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AMMAN — “The future belongs to the educated, to the dreamers, and to the curious young people,” said UNESCO representative to Jordan Constanza Farina, quoting theoretical physicist and renowned futurist Michio Kaku.

The remark came during the graduation ceremony of 201 young Jordanian and Syrian students held at Al Quds College on Monday.

“I am really touched and overwhelmed to see this young generation achieve graduation after a year of such hard work,” she told the audience, commending the efforts of the 175 Syrian refugees and 75 vulnerable Jordanian youth who undertook the “Technical and Vocational Education and Training for Syrian and Jordanian Youth in Jordan” programme.

Organised by the UNESCO Office in Amman in partnership with Al Quds College with a fund from the Korean government, the project witnessed the enrolment of 250 youth in the internationally accredited one-year diploma programme, in line with the 2016-2018 Jordan Response Plan.

“This programme has proven that with a little bit of help, these young men and women can overcome any obstacle,” said Razan Santarasi, an English teacher at Al Quds, adding “these youth are more than their circumstances and they are here starting their journey towards a better future.”

For Khaled, a hospitality graduate, the programme was a “life-changing” opportunity. “I didn’t get my Tawjihi and, when I tried to apply for hospitality studies, I was always asked for my diploma. I got desperate and felt like I was never going to be able to continue my education,” he said. 

The graduates, 56 per cent of whom were female, were presented with a diploma from the 7 various fields offered by the programme, which include civil engineering, land survey engineering, graphic and interior design, hospitality, office management and business administration and human resources management. 

“More than theoretical learning, we have been providing these youth with blended learning, which taught them how to learn by doing,” said Santarasi, adding “these courses have opened so many doors for them. They have started realising that, they too, could do something great.”

The woman, who served as master of ceremony, emphasised the stark changes she witnessed in the students throughout the year. “At the beginning, they were shy, especially in English, but they slowly gained confidence and learned how to get involved in their own learning process,” she explained.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Lee Bom-yon, commended the vocational training initiative, which “helped enhance a sustainable growth and development of the most vulnerable youth”.

The programme, which saw the trainees receive a BTEC Level 3 diploma, will help both Jordanians and Syrians access work opportunities more easily, according to Eddie Dutton, UNESCO education project officer.

“These trainings not only provided these youth who were very eager to study with quality education, but they also fostered the coexistence between these two communities through co-learning,” he told The Jordan Times at the ceremony.

“I have made some of the best friendships through the programme. I realised that, whether we were Jordanian or Syrian, we all faced the same challenges and could benefit from each other’s help,” said Omar, a graduate in engineering.

“After the programme, we follow up with the students to help them transition into work opportunities or to continue their education and training,” Dutton stated.

Praising the “successful collaboration” conducted with the UNESCO and the Korean embassy, Dean of Al Quds Ayman Maqableh said: “We are very proud to be helping those youth acquire the skills required by the labour market. One of the most pressing issues cited by the companies in Jordan is the lack of skilled workforce. Through our vocational trainings, we are teaching students how to gain both vocational and soft skills which are direly needed,” he said.

AMMAN — The Jordan Media Commission (JMC) has accredited 111 non-Jordanian media outlets, which include 58 newspapers, news agencies, magazines and news websites, and 53 TV and radio channels, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. JMC has also accredited 405 news correspondents, 126 of whom are Jordanians.

Omar Alawneh, JMC’s director of public relations said that the commission works on facilitating procedures for Arab and foreign journalists who come to the Kingdom

AMMAN — Karak security personnel on Monday began an investigation over a man wanted for allegedly stabbing a foreign worker to death and firing shots near a police patrol in Karak Governorate, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

A security source said that the wanted man turned himself to the security services on Monday after intensive intelligence work by the Police Department and Preventive Security Department, which urged him to hand himself in.

AMMAN — Jordan and Ukraine see “eye to eye” on various international issues and are keen on increasing cooperation in various fields, especially in higher education, according to Ukrainian ambassador in Amman, Serhiy Pasko.

The two countries, which initiated diplomatic ties in 1992, enjoy solid relations, with a large room for strengthening cooperation in the areas of tourism, commerce and pharmaceuticals, the ambassador said in an interview with The Jordan Times on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of independence celebrated by the embassy on Tuesday.

Jordan and Ukraine have similar views on many different international issues and support each other at international organisations.

“We support Arab causes and the Jordanian stance on various issues in the international arenas and we will continue to do so,” the ambassador said.

He highlighted the field of higher education as a key sector that is witnessing an increasing growth. 

Currently, there are 2,500 Jordanian students majoring mostly in medical fields in Ukrainian universities. “We have high quality medical education and our universities, which are 250 years old, are very affordable,” Pasko said.

The diplomat added that there are around 3,000 Jordanian medical doctors currently working in the Kingdom who are graduates from Ukrainian universities.

Some 5,000 Ukrainian nationals are living in Amman, 2,000 of whom are Ukrainian women married to Jordanians and who started families and “live happily in the Kingdom”, he said.

There are also around 5,000 Jordanians living in Ukraine, some of whom work while others are relatives of the Jordanian students at the Ukrainian universities.

The ambassador said that Ukraine was keen on increasing the number of scholarships given to Jordanian students. Currently, a total of four scholarships are offered to Jordanian students.

“This is not enough, we need to have much more. We started discussions on this and will continue discussing the increase of scholarships to 15 to 20,” he stated.

On trade exchange, he noted that it reached $106.5 million in the first 8 months of this year, $101 million of which are Ukrainian exports to Jordan which include steel, wheat, milk, honey, barley, among others.

