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AMMAN — The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) should take into account the political and financial conditions of countries that are surrounded by unrest, such as Jordan, to help them overcome challenges, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on Saturday.

During a meeting with AMF Director General Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Al Hamidy, Ensour highlighted the importance of Jordan in light of its location as a gateway for Arab Gulf countries.

He also highlighted the country’s economic burdens as a result of hosting Syrian refugees, expressing appreciation of the AMF’s contributions to the Kingdom’s economy.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah will honour students participating in the May 10-17Intel International Science and Engineering Fair by presenting a sum of money to each one of them, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said on Friday.

During a farewell ceremony for the 13 students taking part in the competition, to be held in the US, Thneibat stressed the ministry’s commitment to encouraging young innovators.

AMMAN — Two journalists in a televised debate about the civil war in neighbouring Syria literally turned — and overturned — the table on each other during an on-air brawl.

The programme, which aired last Tuesday on the “Seven Stars” satellite television channel, featured journalists Shaker Al Johari and Mohammad Al Jayousi talking about the three-year-old war pitting rebels against President Bashar Assad’s government.

However, the debate fell apart as Jayousi accused Johari of supporting the Syrian rebels.

Johari then accused Jayousi of taking money for supporting Assad.

The two men then stood up and grabbed the edge of the studio table they had been seated at, and tried to fight each other.

In the scuffle, the top of the table broke off and the rest of it toppled as the moderator and studio workers tried to stop the fight and finally separated the two journalists.

AMMAN — On the occasion of HRH Princess Basma’s birthday on May 11, the winners of the Princess Basma Award for Human Development and Community Service for 2014 have been announced. 

This year’s award has been granted to young filmmakers whose films deal with development issues, according to a statement from Princess Basma’s office. 

During the past two years, the award increasingly has focused on youth, reflecting Princess Basma’s conviction that only by investing systematically in young Jordanians through mainstream policies and programmes, can the country’s human resource development process realistically be achieved.

Princess Basma has dedicated her career to promoting sustainable human development, gender equity and women’s rights. 

In 1977 she established the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), which has become a flagship organisation focusing on empowering communities and spearheading local participation in the planning and implementation of development projects. 

JOHUD’s outreach within communities across the Kingdom operates through a vibrant network of 50 community development centres, the statement said.

Since Princess Basma launched the Goodwill Campaign (GWC) in 1991, the campaign has reached out to a large number of sectors, individuals and volunteers, “resulting in one of the most dynamic and effective philanthropic initiatives in the country, that touches the lives of thousands of individuals, families and communities”. 

The GWC provides direct assistance to people living in poverty, as well as training and capacity building to improve families’ living standards, with funds to generate income. 

The medical assistance programme and university scholarship scheme have become two of the most important components of the GWC, benefitting a growing number of people of all ages.

In 1992, Princess Basma established the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) to address issues of gender discrimination. 

Over the years, the JNCW has built strategic alliances with governmental and non-governmental entities to promote gender mainstreaming and advance women’s socio-economic and political empowerment. 

In partnership with other stakeholders, the commission leads national efforts in formulating and advocating for amendments to discriminatory laws against women.

The princess is honorary human development ambassador for UNDP and goodwill ambassador for UN Women, as well as goodwill ambassador for UNFPA. 

Princess Basma holds a doctorate degree in development from Oxford University. 

She is married to Walid Kurdi, and has four children, Farah, Ghazi, Saad and Zein Al Sharaf, and five grandchildren, Fatima Al Zahra, Zein Al Sharaf, Abdulaziz, Aysha and Iman. 

AMMAN –– Engineers at the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) are set to start an open-ended strike on Sunday demanding better pay, a move described as “illegal” by the management of Jordan’s sole fuel supplier.

According to Mustafa Momani, spokesperson of those threatening to go on strike, 180 engineers want their basic salaries to be increased by 25 per cent so they can be equal to their peers in other mining firms such as the potash and the phosphate companies. 

Momani told The Jordan Times over the phone that the planned strike will not affect fuel distribution to gas stations in the country.

The spokesperson said the strikers also have other administrative demands, foremost of which is not renewing the contracts of engineers who reached the retirement age of 60 years. 

Over the past years, the JPRC management has been renewing the contracts of six employees aged over 60, with salaries ranging between JD4,000 and JD5,000 a month, Momani charged, adding that the cost of meeting the engineers’ demands would not exceed JD50,000 a year.

