Local

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday started a working visit to USA by meeting with investment leaders from US Angel Investment Group in San Francisco who are interested in supporting entrepreneurs and start-up projects in the world. 

The King is scheduled to deliver a speech in the Innovative Jordan Conference hosted by the University of California in Berkeley.

The speech will highlight available opportunities in the ICT sector and electronic content that made the Kingdom a pioneer centre in this field regionally and internationally. 

His Majesty and CEOs of major US companies will convene with the purpose of discussing boosting investment relations between Jordan and the US. 

The Monarch will brief them on the investment opportunities available in the Kingdom, especially in the ICT sector.

He will visit business incubator “Plug and Play” for IT manufacturing at Sunnyville, San Francisco, which supported major US companies.

During this visit, King Abdullah will be briefed on the exerted efforts to empower start-up companies in ICT, and how can Jordan benefit from this experience to enhance and sustain the environment needed for start-up companies in this sector. 

Jordanian entrepreneurs will have the chance to present their ideas and projects to US investors. 

The ICT sector has been a key growth driver, creating 80,000 jobs.

AMMAN — Entrenching  the culture of tolerance and coexistence is a necessity in the Arab world as hate speech by media outlets in the region significantly increased in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, according to a study released this week.

The study, titled “I Hate You,” and conducted by researcher and media expert Waleed Zahra, indicated that hate speech is used as a tool to incite sedition among different affiliations and groups.

Conducted in cooperation with the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists, the study said hate speech in media outlets was used by several Arab regimes to counter opposition demonstrations.

Several media outlets used hate speech to tarnish the image of different political or social powers across the region, and Arab media outlets failed to maintain objectivity and took sides, said the study, which was announced during the third Forum for Media Freedom Defenders in the Arab World earlier this week.

Some Arab countries did not enforce laws that criminalise hate speech such as Jordan and Kuwait, while others do not have laws to penalise such practices to begin with, according to the study, which noted that even the Arab states that are signatory to regional and international conventions on preventing hate speech did not activate such treaties and implement them.

The study indicated that the level of tolerance in the Arab world declined greatly, especially after the Arab Spring uprisings, calling for raising awareness on this issue, spreading a culture of tolerance and coexistence, and denouncing hate speech at early stages in schools.

Media outlets need to increase focus on promoting such a culture, the study recommended, calling for endorsing stricter legislation towards hate speech and those behind spreading it.

The study noted that NGOs can play a crucial role in monitoring media outlets and exposing their practices when they resort to hate speech, underlining the need for training journalists on human rights and how to avoid using hate speech. 

AMMAN — Experts on Tuesday called on Arab governments to create integrated and sustainable social safety nets that cover the most vulnerable workers throughout the region.

The experts — who included representatives of the private and public sectors, as well as employers, workers and NGOs — highlighted the importance of guaranteeing social safety coverage to everyone to ensure that a few privileged groups do not continue to benefit from existing structures, thus giving rise to an increasing sense of exclusion and unfairness.

During a regional seminar, titled “Rethinking Social Protection in a Changing Arab World”, experts and officials examined regional experiences and leading international practices to build nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion.

Labour Minister Nidal Katamine underscored the importance of defining national social protection floors, noting that social protection in several Arab countries remains at the threshold.

Katamine stressed that social protection systems are still incapable of addressing many vital issues, such as forced migration.

The three-day event, which is organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and the Social Security Corporation, brought together over 60 experts to examine regional and successful social protection experiences and ways to improve it in the Arab region.

ILO Assistant Director General and Regional Director Nada Nashif noted that even though Arab countries have established well-structured pension schemes and related institutions over the past decades, few have developed coherent and integrated national social security policies.

Nashif said many countries maintain fragmented social protection that relies on a variety of tools, such as public sector employment and social insurance for a few, as well as subsidies for those who are not covered by any formal social security scheme.

“This fragmentation must come to an end if the region is to realise the aspirations of its people,” she said at the seminar’s opening ceremony.

The ILO official called for creating integrated sustainable protection mechanisms, underscoring that Arab countries can no longer rely on old models to address long-standing problems.

“We must adapt our systems into a new development model grounded in social justice by examining integrated and sustainable social protection,” Nashif stressed.

AMMAN — Czech long-distance runner David Chrištof, who ran 11 marathons in 11 days across the Kingdom in March, raised over $13,000 from his initiative, according to a statement released by the embassy of the Czech Republic in Amman on Tuesday.