Trade exchange at the end of 2017 is expected to be 8 per cent higher than 2016, he said.

Jordanian exports to Ukraine are mostly pharmaceuticals, he noted, saying: “Jordan has great pharmaceutical companies and they are looking forward to increasing cooperation with Ukraine in this regard.” 

Calling Jordan as a “museum under open air”, he said that the country is home to many touristic and religious sites worth visiting.

Some 10,000 Ukrainian tourists visit Jordan each year and around 3,000 Jordanians visit Ukraine every year.

“We will continue efforts to increase tourism on both sides,” he said.

AMMAN — Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh on Monday inaugurated an electricity-generating project using solar panels for The Islamic Charity Centre Society, with a capacity of 4MW, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The “one of a kind” project, worth JD5 million, is partially supported by the EU at an amount of 700,000 euros. Deputising for Prime Minister Hani Mulki, Kharabsheh said that the pioneering project is one of 9 projects being funded by the EU, most of which were implemented by the ministry.

He added that these projects will make a great difference in the beneficiaries’ electricity bills, outlining the struggles faced by the Kingdom’s energy sector. For his part, EU Ambassador for Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana said that the EU is a major partner for Jordan in the green energy field. 

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a November 2016 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 40-year-old man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of shooting and killing a teenage boy in an Amman neighbourhood five years ago.

The court declared the defendant guilty of randomly shooting the 16-year-old boy in Sahab on November 2 and handed him a 20 year prison term.

However, the tribunal decided to reduce the sentence by half as the victim’s family dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the defendant owned an unlicensed gun and was playing with it while standing on the street.

“The defendant started shooting randomly and struck the boy who was playing in the backyard of his house,” court document said.

The bullet struck his chest and “penetrated his heart, killing him instantly”, the court transcripts added.

The defendant turned himself to the police and handed them the weapon in his possession, according to the court document.

The higher court ruled that the verdict was accurate and that the defendant deserved the punishment he received.

“The defendant confessed to the incident and the witnesses corroborated his confessions, in addition to the criminal lab results that also pointed out to him being the perpetrator of the incident,” the Court of Cassation said.

The higher court added that the “defendant’s actions of shooting for fun while knowing he was using the firearm in a populated area is a dangerous and a reckless act”.

The Court of Cassation tribunal comprised of judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Naji Zubi, Nayef Samarat and Bassem Mubeidin.  

AMMAN — HRH Princess Ghida Talal, chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation’s  board of trustees, on Monday honoured winners of the 5th anti-smoking media competition and institutions that obtained “smoke-free zone” certificates, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Princess Ghida said that smoking is a “brutal enemy” responsible for many fatal diseases that affect millions of lives. The competition, titled “With our pens we fight smoking”, aimed to encourage media professionals and journalists to partake in a fight against smoking.

The “smoke-free zone certification” encourages companies, establishments, restaurants, hospitals, schools to provide a smoke-free environment.

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Monday attended a ceremony honouring the advisers and distinguished entrepreneurs of the 2017 Enhanced Productivity Centres Project (IRADA), where six advisers were awarded, in addition to 12 projects from each governorate.

Since its inception 15 years ago, IRADA has contributed to the establishment of more than 10,000 small and medium home projects that have provided more than 26,000 self-employment opportunities, according to a Planning Ministry statement.

The youth sector has been the largest beneficiary of the programme, which helped support the development of these projects through specialised technical, administrative and financial training, quality control and marketing processes, as well as economic feasibility studies.

Over 21, 000 studies were conducted and some 8,000 graduates of universities and private sector institutes were trained, 20 per cent of whom were later employed in these institutions.

Coordinator of the IRADA Hisham Shaaban said that the honouring ceremony, which is organised for the first time, sheds light on Jordanian success stories, showing the great efforts exerted by the entrepreneurs to establish productive projects in their regions.

Fakhoury said that the programme contributed to the fund and the follow-up on the implementation of over 1,800 micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2016-2017, and to finance more than 200 infrastructure projects that had a direct impact on improving livelihoods, the statement said.

It also helped implement various development initiatives targeting youth and women, the minister noted.

Fakhoury stressed that the ministry, in cooperation with various entities, carried out an awareness raising campaign on the available lending, financing and advisory windows aimed at supporting individuals and community organisations in all governorates, the statement read.

He said that a networking scheme for the graduates of the programmes of the National Company for Employment and Training and the Vocational Training Corporation was implemented with the government financing, credit and consulting agencies, built on the outputs of the training, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that Jordan’s holistic battle against terrorism remains unabated in the face of Daesh, which already lost about 95 per cent of the land it previously conquered, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

As he received a delegation from the National Defence College in the UAE, Momani noted that Jordan’s holistic strategy in facing terrorism covers all aspects, from the military and security to ideology and media.

He added that Jordan has specialised units to monitor and combat media content of terrorist groups, pointing to the high level of coordination and joint action between Jordan and the UAE.

The delegation praised the bilateral relations, stressing the UAE’s appreciation to Jordan for dealing with the various regional crises.

AMMAN — Secretary General of the Jordanian-European Higher Commission Mohamed Abu Rub on Monday announced the official registration of the commission in Geneva, Switzerland, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a statement, Abu Rub said that the official registration of the commission has created an independent legitimate personality and a legal protection that allows it to carry out its activities and achieve its objectives.

He added that Geneva is considered as the home of various international organisations. Abu Rub said that the commission is cooperating with various associations in Europe to promote teamwork and consolidate the principles of solidarity between the Jordanian community and its authorities on European territories. He noted that the committee includes Jordanian members from 21 European countries, stressing that the membership is open to Jordanian individuals or associations based in Europe.