“By sending the six engineers to retirement, the refinery can meet our demands and still save money,” he said, adding that the strike will take place at JPRC premises in Zarqa, some 22km east of Amman. 

But JPRC CEO Abdul Karim Alaween described the planned strike as illegal, as the engineers received “unprecedented” pay benefits on March 26.

Their salaries were raised by 15 per cent of the basic wages in addition to increasing the cost of living allowances from JD145 to JD175 a month, Alaween told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

He said an agreement on these benefits –– which included all JPRC workers –– was signed by management and the association representing refinery workers, and sponsored by the government and Parliament. 

Alaween added that the workers were also granted other benefits, such as raising the allowance for experience and university scholarships for employees, in addition to a 5 per cent increase in the annual raise. 

The refinery CEO accused the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) of being part of the problem, by inciting engineers to go ahead with their strike. 

“Employees of the refinery should refer to their management whenever they have demands and should not listen to outsiders,” he said. 

But Momani said the JEA is only defending the rights of its members. 

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, JEA President Abdullah Obeidat called on the JPRC management to meet the demands of the engineers, which he described as fair and just. 

The JEA called on engineers at JPRC not to go to work and to gather in a tent that will be erected near the refinery’s entrance.

Alaween said the management will take stiff legal measures against those who call for the “illegal” strike and those who take part in it, as it would undermine energy security in the Kingdom. 

AMMAN — Germany celebrates its friendship with Jordan this month with two weeks of events highlighting the bilateral relationship that a range of German actors scattered across the country helped strengthen over the years.

Beginning on Sunday with a jazz concert and lectures on archaeology at the Jordan Museum, the activities will touch on the cultural, social and development fields of cooperation.

“One major feature of our bilateral relationship is that it is shaped by a variety of different actors,” German Ambassador to Jordan Ralph Tarraf told The Jordan Times in an interview ahead of the celebrations.

“We have a decentralised system of German institutions specialised and active in different fields. This allows them to be in close contact with and very responsive to their direct Jordanian counterparts,” he added.

German-cultural centre Goethe Institut will screen a series of German movies, the German-Jordanian University will open its campus in Madaba for a job fair, while political foundations will host workshops and organise public lectures.

Flagship German car manufacturers showcasing new vehicles as well as pharmaceutical and engineering companies will be present at the opening event.

“German Weeks” is about bringing together all German institutions, organisations and companies active in the country, Tarraf said.

“We wanted to give them an opportunity to present their work to highlight the fact that our bilateral relations are not only and exclusively shaped by the German embassy but by a variety of institutions active in the field of culture, education, development cooperation, archaeology and political development,” he added.

The events will be updated on a daily basis on www.facebook.com/pages/German-Weeks-2014/ 246424858876960.

Over the past two years, Germany has provided JD110 million in humanitarian aid to the Kingdom amid the Syrian humanitarian crisis, and ongoing development cooperation projects in the water sector amount to more than JD450 million, according to the German embassy.

“We have several institutions working in development cooperation with Jordan. They concentrate on the water sector and have been active for more than 40 years. These institutions will present some of their projects and initiatives to the public,” Tarraf said.

As some German political foundations with offices in Amman are not only active in the Kingdom, but extend their work beyond the Kingdom’s borders to Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the envoy said Jordan is a very important partner for Germany in the region.

“We broadly share the perceptions and the visions of the country’s leadership with regard to regional issues,” he added.

Bringing together all Germany’s institutions in the Kingdom would help shape the future of Berlin and Amman’s longstanding friendship, according to Tarraf.

“We want to promote knowledge and understanding of Germany’s activities and presence in the country and are very happy to receive feedback from the Jordanians regarding their expectations on how to shape our bilateral relations in the future.”

AMMAN –– Several Jordanians enjoyed a family day held by the EU at the King Hussein Park’s Cultural Village on Friday to mark Europe Day. 

Children and adults enjoyed activities such as musical concerts, games, face painting and a performance by Polish street theatre group “Pinezka”.

The EU celebrates the Europe Day annually on May 9 in Europe and all over the world, marking French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman’s declaration in 1950.

Schuman called on European countries to assemble in order to create “the first concrete foundation of a European federation”, according to an EU statement. 

The declaration marked a milestone in European history, paving the way to the union celebrated today, the statement added.

