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AMMAN — Jordan ranked 75th among world countries in the “Social Progress Index 2014” issued this week.

The index, compiled by a team of economists led by Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School in the US, is designed as an alternative to traditional measures such as the gross domestic product, which is based on purely economic standards.

New Zealand topped world countries in the index, followed by Switzerland and Iceland.

The index, which measures a country’s performance in three main categories, ranked Jordan 49th in the Basic Human Needs indicator, 94th in the Foundations of Well-being and 93rd in the Opportunity index.

The Kingdom trails behind the region’s countries in the health and wellness indicator, which is part of the foundations of well-being, scoring 67.84 points in this category that is regionally led by Algeria with 79.65 points.

According to the index, of the issues covered by the Basic Human Needs dimension, Jordan does best in areas such as water and sanitation, and has the greatest opportunity to improve human well-being by focusing more on personal safety. 

“Jordan excels at providing building blocks for people’s lives such as access to basic knowledge but would benefit from greater investment in ecosystem sustainability,” the report said. 

In the Opportunity dimension, Jordan “outperforms” in providing opportunities for people to improve their position in society and scores high in personal freedom and choice, yet falls short in personal rights.

The index ranked the United Arab Emirates as first regionally in social progress (37th), followed by Israel (39th) and Kuwait (40th).

The lowest scores are for Yemen (125th) and Iraq (118th). 

The Arab Spring countries of North Africa scored lowest on the Opportunity dimension, according to the index.

Economic development is necessary but not sufficient for social progress, the report said. A country’s overall level of development masks social and environmental strengths and challenges, it added. 

AMMAN — Seventeen human trafficking cases involving 71 victims were registered in Jordan 2013, according to a report released on Thursday.

The report indicated that 54 males and 27 females fell victim to the crime of human trafficking last year.

The Anti-Human Trafficking National Committee’s first report for the years 2009-2013 indicated that 12 human trafficking cases were recorded in the Kingdom in 2012, 29 cases in 2011 and 26 cases in 2010.

Statistics on human trafficking by type of offence in this period mainly involved forced labour of domestic helpers and labourers, sexual exploitation and cases related to children.

The report is a self-assessment of the procedures adopted by the Kingdom to combat human trafficking from 2009 to 2013 after the enactment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Law, according to the Anti-Human Trafficking National Committee.

“Jordan has accomplished much in this regard, however, there are a number of future challenges that must be addressed,” the report indicated.

The first challenge is continuing efforts to effect change in common societal beliefs, behaviours and stereotypes about forced labour and recruitment of workers, and employment in legal and illegal occupations against their will.

The second challenge is confronting the dangers posed by the mass influx of refugees to Jordan, which include the risk of increased rates of trafficking in persons, crimes for purposes of forced labour and sexual exploitation.

Other challenges the country faces in its quest to combat human trafficking, according to the report, is providing financial resources for the establishment of shelters for victims as well as training judicial and law enforcement bodies to recognise the crime of human trafficking and its elements, and conducting periodic reviews of related legislation.

Also on Thursday, the Anti-Human Trafficking National Committee launched its website.

Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni, who heads the committee, said during the launch ceremony that victims of human trafficking crimes can now lodge their complaints via the website (www.ahtnc.org.jo), and authorities will investigate the reported cases.

Talhouni noted that combating human trafficking is a global and national responsibility, underscoring that the phenomenon is rapidly growing around the world.

Earlier this year, the Council of Ministers approved a decision to turn a Social Development Ministry building into a shelter for victims of human trafficking. The 2,000-square-metre ministry building is currently under rehabilitation for this purpose.

Jordan enacted an anti-human trafficking law in March 2009.

The Kingdom has also ratified the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and its supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

GHOR AL MAZRAA — It only took 14-year-old Khaled Mohammad three hours to learn the basics of creating wire cars. 

Now, an expert in his local neighbourhood, Mohammad can confidently claim that he is a master of this specialised craft. 

It was through simply observing his neighbour devotedly create toy cars out of ordinary wire that initially sparked Mohammad’s interest.

He decided then and there that he too would be a master of this craft, and would therefore similarly fascinate others as he had been fascinated. 

Due to his continued dedication to this hobby, the teenager can easily tailor his craft to his customers’ needs, creating any kind of toy vehicle they wish for. 

“Now my neighbour cannot make the same vehicles I make,” he told The Jordan Times, smiling as he sat intricately crafting a car for a client.  

Handmade toy cars, though considered quaint nowadays, were one of the most popular toys for children across Jordan in the past. 

“Mohammad is simply gifted,” said Rabee Zureikat, founder of the Zikra initiative, a programme to facilitate exchange between Amman residents and those of the Jordan Valley, particularly Ghor Al Mazraa.

He added that Mohammad used to wait for him so he could proudly show him and the area’s visitors his handmade labours of love. 

