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AMMAN — Jordan will be taking part in the 134th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, scheduled to be held in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, Saturday through Wednesday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported Thursday.

The Jordanian delegation will be led by Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, who left the Kingdom Thursday morning. Tarawneh is scheduled to deliver Jordan’s speech during the conference.

The assembly, in which around 1,000 parliamentarians are scheduled to take part, representing Arab, Muslim and foreign parliaments, will discuss several issues including world peace, youth, women, human rights, democracy, sustainable development and commerce.

AMMAN — The Driver and Motor Vehicle Licensing Department has stopped implementing its decision to change the colour of public transport vehicles, its deputy director, Col. Mohammad Khatib, said Thursday.

The decision was due to be applied since the beginning of 2016 to more clearly differentiate between public transport vehicles working in different governorates, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The move to halt it was taken due to the lack of taxi owners’ commitment and the unfeasibility of monitoring these vehicles, Khatib told Petra, adding that a specialised committee is currently reviewing the decision to better serve the sector.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday held a summit meeting with European Union leaders that continued over a working dinner hosted by EU Council President Donald Tusk at the council's headquarters in Brussels, a Royal Court statement said. 

The meeting was attended by European Parliament President Martin Schulz, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer and several senior European officials.

The statement said the talks focused on ways to strengthen “strategic relations” between Jordan and the EU, efforts of EU institutions to support the Kingdom's economy through simplifying of the EU rules of origin to facilitate investments in development and industrial zones in the Kingdom and enhance Jordanian exports to Europe.

The meeting discussed challenges facing Jordan, the impact of regional crises, mainly the Syrian conflict, as well as ways to minimise their repercussions on the Kingdom.

Talks also covered the need to  implement  the recommendations of the London donor conference, where Jordan presented its case as a major host of refugees and secured assistance from the donor community, including pledges of support from Europe.  

It also tackled regional and international efforts to combat terrorism, with the EU leaders commending Jordan’s role in this effort.

From the Jordanian side, the summit meeting was attended by HRH Prince Ghazi, the King’s personal envoy and adviser for religious and cultural affairs, Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, King’s Office Director Jafar Hassan and Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury.  

His Majesty voiced Jordan’s interest to increase cooperation with the European Union member states during a separate meeting with high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Brussels, a Royal Court statement said. 

During the meeting attended by Prince Ghazi, the King commended the high-level strategic partnership with the EU and expressed his appreciation for the support provided by the union’s agencies to the Kingdom. 

His Majesty and Mogherini discussed regional and international developments and ways to deal with them. The King highlighted the pivotal role of the EU in backing efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability. 

In regard to the Syrian crisis, King Abdullah stressed the importance of reaching a comprehensive political solution, stressing the burdens Jordan is shouldering in light of hosting Syrian refugees. 

He said that Jordan is looking forward to implementing the pledges made at the London donor conference and build on the meeting’s outcomes to enhance economic capabilities, infrastructure and the service sector through addressing the repercussions of the Syrian crisis. 

For her part, Mogherini voiced the EU’s interest in better ties with Jordan to serve mutual interests, highlighting the union’s efforts, in partnership with different parties, including Jordan, to bring about stability and security in the region. 

Earlier on Wednesday, HRH Prince Ali was sworn in as Regent.

AMMAN — Russia’s decision to begin withdrawing troops from Syria is likely to help decrease fighting across the borders in south of Syria as well as limit the influx of Syrians fleeing to Jordan, commentators said Wednesday as the government reiterated that armed forces were ready to deal with any developments at the borders.

The government expressed hope that Russian decision will be a step to support the desired political solution in Syria.  It added that the armed forces were ready to deal with any consequences at the borders in light of the Russian pullout.

"We hope that the decision will help support and sustain the political process and achieve the Geneva I agreements towards a transitional political process that is inclusive of all the segments of the Syrian society," Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Momani added that the Kingdom’s northern borders are protected by the best military defences against any spillovers from the raging Syrian conflict.

The commentators said that Jordan previously reached understandings with Russia regarding the northern borders with Syria and stressed that, regardless of any such deals, Jordan has been able to control its borders throughout the five-year-long conflict in Syria.

“This is a good decision for Jordan as the Kingdom feared that possible Russian air strikes in the south of Syria would lead to more refugees fleeing to Jordan… In addition, several shells fell from Syria in Jordan recently causing some injuries,” Fayez Dweiri, a retired major general and a military analyst, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

The commentators said the decision is likely to ensure calm at the Syrian areas bordering the Kingdom and help reduce the number of Syrian refugees coming to Jordan placing further pressure on the country’s infrastructure and resources. Currently, Jordan is home to more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

“The decision is positive, and it will eventually have positive consequences on Jordan, which sees that a political solution to the Syrian crisis is in its best interests,” retired major general and strategic analyst Adeeb Sarayreh said Wednesday.

