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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday sent cables to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year.

The King expressed his best wishes to the Iranian people.

AMMAN — UNICEF, in partnership with the Education Ministry and Japan Emergency NGO (JEN), celebrated World Water Day at the Princess Alia Secondary School in Amman on Thursday.

Under the theme “Water Conservation and Hygiene”, the UN agency highlighted the need for greater investment in the water sector, especially in water conservation initiatives, given that Jordan is the third most water insecure country in the world, according to a UNICEF statement sent to The Jordan Times. 

“UNICEF is working closely with the Ministry of Education to ensure all children in Jordan benefit from improved washroom facilities at schools,” UNICEF Representative in Jordan Rozanne Chorlton said. 

“Thanks to the leadership and commitment of the government of Jordan, children in schools can enjoy access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation facilities,” she added.

Education Ministry Secretary General Sattam Awwad, JEN Officer in Charge Reem Amin, and the first secretary at the embassy of Japan, Norimasa Yoshida, attended the event.

With the support of the Japanese government and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, UNICEF and JEN are upgrading water and sanitation facilities in 200 schools in the Amman, Irbid, Maan, Mafraq and Zarqa governorates, reaching some 100,000 school-aged children, the statement said.

During the celebration, children at Princess Alia Secondary School performed dances, recited poetry, and participated in games and sketches about water, hygiene and water conservation. 

To encourage hygiene practices, gifts were given to the cleanest classrooms at end of the ceremony, according to the statement.

UNICEF and its partners have increased water conservation awareness among more than 110,000 schoolchildren in Jordan and plan to conduct assessments of water and sanitation services at schools in the seven remaining governorates in the Kingdom by the end of 2014, the agency said.

In addition, UNICEF supports the Water Ministry in rehabilitating and upgrading boreholes and water pumping stations, as well as providing new water trucks. 

Also, UNICEF and its partners deliver 4 million litres of water a day to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, the statement said.

AMMAN — As Jordanians are increasingly using social media networks for feedback when planning a trip, travel agencies and hospitality sector businesses should provide proper online content to attract customers, according to sector experts.

In Jordan, where there are over 3 million Facebook users and more than 70 per cent of smartphone holders access Facebook through their devices, people ask their friends on social media for suggestions when planning a vacation, the experts said at the MediaME Forum 2014, which concluded Wednesday.

“People resort to social media for reviews… travel agencies and businesses in the field need to give the right message and proper content for those planning to travel,” Omar Koudsi, co-founder of Jeeran.com, said at a session during the event.

Rajaie Haddad, digital marketing manager at the Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel, had similar views.

“Hotels need to keep fresh content on their websites and social media pages to keep customers informed,” Haddad said during the session.

“About 74 per cent of social media users ask their friends for an opinion or advice before they buy a service or a product. Social media is important for people and hospitality businesses need to increase their presence on such networks,” he noted.

The experts said social media users can determine the strength or weakness of a certain brand through the feedback they receive.

“If businesses in the field want to succeed, they need to focus on social media users as well as make their pages and sites easy to access by smartphone users,” Haddad said.

According to estimates by social media experts, some 100,000 Jordanians are on Twitter.

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission figures indicate that Internet penetration in Jordan reached 73 per cent at the end of 2013 with 5.3 million users. 

AMMAN — The United States remains deeply committed to providing the kind of life-saving assistance needed by the Syrian people and also to alleviating the burden on host communities in Jordan, a US official said on Thursday.

“We are extremely grateful and appreciative of the people of Jordan,” as both the people and the government have been “so courageous in providing help for Syrians”, said Nancy Lindborg — USAID assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.

Lindborg noted that the US is the second largest donor regionally in this crisis and the largest donor to the World Food Programme (WFP).

During her visit to Jordan, the US official said she visited Syrian refugees who are receiving assistance through the WFP in the form of a credit card, a new programme which was recently adopted.

She said the use of the credit card by Syrian refugees is a very important change in their lives because “they are able with much greater dignity to use this card to go shop for their families, when they have the need and to get what they need.”

“It’s been an extraordinary evolution in how we were able to provide assistance, and it also has a good benefit for Jordanian supermarkets and the economy in general,” Lindborg told reporters at a press conference at the US embassy in Amman.

She added that the supermarket she visited in Amman has had a 20 per cent increase in sales.

The official noted that the WFP has created about 350 jobs “mainly for Jordanians” and since the crisis, $140 million in cash has been injected into the Kingdom’s economy through assistance provided to the WFP.

“We understand it does not offset the entire burden but it helps, and benefits both the Jordanians and the Syrians,” Lindborg said. 

“We are also looking into other ways in which we can — in particular — provide assistance to the host communities through assistance in water, schools, [and] health so that the ongoing programme for Jordan has a little extra emphasis on host communities.”

Referring to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2139 that stipulated boosting humanitarian aid access in Syria, Lindborg explained that a report will be submitted on March 27 to the council and it will be an important opportunity to document “very precisely what gains have been accomplished and if none, ‘why not?’”

There is no excuse to disallow the assistance from reaching people who have been suffering, she added.