Mohammad claims that he is one of only five people in Ghor Al Mazraa who can replicate this age-old skill, attributing this to the fact that many residents feel too embarrassed to associate themselves with such basic toys. 

Zureikat also noted that modernity has had a negative impact on this childhood hobby. 

“Most children like to buy toys instead of making them. This is because people label such toys as being ‘primitive’,” he told The Jordan Times.

However, this sentiment seems to bypass Mohammad, who noted that making handmade cars is all he does after school. 

“I used to create one car a day. After I got used to it, I began making three cars a day,” he added. 

The designs of the cars he chooses to mould into shape are purely from his imagination. 

“I remember most car designs I make. But, if anyone wants to have a car based on a specific model, I am able to create it for him,” he noted. 

Mohammad voiced hope that his hobby might have the potential to be a business opportunity for him.

“One person from Amman bought a car I made for 35JD,” he said. 

Zureikat said he will help Mohammad market his creations in the capital. 

“I will work on collecting his products and exhibiting them in a place in Amman so that he can turn his hobby into a viable source of income.”  

For his part, Mohammad continues to breathe life into this craft by teaching his relatives his skills, therefore keeping this tradition alive in the community.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents on Thursday were looking for a man who had a stash of illegal narcotics and weapons in his tent in the Eastern Badia, official sources said.

A search of the suspect’s tent yielded 11 handguns and 15 pump action guns, Public Security Department Spokesperson Major Amer Sartawi said.

AND agents arrested another man during a raid on a second tent in the Halabat area in the Eastern Badia.

“Upon searching the tent agents recovered one kilogramme of hashish, 5,500 narcotic pills and a loaded weapon,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The raids were conducted after receiving a tip that there were illegal drugs and weapons in two tents in the area, according to Sartawi.

“We have identified the second suspect and we will hopefully arrest him,” the police official said.

Last year, 8,945 suspects were involved in around 6,504 drug cases, according to AND officials.

AMMAN — The National Library Department (NLD) confiscated around 20,000 pirated DVDs, CDs and books in the first quarter of 2014, a 33 per cent drop compared to the same period in 2013, NLD Director General Mohammad Abbadi said on Thursday.

“The drop in the number of confiscated items is attributed to a huge decline in pirated music DVDs and CDs on display at stores… A majority of people have smartphones and download songs on their devices,” Abbadi told The Jordan Times.

“What we also noticed since the beginning of this year is that the number of movie DVDs and CDs available at stores has declined sharply as people can easily download movies from the Internet, which also caused a decline in the number of seized items,” he explained.

The majority of available pirated CDs and DVDs at present are PlayStation games, according to Abbadi.

During the first quarter of this year, the NLD referred 120 cases of intellectual property rights (IPR) violations to court, he said.

Meanwhile, Abbadi announced that 80 per cent of private sector organisations, schools and associations had “rectified their situation” and now use original software.

“This percentage is higher than any other country in the region. The fact that 80 per cent of private sector entities rectified their situation and use original software will play a key role in reducing the software piracy rate in Jordan for this year,” the NLD director general noted.

Warning against the use of pirated software, Abbadi said it poses several risks to businesses and individuals.

In a statement e-mailed to the Jordan Times Thursday, Microsoft Jordan said enterprises worldwide are expected to spend nearly $500 billion in 2014 to deal with issues caused by malware deliberately loaded onto pirated software, citing a joint study conducted by the International Data Corporation and the National University of Singapore.

The study — titled “The Link Between Pirated Software and Cybersecurity Breaches” — also revealed that 60 per cent of consumers surveyed say their greatest fear from infected software is the loss of data, files or personal information, followed by unauthorised Internet transactions (51 per cent) and hijacking of e-mail, social networking and bank accounts (50 per cent). 

The study was released as part of Microsoft’s “Play It Safe” campaign, a global initiative launched annually on March 19 to create greater awareness of the connection between malware and piracy.

It indicated that 43 per cent of the survey respondents do not install security updates, leaving their computers open to attacks by cybercriminals.

According to the NLD, the government loses about JD5 million annually in revenues, as traders of pirated items do not pay taxes or fees.

Software piracy in Jordan currently stands at 58 per cent, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global Information Technology Report.

The Jordanian Copyright Law stipulates that it is a crime to download software, music or movies that are protected under the legislation.

Offenders face a prison sentence of between three months and three years and a fine ranging from JD1,000 to JD6,000. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah donated blood at the National Blood Bank on Thursday.

On the Royal Court's Twitter account, the King wrote: "There are many ways to volunteer & help others in #Jordan. I just visited the Blood Bank at Al Hussein Medical City & donated a unit".

AMMAN — Seven people were killed and four others injured on Wednesday in a road accident in Aqaba, official sources said.

