic at school and now they are more disciplined, which also helps them to have more confidence in their studies,” the manager said. 

BRUSSELS — US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson on Wednesday said that the US is "very committed" to the Middle East peace process despite Washington's decision to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"We continue to believe there is a very good opportunity for peace to be achieved," he said in a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

US President Donald Trump is "very committed" to the Middle East peace process and he has a team that he put in place "almost immediately" upon entering the White House, said the US official.

"That team has been working very diligently on new approaches to the peace process. They have been engaged in a quiet way with many in the region around that process," said Tillerson.

Asked about the possible consequences of the decision, the US official voiced his reassurances about the expected outcome of Trump's decision.

On his way to the NATO meeting, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "We have no plans ourselves to more our embassy". However, he said the UK views the decision with concern.

"We believe Jerusalem should be part of the final settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis… a negotiated settlement that we all want to see," the British minister told reporters in Brussels.

During the press conference, Tillerson referred to the situation in Syria and the Middle East and said the West relies on Russia in efforts to address the conflicts in the Middle East.

The US official said it was Russia's task to ensure that the Syrian regime takes part in the UN-led peace talks on Syria.

The US official said the Western allies agreed that there was “no normalisation” of NATO ties with Moscow and that Russia’s encroachment in Ukraine is the biggest "threat to European security and demands continued trans-Atlantic unity in confronting that threat".

Ties between NATO and Russia cannot be normalised until the Russian government stops violating Ukrainian sovereignty and engaging in cyber warfare, he said.

“We cannot return to business as usual in the NATO-Russia relations as long as Russia continues its illegal occupation of Ukraine,” he added.

 “Russia’s continued use of hybrid warfare seeks to undermine Western institutions and this stance is a significant obstacle to normalising our relations as well,” he added.

AMMAN — Nearly 12,000 rural families will benefit from a new financing agreement signed last month between Jordan and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), according to a statement from the fund.

The $12.8 million Small Ruminants Investment and Graduating Households in Transition Project (SIGHT) will ensure that small ruminant producers receive support from the public and private sectors for services that will enhance the effectiveness of small-scale livestock production systems and the incomes of small producers, the IFAD statement said.

The agreement, which was signed by IFAD’s president, Gilbert F. Houngbo and the minister of planning and international cooperation, Imad Fakhoury, includes a concessional loan of $8.4 million, as well as two grants. 

The first is a $0.5 million grant, while the second is a $3.9 million grant from IFAD’s Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability (FARMS) to increase support for rural communities affected by forced displacement and migration, including both host communities and communities of origin for refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and vulnerable migrants.

"This renewed financial partnership in Jordan will further enhance rural development and help Jordan in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals,” Rami Salman, IFAD’s country programme manager for Jordan, was quoted in the statement as saying.

With this new project, access to financial services will also be provided to vulnerable women, men and youth from Jordanian host communities and highly vulnerable Syrian refugees, as well as to individual entrepreneurs in need of loans for their enterprises and for on-farm and off-farm activities, including loans for the purchase of small ruminants for breed improvement and feed supply.

SIGHT will be implemented over a six-year period. It will assist in achieving the government’s strategic objectives of increased food security, poverty alleviation and improvement in the trade imbalance. 

SIGHT will focus on addressing several key problems in the small ruminant sector, such as the gradual deterioration of livestock breeds, extension and animal health services, water scarcity, feed shortages and degraded rangelands, the statement said. 

The project will also assist the country in its efforts to obtain a geographic indication for the Jordanian Awassi sheep and to help determine its potential as a unique marketing trademark.

Although the new project will be implemented in the northern and central governorates of Mafraq, Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun, Madaba and the outskirts of Amman, its institutional and technical support will reach all of Jordan’s governorates through its many implementing partners led by the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture, the statement said.

Since 1981, IFAD has financed seven agricultural development programmes and projects in Jordan with a total investment of $71.4 million or $189.5 million when co-financing is included, the statement said. 

IFAD is a leading partner in participatory development in Jordan, where it has worked with poor rural people to design programmes and projects in collaboration with the government and other partners. Activities have focused mainly on rain-fed agriculture and livestock, small farm credit, income diversification and natural resources management, according to the statement.

BRUSSELS — The sole way for achieving peace and security for Israel and Palestine is the two state solution, EU High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini said Tuesday.

“We in Europe believe that the only perspective for peace and security for Israel and Palestine is the two state solution and this is not out of idealism but this is out of experience,” Mogherini said during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following the first day of the NATO foreign ministers meeting.

The EU official highlighted the 2002 Arab Peace initiative, which offers Israel normal ties with the Arabs in return for withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967, as a “ useful framework for finding a solution to the conflict”.

“We believe that any move that could derail the possibility of re-launching talks for instance moves around Jerusalem will be detrimental in immediate terms and in the perspective of opening diplomatic process in the Middle East,” she said.

In remarks to the press on the sidelines of the meetings, Germany’s acting foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, said any unilateral US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would inflame Middle East tensions.

The German official added that such a measure would a “very dangerous development”.

Early Tuesday, Mogherini met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, telling him that “any action that would undermine” peace efforts to create two separate states for the Israelis and the Palestinians “must absolutely be avoided”, according to Reuters.

“A way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states,” Mogherini said, according to the news agency, stressing the EU’s support for unlocking meaningful peace talks.

She said the EU’s 28 foreign ministers will jointly discuss the matter with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels next Monday, to be followed by a similar meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas early next year.