“Jordan greatly succeeded in preventing infiltrations from Syria over the past years and is capable of protecting its borders,” Sarayreh added.

The experts said the Russian decision reflects dismay over the Syrian regime’s stances and is a turning point that is likely to strengthen the opposition in the Geneva peace talks that went under way Monday.

The pullout of Russian forces from Syria is expected to push for a political solution to end the five-year crisis in Syria, the pundits agreed, pointing out that Russia’s decision came at a time when the super power faces economic hardships and failure in its mission to uproot terrorism in Syria.

The surprising development, they said, will eventually have a positive impact on Jordan only if Geneva talks succeed in ending up with a political solution that leads to a national unity government in Syria and eventually joining forces to fight terrorist groups in Syria. The push towards a political solution is a testimony to Jordan’s prudent foreign policies.

“Russia has repeatedly stressed that it supports the Syrian regime, not Syrian President Bashar Assad, and in spite of that, Syrian officials keep stressing that Assad is a red line. Russia’s pullout reflects dismay over these repeated statements,” Sarayreh said.

On Saturday, Syria’s foreign minister, Walid Mouallem said peace talks would fail if any party insists on Assad’s stepping down in the transitional period.

Even Iran, a key ally for Assad, welcomed the Russian step as “positive”, noted Sarayreh, referring to Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reaction on the pullout as “a positive sign”.

“This, again, strengthens the Syrian opposition,” said Sarayreh.

Russia was also forced to take the decision as it has been under economic pressure from the West, facing economic difficulties due to the drop in oil prices and the value of the ruble and Moscow’s unwillingness to be in direct confrontation with the US and several regional countries that have been warning of sending ground troops to Syria, like Saudi Arabia and its allies, said the commentators.

“It seems there was a US-Russian agreement to bring an end to the conflict and push for a political solution amidst growing crisis the EU is facing due to influx of massive numbers of refugees,” said Sarayreh.

“Any progress towards a political solution in Syria will reflect positively on Jordan,” he said.

Dweiri said Russia must have realised that its mission in Syria was a failure and although it temporarily succeeded in backing the Syrian forces to regain control over several areas, it did not want to “sink in the Syrian quagmire”.

“Russia was also accused of committing massacres and crimes against humanity during its air raids… These are all factors that forced Russia to pull out… Russia at this stage is trying to sell the world the idea that it is the one that succeeded in pushing for a political solution although it contributed much to the destruction of Syria,” said Dweiri. 

Jamal Al Shalabi, a professor of political science at the Hashemite University, said the step seems to have been taken in line with an understanding between Russia and the US that are both pushing for a political solution to end the Syrian crisis.

“The decision will help keep calm in most areas in Syria, which will reduce the number of Syrians fleeing the violence to Jordan and neghbouring countries,” he said.

“When Russia first sent forces to Syria, it did not do that to flex muscles but to make political gains and the step was certainly taken in coordination with Iran,” said Shalabi in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“World powers realised that there is no point in prolonging the fight in Syria amidst rising terrorist groups and refugees influx... This is a positive step,” he said.

 “What is happening at this stage and the push for peaceful solution proves Jordan has been right in its position on the Syrian crisis,” said the expert.

AMMAN — Fourteen Palestinian pilgrims died and 36 others were injured, some critically, on Wednesday night when their bus overturned near the Mudawara border crossing, the Civil Defence Department (CDD) said.

The CDD added in a statement that the accident was "most probably" caused by the driver losing control of the bus, which was carrying Palestinians seeking to perform umra (the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca).

The dead and injured were taken to Maan and Queen Rania public hospitals, the CDD said.

More injured pilgrims could succumb to their wounds, according to the department, due to the severity of their injuries.

In a statement to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the Awqaf Ministry said it is following the situation closely and checking on the condition of the pilgrims.

The ministry's spokesperson, Sinan Majali, said the authorities will provide the necessary support and assistance to the injured.

AMMAN — On the occasion of the International Women’s Day and the Japanese Doll Festival, Jordanian women participated in an exhibition on Tuesday to present home-made decorations that reflect the theme of the current month in both Japan and Jordan. 

At the sixth annual exhibition of the Seiko Sogetsu Study Group, held at the Greater Amman Municipality activities building, nine women showcased their home-made decorations, where they used “the Japanese flower arrangement technique with a Jordanian touch”.