The charitable run sought to raise funds to support Jordanian and Syrian children’s educational needs such as school improvements, supplies and equipment.

Chrištof, whose wife resides in Jordan and teaches German at a local university, has thrown his support behind “Helping Refugees in Jordan” (HRJ), a group of volunteers living in Amman that works closely with Mercy Corps and local and international charities. 

Chrištof has started purchasing furniture, school supplies and books with the donated money and handing these donations to selected schools in different underprivileged areas in Jordan with the support of the embassy and in cooperation with Mercy Corps, the statement said.

With the help of Mercy Corps, Chrištof managed to fix a minivan belonging to a kindergarten run by the South Azraq Women’s Association in Azraq, located in the eastern region, which is now trying to cope with many poor refugee families living in the area. 

The minivan had been broken for over two years, preventing children living in remote areas from reaching the school.    

“The minivan will [now] be able to carry out important humanitarian work helping hundreds of children and their families for years to come,” the embassy statement said. 

In Irbid, Al Khansaa Secondary School for Girls — chosen by the Ministry of Education — benefitted from a donation of sports and recreational supplies. 

On Tuesday, Chrištof and HRJ founder Catherine Ashcroft, accompanied by Czech Ambassador Petr Hladík, visited two tented refugee schools in a refugee community in the capital’s Sahab District, according to the statement.

The two informal schools, which “lack even the basic essential educational equipment and materials”, were given fans, water coolers, footballs, skipping ropes and stationery supplies. 

Next week they will receive desks, chairs and cupboards, as well as a library with books for all ages, the statement said, adding that “this would benefit older children in the tented community [and] not only those that attend the schools, which are run by Syrian teachers who rely on donations as they are not paid.”  

In progress is the delivery of 50 chairs and 25 desks for students and the refurbishment of a playground, according to the embassy.

Commending Chrištof’s achievement and the efforts of Mercy Corps in helping ease the misery of Syrians residing in Jordan, Hladík said his country will continue to support similar activities that would help the government bear the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis.

The March 15-25 fund-raising marathons constituted the fourth charitable run for Chrištof, who is not a professional runner and has already completed 21 marathons and 13 ultra-marathon races around the world. 

AMMAN — Egyptians residing in Jordan can vote in their country’s presidential elections at their embassy in the capital and the consulate in Aqaba between May 15 and 18.

An embassy statement said the consulate and embassy will be open from 9am to 9pm during the period in question, noting that only those with IDs or passports will be able to vote.

AMMAN — Border guards received 467 Syrian refugees over the past 48 hours through various border crossing points.

The guards provided humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, first aid and medical services for the arrivals, before transferring them to refugee camps.

AMMAN — Egypt’s Health Minister Adel Adawy on Monday honoured medics working at Jordan’s field hospital in Cairo, dubbed “Egypt 4”, in recognition of their efforts, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In the past few years, Jordan dispatched military field hospitals to various areas in need, including Afghanistan, Gaza and the West Bank.

MAFRAQ — Korean Ambassador to Jordan Choi Hong-ghi on Tuesday inaugurated a football league and the “Korea’s Ambassador Cup” competition at the Zaatari Refugee Camp.

The league is organised by the embassy in cooperation with Korea Food for the Hungry International, UNHCR and the International Relief and Development organisation.

 According to Kilian Kleinschmidt, Zaatari camp manager, there are around 60,000 children at the camp and they need humanitarian assistance, especially in the fields of health, education and recreational activities.

The Korean government has contributed to building five football pitches in the camp, besides presenting 1,700 trailers to mitigate the suffering of Syrian refugees.

CAIRO — The Arab media code of ethics project will help develop the sector significantly, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the executive office of the Arab media ministers’ council at the Arab League General Secretariat in Cairo, Momani called for concerted Arab efforts to promote the project and implement it on the ground.

On the sidelines of the two-day event, Momani met with Egypt Media Minister Dorreya Sharaf El Din and discussed means to boost cooperation.

The two ministers agreed that Egyptian television will broadcast the activities of Pope Francis’ visit to the Kingdom on May 24 and some of the activities of the upcoming Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts.

Momani said Jordan will facilitate the participation of the Egyptian community in the out-of-country vote for the upcoming presidential election.