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AMMAN — Women wishing to run in the coming parliamentary elections will have a chance to engage in a comprehensive training package that targets their legal awareness, skills and knowledge. 

Under the “Enhancing the Participation of Jordanian Women in the Upcoming Elections” project, women planning to run for the polls will be trained on a wide range of topics related to communications and leadership, planning election campaigns, using social media and the Elections Law. 

The programme, to target women from across the governorates, will be implemented by the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the organisers said on Monday. 

While acknowledging that getting women into the Lower House will be “no easy task” in the coming elections, especially that eligible voters have to vote for a multi-member list as a whole and for an individual candidate of their choice from the same ticket. 

“It is true that we did not succeed in pushing for increasing women’s quota under the Dome, but now we have to make the best of what we got,” said JNCW Secretary General Salma Nims.

During a ceremony to mark the launch of the programme, participants acknowledged the discriminatory mindsets women who run for elections face.

“I received chaotic and sceptic responses when I asked why women cannot run for parliamentary elections in my region. The critics made me more determined to run in the coming elections,” said Huda Batayneh from Irbid. 

Nims highlighted that the programme in question is part of the JNCW’s 2013-2017 strategy to raise the ratio of women’s participation in senior government position and support them in parliamentary elections to change negative perceptions. 

The programme is also implemented through cooperation between the NDI and the National Coalition for Supporting Women in Elections, with the support of the USAID.  

Bushra Abu Shahout, director of the NDI project for enhancing women’s political participation, presented a briefing on the methodology of the training programme, with the first phase focusing on leadership skills, the second on legal awareness and the third on managing electoral campaigns. 

“The training will be conducted by a number of experts representing civil society organisations concerned in elections and women’s political participation,” she said, adding that the programme will also include a series of meetings with university students and young people in all governorates with the participation of women candidates to encourage youths to vote for them.

AMMAN — The Senate on Monday returned the amended Public Health Law to the Lower House after making some slight changes.

As per senators’ changes to the law, the health minister will have the authority to declare any other location not included in the law a public place, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Under the law, smoking is prohibited in hospitals, healthcare centres, schools, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, airports, border crossings, stadiums, closed playgrounds, lecture halls, Internet cafés, tourism buildings and any other similar location.

Senators also voted against a proposal to include Parliament among the public places where smoking is prohibited, according to Petra.

On March 13, the Lower House endorsed the law, stiffening the penalty for smoking in public places. 

Under the new amendments, a prison term from one to three months or a fine no less than JD100 and no more than JD200 will be imposed on those caught smoking cigarettes or any tobacco product in public places.

The government’s version of the law stipulated that any person caught smoking in a public place is subject to between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD15-JD25 fine. 

In the law, a “public place” is defined as the place designated to receive the public or a certain category of people like hospitals and schools. 

Officials responsible for a public place allowing smoking or not posting a no-smoking sign face between three and six months in prison or a JD1,000-JD3,000 fine under MPs’ amendments.

Also on Monday, the Upper House passed the 2015 amendments to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Law as referred from the Lower House. 

The law prohibits the selling of land within the boundaries of the PDTRA to non-Jordanians.

Under MPs’ amendments to the law, only Jordanians can buy or lease land in Petra and this should be included in a by-law, which should also specify Israelis as among those prohibited from buying assets in the district.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hamzah celebrates his birthday on Tuesday.

Born in Amman on March 29, 1980 (Jumada I 13, 1400 Hijri), Prince Hamzah received his elementary education in the capital before completing his secondary studies at Harrow School in England.

He then enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, graduating as a commissioned officer on December 10, 1999, with several awards including the Sandhurst Sword of Honour, granted to the best overseas cadet and the Prince Saud Abdullah Prize, presented to the cadet with the best aggregate mark in academic subjects.

His Majesty King Abdullah officially named him as crown prince on February 7, 1999, until November 28, 2004.

Serving as an officer in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army’s 40th Armoured Brigade, Prince Hamzah, who currently holds the rank of colonel, attended several military courses and attachments in Jordan, the UK, Poland, Germany and the US.

He served with the Jordan-United Arab Emirates force operating in the former Yugoslavia under the umbrella of international peacekeepers.

