Local

AMMAN — Women’s activists on Monday met with Lower House MPs to discuss the outcome of a study on the Euro-Med Ministerial Conclusions on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society and its impact on Jordan.

The roundtable discussion gathered major actors at the national and local levels, and aimed to support the efforts of female parliamentarians who work towards strengthening women’s position in society through legislation.

The discussion will “hopefully contribute to increased knowledge and skills for developing gender equality policies in the frame of the upcoming Ministerial Conference and increase public support,” said Lilian Halls French, co-president of the Euro-Med Feminist Initiative.

“The meeting will surely contribute to strengthening and furthering gender policy dialogue with state actors and decision makers to follow up on the Paris Ministerial Conclusions and in preparing of the next Ministerial Conference on women’s rights,” French told the gathering.

The event will enhance the work of advocating for Jordan “to hopefully host the upcoming Ministerial Conference on women’s rights”, added Boriana Jönsson, executive director at the Euro-Med Feminist Initiative.

Also speaking during the session, Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh said Jordanian women have proven themselves in various fields, including politics, “and in some instances their performance was better than men”.

“This leads me to call for the cancellation of women’s quota [in elected councils] because women could win in free and direct competition,” Tarawneh told the gathering.

Currently there are 18 women in the Lower House, including 15 who won seats through the quota and three through direct competition.

MP Wafaa Bani Mustafa who also addressed the gathering said women in Jordan are not “waiting for privileges but are, rather, seeking social justice”.

The Jerash deputy said there are several external challenges facing women, such as extremist ideologies and the misuse of religion to push women’s rights backwards.

Jordanian Democratic People’s Party Secretary General Abla Abu Olbeh said women’s issues should be considered a national cause that “entails serious work plans and high commitments if we want to see real change”.

French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti stressed his country’s commitments to women’s rights in Jordan and elsewhere in the region.

“There is a lot to be done to promote women’s rights, and the civil society should play an important role in lobbying for women’s rights,” Bertolotti told the gathering.

Activists and representatives of various governorates met twice last week with government officials to discuss ways to enhance women’s rights and political participation in Jordan and to discuss the outcome of a study of the findings of the third Ministerial Conference 2013 in Paris.

The study was implemented by the Euro-Med Feminist Initiative, a network of women’s rights organisations from 20 countries from the two shores of the Mediterranean, over a year under the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs’ “Support to Democratic Governance in Jordan” programme funded by the EU.

The Ministerial Conference reaffirmed the importance of gender equality policy making, especially in the context of the ongoing political transformations in the Southern Mediterranean, recognising the important role women play.

Government ministers at the Paris meeting committed to ensuring the equal rights of women and men to participate in political, economic, civil and social life, and combating all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls.

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s 10 major dams now hold 61.5 per cent of their total capacity of 325 million cubic metres (mcm), Water Minister Hazem Nasser said on Monday.

As of Monday morning, the dams held 200.2mcm of water, Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Current water storage at the dams is below storage levels recorded during this time last year, when they held 213.5mcm or 65.6 per cent of their total capacity, according to the ministry.

"Rainfall over the past two days raised the amount of rain since the start of the wet season to over 9.2 billion cubic metres, constituting 112.4 per cent of the long term annual average of rain of 8.1 billion cubic metres," Nasser said.

The recent rain will recharge aquifers and boost natural pastures, he added, noting that the eastern and southern regions received the highest rainfall amounts.

"Over the past 48 hours, the country received 1.29 billion cubic metres of rain, the majority of which fell in Maan, which received 768.4mcm of rain, followed by Aqaba, which received 130.4mcm of rain…," Nasser said.

Dams are located across the Kingdom, and there are more than 143 large ponds to collect floodwater in the desert and over 25 sand dams, according to the Water Ministry.

A relatively cold air mass started affecting the Kingdom on Saturday, bringing temperatures six degrees below their annual average for this time of the year of 18ºC as well as heavy rain, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

A slight rise in temperatures is forecast for Tuesday, but the weather will remain relatively cold, and partly cloudy with chances of rain in the northern and central regions.

Temperatures will range between a high of 14ºC and a low of 5ºC at night in Amman.

The impact of the relatively cold air mass will taper off on Wednesday, when sunny spring weather will prevail, according to the JMD, which expected daytime temperatures to be 17ºC, dropping to 6ºC at night in the capital.

A further rise in temperatures is forecast for Thursday, when the weather will be fair and sunny, and temperatures will reach a maximum of 19ºC, dropping to a minimum of 9ºC in Amman, the department said.

AMMAN — The National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (Najmah) on Monday signed a new “Cash for Training” agreement at the premises of the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development in Amman, an alliance statement said.

The agreement, signed with the World Food Programme (WFP), aims at benefiting 1,470 members of communities hosting Syrian refugees in several governorates in Jordan in order to help them gain the experience necessary to join the labour market.

Deputising for HRH Princess Basma, president of Najmah, Ali Ghazawi, signed the agreement with WFP Representative and Country Director and Emergency Coordinator Mageed Yahia. Under the agreement, the WFP presents daily food tickets for trainees during their 26 days of training every month for nine months.

During the first phase of the project in 2014-2015, around 2,213 young people were trained in nine governorates, with 68 per cent of the males and 32 per cent of the females obtaining permanent jobs afterwards.

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Monday urged private schools that were fined for exceeding the allowed number of students in their licences to rectify their status before the end of March.

The ministry, in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, stressed it would publish the names of violating schools in media outlets and would not allow them to register new students until they address their violations.

The ministry also called on parents to ensure that schools they want to enrol their children in have obtained the necessary licences, Petra added.