US Ambassador to Jordan Stuart E. Jones said his country is working on expanding the premises of 20 schools in the northern region as part of US support to Jordan’s education programme.

“Last year we gave $200 million in additional cash assistance to the Jordanian government… and we are also working on additional cash assistance” this year, Jones said at the press conference.

AMMAN — The vernal equinox took place on Thursday, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

On the first day of spring the sun crosses directly over the equator and day and night are of equal duration, meteorologist Saed Taha said on Thursday.

“The vernal equinox means the start of spring in the northern hemisphere and the start of the autumn in the southern hemisphere. Locally, it also marks the onset of khamsini weather conditions,” Taha told The Jordan Times.

The name is derived from “khamsin” — meaning 50 in Arabic — because it usually occurs during a 50-day time frame, from March 20 through May 9 or 10.

During this period, the Kingdom experiences multiple depressions bringing dusty and warm weather, the JMD meteorologist noted.

Khamsini weather conditions affect the eastern part of the Mediterranean an average of once a week. The hot, sand-laden winds, originating from the Atlas Mountains in north Africa, annually move east of the Mediterranean Sea around this time of year and are usually preceded by unseasonably high temperatures and dusty conditions.

Maximum temperatures during spring range between 22ºC and 27ºC, but gradually increase to 30.8ºC when summer starts on June 21, marking the longest day and shortest night during the year, according to the JMD.

Taha underscored that although winter ended on Thursday, rain is still expected during khamsini depressions.

“The period between March and early May brings 7 per cent of the country’s long-term annual average rainfall of 8 billion cubic metres,” he said, noting that in addition to the khamsini depressions, the country usually witnesses unstable weather conditions, which bring high temperatures and rain.

Unstable weather is forecast to affect the country on Sunday, when it will be warm with temperatures in Amman ranging between a high of 22ºC during the day and a low of 10ºC at night.

On Sunday night, clouds will start to form and scattered showers are expected in the southern and eastern regions, according to Taha, who added that showers are also forecast for Monday.

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) will hold several performances in downtown Amman on Friday to celebrate the inauguration of the revamped Hashemite Square, the Karameh Battle anniversary and Mother's Day. 

GAM urged the capital's residents to attend the event to strengthen the bond between them and the city, Mazen Al Farajeen, director of the GAM media centre, said on Thursday. 

"The celebration will include music and dance performances by the Bayt Ruwwad band, Zaha Centre and GAM. The municipality will also organise photo exhibitions," he added.  

The performances will be held at the square and at the Odeon near the Roman Theatre.

The Jordan Armed Forces band will start the day's shows with a parade from downtown Amman's Nymphaeum to Hashemite Square, which was renovated through a JD4.5 million project, according to Farajeen. 

The renovation included preparing the square to host activities, equipping it with fountains, and opening four cafés, a media centre and a restaurant, in addition to setting up a screen that displays the activities to be held at the nearby Roman Theatre and promotes the Kingdom's attractions. 

"We want to make downtown Amman the main destination for all Ammanis," Farajeen told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

The municipality has conducted maintenance work on several streets in the city centre in addition to removing several street vendors to make these roads more pedestrian-friendly, the GAM official said. 

GAM is currently implementing several renovation projects in the capital and holding campaigns to plant trees in parks and squares, according to the statement. 

AMMAN — CARE International in Jordan, in cooperation with the Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation, concluded the training of 40 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 on photography and communication skills on Wednesday.

The course, which started on March 1, benefited Jordanians, along with Iraqi, Syrian, Palestinian and Somali refugees.

The training aimed to help the teenagers use photography to express themselves, and their hopes and aspirations, according to a CARE International statement.

Photos taken by the beneficiaries were showcased at an exhibition entitled “Photos Can Talk”.

AMMAN — The University of Jordan’s (UJ) faculty of foreign languages recently announced a new MA programme in language, culture and communication.

The programme aims to qualify graduates to work at academic, commercial, humanitarian, local and international organisations, and to provide them with effective communication skills in the health, business, journalism and public relations, according to UJ.

 “This programme is international, interdisciplinary, and practical.

This is the first programme in the region which aims to build bridges of communication with international institutions,” said TurkiBani-Khaled, associate professor at the linguistics department.

AMMAN — Health Minister Ali Hiasat on Wednesday promised to study the demands of health insurance employees regarding their annual compensation and transportation allowance.

The ministry’s spokesperson, HatemAzrui, said the minister met with the director of the health insurance department, Khalid Abu Hdeib, and representatives of the department’s employees.

Hiasat listened to their demands after they organised a sit-in on Wednesday morning.

The half-hour-long sit-in was held to protest a Cabinet decision to stop disbursing annual compensations for employees.

They also urged the Health Ministry to go back on a decision to cancel employees’ transportation allowance.

AMMAN — Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs FadelHmoud on Wednesday met with Grand Mufti Abdul KarimKhasawneh to discuss means to activate an agreement signed recently between the two sides to enhance family stability.

Under the deal, the two sides will work to promote best practices in marriage and reproductive health through lectures and awareness campaigns, according to a statement.