“We are celebrating May 9 every year because it is a national day for the European Union,” EU Ambassador to Jordan Joanna Wronecka told The Jordan Times during Friday’s event.

“We are celebrating the Schuman declaration as we are proud of our solidarity and unity…” she added.

The EU consists of 28 member states. 

“Each year, we try to explain or to propose to our Jordanian friends new ideas because it is very well to stay together and to celebrate what we are doing. Jordan is an important… partner for us,” Wronecka said.  

“These activities… show how close we are to you,” she added.      

Visitors interviewed by The Jordan Times said they enjoyed the activities, which motivated them to learn more about the EU. 

Raed Saleh, an engineer, said he did not know about Europe Day before. 

“But now I’m curious to go back home and learn more about it,” he added.  

Natasha Haddad, who brought her nephew to the event, said although she lives in the 7th Circle area, it was her first time visiting King Hussein Park. 

“Promotions of this event encouraged me to come check it out and visit the park for the first time as well,” she said. 

Abbas Hussein, an Iraqi who resides in Amman, said this kind of event shows Jordan’s rich cultural life.

“Activities catered to all walks of life and it was even an opportunity for parents to enjoy a family day on the weekend,” the father of seven added.  

He said more activities should be held during the summer, because the Kingdom receives a lot of tourists during this time of the year. 

The activities were funded by the EU and implemented by the EU National Institutes for Culture in Jordan, which comprise the British Council, Instituto Cervantes, Institut Français, Goethe Institut, the Embassy of Greece and Società Dante Alighieri, according to the EU statement.

AMMAN — Media outlets in the Arab world should avoid using religious rhetoric to promote certain agendas and must actively be involved in raising the alarm on the dangers of using religion to justify political, social or economic actions, experts said Saturday.

Following the Arab Spring developments that started in early 2011, the number of media outlets using religious rhetoric rose significantly, some of which seek to sow the seeds of sedition and incite sectarian conflict, participants in the third Forum for Media Freedom Defenders in the Arab World said at a session on the issue.

The participants — who include media and legal experts, human rights activists and representatives of NGOs — noted that some media personnel ended up taking sides on certain issues instead of conveying a balanced image of unfolding developments.

“Religious rhetoric is used in some Arab states to justify government policies and practices... [and] to demonise the opposition,” Feisal Saleh, a journalist from Sudan, said.

“Religious speech is dominant not only in state media but also in independent media as well,” Saleh noted.

Kholod Fahed, a women’s rights activist from Saudi Arabia, expressed similar views, calling for holding accountable media outlets that promote sectarianism.

“Some satellite channels in the Arab world clearly seek to sow sedition and promote sectarianism. These channels should be sued,” Fahed said.

Participants in the session called for unified efforts by the entire community to prevent the usage of religious speech to promote intolerance, radicalism and the rejection of others. 

AMMAN — Media freedom defenders on Saturday called for more efforts to protect journalists across the Arab world and curb any violations that may prevent them from doing their work.

Participants in the third Forum for Media Freedom Defenders in the Arab World underlined the need for coordinated efforts among national and regional media entities, and NGOs to put an end to these violations, which range from killing journalists in some Arab states to kidnapping, assaults and preventing them from freely performing their duty.”The serious violations against media personnel did not disappear in spite of Arab Spring developments, and in some countries such as Egypt and Tunisia violations reached torture and inhumane treatment,” Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) President Nidal Mansour said at the forum’s main session.

Organised by CDFJ in cooperation with the Norwegian embassy, EREM News and Foundation for the Future, the forum attracted more than 350 journalists, activists and legal experts from across the Arab world and abroad.

“The focus is on reporting the major violations that media professionals face, but there are also other violations no less important, such as preventing access to information, interference, pressures and self-censorship,” Mansour noted.

Bakhtiar Amin, president of the Foundation for the Future, said the Arab world is marked by violations against public freedoms, especially freedom of the press and of expression.

“There is a need for enhanced legislation to provide more protection for journalists,” Amin added. 

Forum participants discussed several issues, including the independence of the media, and media and human rights.

One of the major challenges facing media in the region is the control of political powers who are not aware of international press standards, and who place pressure and restrictions on press freedom, participants said.

During the conference, which concludes on Sunday, participants will also discuss the future of online media, the role of artistic communities in defending freedom of speech, the post-2015 UN strategy to integrate media into development and other related issues.