The prince graduated from Harvard University in 2006. He obtained his master’s degree in defence studies from King’s College, London, in July 2011.

He was sworn in as Regent on numerous occasions and deputised for King Abdullah on a number of missions in the Kingdom and abroad.

Prince Hamzah chaired the Royal Advisory Committee on the Energy Sector and was also honorary president of the Jordan Basketball Federation.

The recipient of several decorations from Jordan and other countries including Bahrain, Italy and the Netherlands, the prince is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Royal Automobile Museum, president of the Royal Aero Sports Club of Jordan and president of Al Shajarah (Tree) Protection Society. He is also the honorary president of the Arab Robotics Association.

The prince’s daughter, HRH Princess Haya, was born on April 18, 2007.

He married Princess Basmah on January 12, 2012, and on November 3, 2012, they welcomed a baby girl, named HRH Princess Zein. On July 5, 2014, they had another baby girl, HRH Princess Noor.

The prince is a qualified rotor and fixed-wing aircraft pilot, and enjoys other sports such as free-fall diving, target shooting and horseback riding.

AMMAN — Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji on Sunday discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them with Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting, attended by a number of Turkish senior officials and businesspeople accompanying Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on his visit to Jordan, Biltaji showcased investment opportunities available in Amman.

Biltaji and Topbas also went on a tour around Amman, and the Istanbul mayor voiced his country’s readiness for cooperation and exchange of expertise in municipal services and improving public transportation.

AMMAN – Interior Minister Salameh Hammad on Monday visited the Public Security Department (PSD) and met with its director, Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi, a PSD statement said. Hammad asserted the need for coordination among various security agencies to protect Jordan.

The minister commended the advanced level of police officers and other security agents, commending their capability to deal with the various challenges facing the Kingdom.

AMMAN – Civil Defence Department (CDD) personnel on Monday extinguished a fire that erupted in the second storey of a house in Amman’s Khalda area, according to a CDD statement.

The firefighters evacuated 30 children from the ground floor, which is a kindergarten, to prevent any injuries, the statement added.

CDD cadres administered first aid to two people who suffered shortness of breath and took one of them to King Hussein Medical Centre, where he was listed in fair condition.

AMMAN — In an effort to help young Jordanians improve their employability and connect with better career opportunities, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Jordan on Monday.

Under the memo, Microsoft Jordan and KAFD will join forces to provide employability-enhancing services, each linking their existing platforms, “Ta3mal” and “ForUs.jo” respectively, to offer young Jordanians the required regional content to improve their job opportunities and further their career development, a Microsoft Jordan statement said.

The joint portal will feature e-learning, employment, entrepreneurship and volunteering opportunities that will be available across the country, while also enabling institutions to search for individuals who possess the skills and qualifications they need, the statement added.

AMMAN — A report on public spending for 2015 launched on Monday recommended gradually increasing spending on education and redistributing the resources of the health ministry, in addition to developing a major national plan for energy and electricity.

The Finance Ministry conducted the study with the support of USAID, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The report is a result of an evidence-based analysis conducted by a team of Jordanian and US experts, evaluating the education, health, power and water sectors. The 2015 report looks into means to deliver services to citizens more efficiently. 

AMMAN — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday commended Jordan’s efforts in dealing with the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, emphasising the role of young people in overcoming global challenges.

He made the remarks during an open discussion with University of Jordan students along with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and Jordan Strategy Forum Chairman Omar Razzaz met with university students in an open discussion.

The discussion, held at the university’s faculty of business, aimed at discussing the challenges facing young Jordanians and bringing the world’s attention to them.

“Young people often are told ‘you are the leaders of tomorrow’, but young people have already taken leadership of today. The Arab Spring took place in this region… A simple young man sparked the flames of [the] Arab Spring,” Ban said.

He continued: “Jordan has been providing very good diplomatic initiatives and leaderships.” 

“Thank you… for your solidarity towards refugees, particularly hundreds of thousands of women, children, and young men who have fled the conflict in Syria over the past five years,” the UN chief added.

“[Some] 650,000 refugees means not only socioeconomic burdens; it has affected the fabrics of your community… Gratitude is no longer enough,” Ban said. 