AMMAN — The University of Jordan (UJ) board of trustees on Monday decided to reduce the raise on the post-graduate programme's tuition by 50 per cent as of the 2016-2017 academic year.

The board referred the decision to reduce the remaining 50 per cent over the two following academic years to its academic and finance committee for study, to ensure the protection of students' and the university's best interest, a UJ statement said.

The increase to tuition fees is estimated at between 100 and 180 per cent, which means that the decrease will make it between 50 and 90 per cent.

Earlier on Monday, UJ students resumed a sit-in that started in late February and continued for around a month to demand the reversal of a decision to raise tuition fees for the parallel and post-graduate programmes.

Alaa Hajjeh, one of the organisers, said the protest was suspended last week in response to the university’s decision to lower the raise on the parallel programme fees gradually, over a period of two years.

Students were waiting for the UJ board to endorse a similar decision for the post-graduate programme.

The protest, organised by the Student Rally to Cancel Tuition Fee Hikes, started on February 28.

Hisham Ayasrah, a PhD student, said students gathered again to insist on their “only” demand of reversing the decision taken by the university’s board of trustees some three years ago.

“We are here today from all faculties and programmes to call for reversing the decision,” he added.

On March 18, the Higher Education Council met with students and decided to cut the raise on the parallel programme tuition by 50 per cent this year, reducing the remaining percentage over the next two years, with a 25 per cent decrease.

Students said that according to the agreement with the council, the raise is expected to be scrapped by 2018.

Since the announcement of the decision to raise the fees for both programmes, students and activists at UJ organised more than 30 activities against it on campus.

According to students, before the decision was implemented, one credit hour for a business major student, for example, used to cost around JD30 in the parallel programme, while the hike raised it to JD60. After the initial drop, it is expected to cost around JD45.

Jordan Food and Drug Administration Director Hayel Obeidat, who is also a member of UJ’s board of trustees, said the initial agreement also entails transferring parallel programme students with a general point average higher than 3.5 out of 4 being to the regular programme.

Earlier this month, the Higher Education Council decided not to renew Ekhleif Tarawneh's UJ presidency for a second term, but the students said at the time that their protest has nothing to do with the president himself.

On Monday the UJ board appointed the university's vice president, Azmi Mahaftha, as interim president until a new one is appointed.

AMMAN — Jordan is interested in importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Gazprom as part of its efforts to increase sources of LNG, Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif said Monday.

“We have discussed this issue with the Russians, and we hope that we will get LNG at preferential prices. No agreement has been reached in this regard, but we are keen to diversify our LNG sources and this falls in line with these efforts,” the minister told The Jordan Times.

“Jordan receives a large portion of its gas needs via Shell and buys the rest via international tenders… so if the prices from Gazprom are encouraging we would go for this option,” Saif added.

Noting that Jordan needs 300-350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, the minister said the demand is expected to rise in the future after the Cabinet allowed industries in the Kingdom to use the surplus of gas imports in their operations.

Under an agreement with the government, Shell provides 150 million cubic feet of LNG for Jordan per day.

“As more industries start using gas, we will see demand rising. We looked into importing gas from Algeria, Cyprus and we will continue to look for new sources,” said Saif.

Jordan started importing LNG in mid 2015 after the inauguration of the Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Terminal in Aqaba.

Following the opening of the LNG terminal, the Kingdom’s dependency on gas has risen to 80 per cent, contributing to a decrease in electricity costs by 25 to 30 per cent. 

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday chaired a board meeting for the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF). 

The meeting discussed shortcomings in Jordan’s education system, and identified new strategies to strengthen the development of educational programmes, according to a statement from Her Majesty's office.

QRF CEO Haifa Dia Al Attia expressed the foundation’s hope for influencing national policies affecting teachers and education, and creating a national dialogue about key issues in human resource development. 

Based on in-depth research, QRF’s recommendations highlighted the need for innovative and strategic approaches to educational reform.

The foundation determined that future reform must reinforce the use of technology in education, improve access to school facilities and resources, upgrade curricula and assessment criteria, and institute teacher training.

The research results, which found that teachers have the biggest impact on student performance, reinforce Queen Rania’s hard-held belief in the pivotal role of teachers, the statement said.  

The studies further demonstrate that introducing new educational tools and strategies for teacher training and recognition helps improve the overall educational landscape in Jordan.

The board briefed Her Majesty on QRF’s long-term vision for education reform, including its plan to establish a teachers’ college that offers prospective teachers post-graduate diplomas in education, under the administration of the Queen Rania Teachers’ Academy.

QRF’s research also identified that early childhood development services in the public sector significantly lag behind those in the private sector. 

Private nurseries and kindergartens reported having better facilities, equipment, and infrastructure. 

Moreover, while 60 per cent of caregivers in the private sector reported receiving professional training, 90 per cent of caregivers in the public sector said they never received any.

AMMAN — Sare Davutoglu, the wife of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, on Monday visited the King Hussein Cancer Centre to observe the services it offers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

HH Princess Dina Mired, director of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, welcomed Davutoglu and said that Turkey is one of the leading countries when it comes to healthcare, especially in the field of combating smoking.

AMMAN – Border Guards received 104 Syrian refugees over the previous 24 hours, the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army announced on Monday in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Troops transferred the new arrivals to shelters and official camps, and Royal Medical Services personnel provided the necessary medical treatment to the injured. 

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat on Monday decided to suspend classes at the Kingdom’s public and private schools on Wednesday to allow teachers to participate in the Jordan Teachers Association elections, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A total of 691 individual candidates and 23 lists are competing in the elections, Petra quoted the syndicate as saying.