Randa Kawar, the group’s president, said Ikebana art started spreading worldwide in the 1980s, and it has three schools in the Kingdom: the Ohara, Ikenoba and Sogetsu schools. 

The Seiko Sogetsu study group started spreading the Ikebana art in 2005 in Jordan, and received accreditation from Japan in 2012.  

“Such exhibitions should be spread to the local community… Every year we pick a different location to showcase the art pieces,” she told The Jordan Times.

The dolls showcased at the exhibition were handmade, with one matching every flower arrangement.

At the Doll Festival of Hinamatsuri, celebrated on March 3, dolls are set up on platforms to represent the emperor, empress, attendants and musicians in the traditional court dress of the Japanese Heian period.

Hunaida Deirani, a participant, said exhibitions are an important way to deliver a message and show talent.

Deirani has been making Japanese dolls for the past two years.

“I feel the attendees appreciate my art… it is not just about dressing the doll up with simple clothes, it’s about creating,” she added.

Deirani started creating dolls and sending them as gifts to her relatives and close friends, which is when she started sharing them on social media accounts and receiving “positive feedback”. 

Jordan Kendo Committee Vice President Fakhri Alami said the exhibition is a “good way” to show the influence of Japanese culture on Jordan.

“This is a wonderful event that happens once a year to show the work of the hands and minds of Jordanian women… It is the merging of cultures,” he told The Jordan Times.

Alami added that in the past, Ikebana was practised by Samurai warriors.

“It’s an art that is supposed to show the ability to create art from what is around you… In the garden, the house; it is the utilisation of what is available and turning it into art, a flower, a broken pot.”

AMMAN — There is a great need to invest in young children in order to develop their abilities and the future of their societies, said Ann S. Masten, regents professor of child development at the University of Minnesota.

If people invest early in child development, they create "a very powerful" human capacity for change, Masten told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the seventh in a series of nine workshops hosted by the Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally on Wednesday. 

"There has been a lot of progress worldwide on preventing child mortality and improving survival, but we think [the issue] is… beyond survival and help children be resilient and thrive in societies around the world," she added.

Nearly 100 policymakers, economists, child development experts, leaders on the ground and youth from the region are meeting in Amman for three days to promote knowledge exchange, and identification of opportunities to leverage investments in early childhood development and protection to uphold human rights, promote social justice and sustain peace, according to a statement from the organisers.

The Amman meeting is held under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania, who also attended the opening day of the workshop.

The meeting, dubbed "Investing in Young Children for Peaceful Societies: Individual and Structural Transformation", is held in partnership with UNICEF and the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID).

"This particular meeting and workshop focuses on children who are facing issues in conflict zones, or refugee children, and we are trying to encourage not only awareness but evidence about how we can support and help these children, and help societies where they are settling in order to make a better life both for those children and for the future [of their] countries," Masten said.

"We are trying to hear the voices of those who work closely with these children to help us understand how we can do the most effective job… We want to hear from young people; we want to hear from agencies," she added. 

"We are very excited about our meeting in Jordan because we think Jordan has played a very major role in promoting this kind of investment in young children."

According to a statement from the Queen's office, Amman was selected to host this workshop because of Jordan's commitment to early childhood and youth, particularly through the call to action in the UN Resolution on Youth, Peace and Security.

UNICEF Representative to Jordan Robert Jenkins praised Queen Rania's efforts in focusing on the welfare of children.

"Jordan has made a lot of progress in increasing access and improving the quality of education," he told The Jordan Times.

Mohammed Abu-Nimer, the workshop co-chair and senior adviser at KAICIID, said the main objective is to invest more in early childhood education and development in general and to emphasise that education for pluralism, diversity and education should be an integral part of early childhood development.

"One of the challenges we have been hearing is that the region is going through massive campaigns of violence and does not have the luxury to deal with these issues, and I think [it's] quite [the] contrary. We think that there is enough tangible evidence that illustrates [that] the more we invest in education of children… the less they will be engaged in violence," he told The Jordan Times.

Once the dust of conflict settles, Abu-Nimer said rebuilding houses is not enough.

"Every conflict area around the world has gone through the same mistake. They fight and kill each other; they rebuild the buildings, [but] they forget to invest in the children and in the minds of the people."

AMMAN — The University of Jordan (UJ) board of trustees on Wednesday decided to lower the increase on tuition fees for the post-graduate and parallel programmes by 50 per cent, as a student protest entered its 18th day.

The decision will cost the university an additional JD10 million, a UJ statement said, adding that it was in response to an initiative by the Lower House Education Committee.