The accident, which occurred at around 6:30pm near Gate 5 in the Port of Aqaba, involved two vehicles with Jordanian and Saudi licence plates that were heading towards Saudi Arabia, a senior Civil Defence Department (CDD) official told The Jordan Times.

“One of the vehicles was speeding downhill and slammed into the second vehicle from the rear,” the CDD official added.

The strong impact caused the second vehicle to fall over the bridge and land on the lower street, the official noted.

Seven people died on the spot and four others were injured, most of them in critical condition, according to the CDD official, who added that four of the people who died were Jordanians.

“We have three unidentified bodies and are working to identify them. It was a horrific accident and horrific scene,” the official said. 

Police said they are investigating the incident.

Around 11,004 accidents associated with human injury were registered in 2012, according to official figures.

The number of road-related deaths in Jordan stood at 816 in the same year. Overall, there were 17,143 injuries related to traffic accidents in the country.

Road accidents over the past decade have killed 7,869 people and injured 171,143 in the Kingdom, according to Public Security Department estimates.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed that the essence of the National Integrity Charter lies first and foremost in justice, equality and transparency.

During a meeting Wednesday with the chairman and members of Royal commission tasked with evaluating and following up on the implementation of the Executive Plan of the National Integrity Charter, the King urged full implementation of the recommendations listed in the charter with utter impartiality and transparency.

The King also said that the Royal commission and other concerned specialised panels should provide accurate information to citizens with complete transparency, noting that the availability of information is a major component of Jordan’s reform endeavour, according to a Royal Court statement.

The Monarch also urged the commission to reach out to all concerned institutions in the public and the private sectors and civil society organisations as it carries out its mission.

Chairman of the commission, Rajai Muasher, presented a briefing on the tasks and action plan of the panel for the next stage, saying that periodic reports will be drafted on achievements and progress in the implementation of the recommendations.

These reports, he added, will include notes on the progress made by each stakeholder and the reasons for delay, if any, along with suggestions on how to address to overcome such impediments. 

The panel’s president noted that the executive, legislative and judicial authorities, along with oversight agencies, professional associations and civil society organisations are the key partners in efforts to translate the charter and its plan into facts on the ground.  

The Executive Plan was endorsed by a national conference held last year, and in December, the King attended a ceremony to launch both documents, where 2,000 officials, community leaders and representatives of various sectors were present.

The charter addresses major public concerns while its Executive Plan includes a detailed framework and timeline to complete a set of projects and laws to boost national integrity and prevent corruption.

The approved plans and programmes address financial corruption and set guidelines to safeguard public money and assets, uproot corruption in the wider sense of the word and improve services offered to citizens.

Members of the Royal commission are: Hamza Ahmad Haddad, the president of the Economic and Social Council, the president of the board of trustees of the National Centre for Human Rights, Abdul Majeed Thneibat, Abla Abu Olbeh, Wadah Barqawi and Bassem Tweissi.

AMMAN — The State Security Court sentenced on Wednesday the ringleader of a jihadist group and five others to life in prison for an alleged terror plot targeting a series of sites including the General Intelligence Department (GID) headquarters.

In a 128-page decision issued on Wednesday, the tribunal sentenced Kataeb Al Tawheed (battalions of monotheism) leader Azmi Al Jayousi and five other citizens to life with hard labour for “conspiracy to commit terrorist acts” and the “illegal possession of explosives and automatic weapons” as part of a foiled terror plot in 2005. 

In the decision, handed down in a session presided over by Judge Ahmed Tarawneh, the court also sentenced two co-conspirators to 15 years in prison for their role in the scheme, which targeted a series of Western diplomatic missions and the GID headquarters, according to the charge sheet.

The court documents said the convicts collected various chemicals and explosive materials over a year-and-a-half period in a bid to produce over 20 tonnes of explosives to carry out a planned truck bombing of the GID headquarters in west Amman.

According to expert witness testimony quoted in the court decision, the group had produced enough explosives to “completely destroy” the intelligence headquarters and all surrounding buildings in a four-kilometre radius.

The court alleged that the accused, all members of Al Qaeda-linked group, received support and direction from former Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Mussab 

Zarqawi, the mastermind of the 2005 Amman hotel bombings and several foiled terror plots targeting Jordan.

Jayousi, a former prominent figure in the hard-line Jihadi Salafist movement, was an alleged expert in explosives due to his time as a fighter in Afghanistan, according to Islamist sources. 

AQABA — Aqaba Civil Defence Department (CDD) personnel held an exercise on Wednesday that covered procedures to deal with a fire and a partial collapse of a chemical factory.

The drill scenario involved chemical leaks due to the fire and efforts to rescue workers trapped in the building.

CDD personnel dealt with these accidents according to standard procedures, administering first aid to the injured before taking them to nearby hospitals.

CDD Director General Lt. Gen. Talal Kofahi, Aqaba Governor Fawaz Irsheidat and other officials attended the drill.