Ban said the UN is working “with and for young people”, through engaging them, providing them with proper tools to find jobs, and bringing them to the heart of global diplomacy. 

“Look beyond your own group and your country. This [an] interconnected world. The national boundaries and passports do not carry much meaning,” he urged, calling on young Jordanians to “have a strong and visionary commitment [to] the international community and humanity”.

For his part, Razzaz said Jordan and the UN have handled crises well, and that the Kingdom received refugees from different parts of the world over the years.

“The UN has had a long history in Jordan… in dealing with refugees, wave after wave of refugees, starting with the Palestinian refugee issue to the Iraqis and now [with the Syrians],” he said, noting that after every crisis, “Jordan came out… stronger”. 

The World Bank president said “the world owes a huge debt of gratitude to Jordan”.

“What the Jordanians have done in welcoming the refugees is truly extraordinary… We hope to bring billions of dollars to Jordan, not only to help in dealing with refugees but to also help the future of Jordan,” Kim added.

“We are here to make the future as bright as we possibly can.”

The World Bank is currently working on two goals, Kim said, to end extreme poverty by 2030, and to boost shared prosperity.

He said the road towards economic prosperity is based on shunning racism and sexism.

Kim told The Jordan Times that the World Bank plans to provide Jordan with $500 million in financial support to launch a special economic zone with the idea of creating an area for industries and jobs, for both Syrians and Jordanians.

The official added the economic zone will also ensure the jobs provided would continue after the return of the Syrian refugees. 

“We are trying to use this money to create infrastructure that would lead to starting businesses and [creating] jobs. Some of the other projects would focus on education. We think that Jordan is ready to take the next step,” Kim added.

AMMAN — As some 75 per cent of Jordanians are unbanked, technology can be greatly deployed to boost financial integration of more segments of society by taking advantage of the high rates of mobile and Internet penetration, experts said Monday.

Strengthening financial inclusions of small- and medium-sized ventures and individuals plays a key role in driving economic growth, and alleviating poverty and unemployment, said the experts taking part in the first Jordan Digital Financial Services Forum, held by USAID and the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).

“Financial inclusion is very crucial for economic growth, as a large portion of Jordanian society remains isolated and not covered by financial services,” CBJ Deputy Governor Maher Sheikh Hasan said at the opening of the three-day event.

“When individuals have bank accounts, they will be encouraged to make savings. The potential for more financial inclusion is huge in Jordan as the legal and legislative infrastructure is there and providing digital financial services helps reach out to those unbanked,” said Hasan.

He also stressed the need to use the latest technologies to provide more digital financial services.

By the end of 2015, Jordan had 5.1 million mobile phone subscribers, with 70 per cent of the population with at least one mobile subscription. Additionally, 48 per cent of Jordanians have access to third and fouth generation broadband services.

USAID Deputy Mission Director Lewis Tatem said promoting financial inclusion will help Jordanian families become more resilient in the face of economic shocks, saving money for investment and taking advantage of opportunities that can lead to wealth accumulation.

“Financial inclusion translates into economic empowerment, particularly for women and youth, rural communities and the poor,” he noted.

Referring to the USAID Local Enterprise Support Project (USAID-LENS), he said the project helps improve the financial wellbeing of micro and small entrepreneurship projects.

“We see that financial services offered through technology like mobile phones, points of sale devices, cards and computers can be key contributors to Jordan’s financial inclusion vision,” added Tatem

By harnessing such technologies, financial inclusion will be expanded, he said, stressing that only 15.5 per cent of women in Jordan have an account with a financial institution.

Even for the women and men who comprise the approximately 357,000 active microfinance loan clients in Jordan, many do not have a secure place to save their money as they cannot meet commercial bank requirements or it is not convenient for them to access banking services, Tatem noted.

The forum brought together industry leaders to discuss how emerging technologies and innovative digital approaches can give Jordanian businesses better opportunities to grow, develop and manage their financial livelihoods. 

The three-day event will focus on ways in which Jordan can improve its digital ecosystem, explore solutions using successful global examples as benchmarks, and create public-private sector partnerships to advance the development of digital financial services.