Officials at UJ were not immediately available to comment on the decision or provide further details despite several attempts by The Jordan Times, but it is expected to lead to a 50 to 90 per cent raise in tuition fees instead of the current 100 to 180 per cent.

Earlier on Wednesday, protester Ahmad Mustafa said a 50 per cent discount is not enough. 

"The suggestions by the MPs were not beneficial to the cause we are fighting for; they wanted to cancel 50 per cent of the raise on tuition fees and for us to end the protest… but there was no written agreement,” he said.

“Students started the protest to demand a total reversal and cancellation of the decision,” Mustafa noted.

On Tuesday, the Higher Education Council decided not to renew Ekhleif Tarawneh's UJ presidency for a second term, but the students said their protest has nothing to do with the president himself.

“We didn’t demand the dismissal of the president; the protest is not against a person, it is against the injustice of our education system at universities,” Amani Ali, a third-year student, said.

She told The Jordan Times that the decision not to renew the term for Tarawneh “has nothing to do” with the demands of students, and the protesters will stay on campus “as long as the decision is not reversed”.

Alaa Hajjeh, another protester, agreed that “it was never a personal issue” with Tarawneh, and reiterated that "a discount on the tuition fee raise" is not the answer. 

"The suggestion does not meet our demands,” he added.

AMMAN — Holding a PhD does not necessarily guarantee people with disabilities to be hired in doctoral-level jobs.

Adnan Shraideh, Omaimah Rawashdeh, Abdul Salam Zioudi and Rana Abdul Halim are only a few examples of persons with disabilities who, despite completing their PhDs, have not been given a chance to work at universities. 

"We have been knocking on universities' doors for years. The excuses they give us are lame, but it is clear that the way university presidents perceive people with disabilities is the reason," said Zioudi, who holds a PhD in psychological counselling. 

Currently, there are 15 PhD holders among people with disabilities who are waiting to be employed in universities. 

"Their majors are in demand in each university. We have been protesting for three years now and all we get is false promises," Zioudi, who suffers a physical disability, told The Jordan Times recently.

Despite serving as a teacher at a public school for eight years now, Abdul Halim, who is visually impaired, is finding difficulty convincing universities that she can be a "competent" professor. 

"I hold a PhD in Arabic from the World Islamic Sciences and Education University, but when I apply to teach at universities, they claim that the university is not accredited. I know that the reason is my disability because my colleagues are employed without any complications," she said. 

Abdul Halim noted that "universities do not trust people with visual disabilities or those with other disabilities to be able to handle the job of teaching".

"All I ask is a chance to prove that I can be as efficient as anyone else or even more," she said. 

For Shraideh, who also holds a PhD in Arabic from the University of Cairo, "diplomatic answers are all he gets when he applies to universities". 

"I have been working as a part-time professor at the University of Jordan for five years now. When I ask to be hired full-time, they say there is no room for appointments, but new professors end up being employed instead," Shraideh, who has a physical disability, told the Jordan Times.

Zioud noted that the Higher Education Ministry has been promising people with disabilities who hold PhDs to look into their demands and discuss them with universities, but "no tangible progress has been made". 

He cited the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which stipulates that private and public sector institutions with over 25 and less than 50 employees are obligated to employ one disabled person, while in companies with over 50 employees, 4 per cent must be people with disabilities.

"The law is not applied whatsoever," Zioudi charged.

Officials from the Higher Education Ministry or universities were not available to comment on the issue despite several attempts to reach them over past few days. 

AMMAN — Jordan will start growing moringa trees in desert and sub-desert areas this year to benefit from their medical and food uses, according to an official at the Agriculture Ministry.

Under a memorandum of understanding between the ministry and the Saudi cooperative society for moringa and desert plants, the latter will provide the ministry with seeds and saplings of moringa, also known as drumstick or horseradish tree.

"A technical team from the ministry's Forestry Department will benefit from Saudi Arabia's experience in growing moringa and expanding its cultivation across the country," the ministry's spokesperson, Nimer Haddadin, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

"Initially, the ministry is planning to cultivate the tree in southern areas, as moringa is a drought-tolerant tree," he said. 

Haddadin said planting moringa in the Kingdom is feasible, as the tree grows fast and does not need much water, while its leaves can be digested by livestock and its oil has several health and food uses.

The moringa tree is native to India and cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas all over Asia, Africa and South America, according to webs sources. 

It has several vitamins, such as A, B, C, D and E, and minerals including potassium, calcium, iron, selenium, and magnesium. Its leaves are rich in essential amino acids.

Various humanitarian organisations have promoted the use of this tree to combat malnutrition, according to web sources.