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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah is scheduled to start a working visit to Germany on Tuesday, a Royal Court statement said on Friday.

During the visit, the King will hold talks with Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on means to bolster cooperation, as well as current regional developments, according to the statement.

King Abdullah is also slated to head to New York City, where His Majesty will head Jordan’s delegation at the 74th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

AMMAN — Senior representatives from international donors and financial institutions have met with the government in Amman to launch the Jordan Taskforce, a global coalition led by the government to support Jordan’s plans for economic transformation and follow up on pledges made at the London Initiative conference in February.

“Six months on from the high-level conference in London, hosted by the UK and Jordan governments, the taskforce provided an opportunity for Jordan to demonstrate the progress of its reforms, and for the international community to report on their support in implementing Jordan’s reform programme,” a statement from the UK government said on Thursday.

During the event, convened by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mohamad Al-Ississ, the group discussed the challenges and opportunities Jordan faces in trying to ensure growth and jobs, implement reform and deliver financial sustainability for the country, according to the statement.

Al-Ississ provided an update on the economic situation and progress towards the government’s priorities over the next five years.

The minister presented a diagnosis of Jordan’s macroeconomic situation, assessment of key risks and opportunities and the path to accelerating growth and job creation, including an overview of financing needs for next year, the statement said.

Donors responded by setting out their commitments to Jordan and their planned support for the implementation of the key reforms outlined in the Five-Year Reform Matrix.

The Jordan Taskforce was formed at the London Initiative conference in February of this year to provide a robust follow-up mechanism to track and report on progress against Jordan’s reform agenda, and the international community’s support to finance and implement these reforms.

The global coalition of partners is set to meet quarterly to ensure regular monitoring of Jordan’s progress, and lay the groundwork for the first six-month high-level roundtable, which will take place at the World Bank Annual Meetings in October, the statement added. 

The roundtable will agree on priorities based on the analysis of the quarterly meetings to deliver outcomes under the three pillars of the London Initiative; growth and reform, debt sustainability and investment.

“Jordan is committed to a path of accelerating growth momentum and job creation. It has successfully delivered reforms to ensure macroeconomic stability and is now keen to leverage that to attract investments and increase exports in both volume and sophistication,” Al-Ississ was quoted as saying during the launch meeting. 

“The London Initiative marked an inflection point in this path and the Jordan Taskforce is a key forum to ensure the international community is focused on supporting the reform programme that Jordan has developed and committed to,” he added.

UK Minister of State for the Middle East Andrew Murrison said that the London Initiative was an important moment in the UK’s partnership with Jordan and a “great opportunity to showcase the country’s potential and attract investment from around the world”.

“But the conference was just the start. The UK is committed to work with the country in the long term, supporting the government to implement reform and attract investors to help boost its economic growth,” Murrison added.

World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj noted that while there is much talk of Jordan’s challenges, including unemployment, debt and the continued impact of the situation in Syria, there are also immense opportunities. 

“This is especially true of the country’s dynamic youth population, Jordan’s greatest asset. The economic transformation which Jordan is leading aims at empowering them and giving them the chance to drive Jordan’s future growth,” the World Bank official added.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, on Thursday received US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, who is visiting Jordan as part of a regional tour.

Discussions at the meeting covered the strategic partnership between Jordan and the United States, as well as means of enhancing cooperation in various areas.

King Abdullah expressed appreciation for the support the US provides to Jordan in a number of fields.

The meeting covered recent regional developments, with His Majesty stressing the importance of uniting international efforts to reject all unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution, which is the only solution that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

Discussions also touched on means to reach political solutions to regional crises.

Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Al Khasawneh attended the meeting.

Schenker’s regional visit also includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Lebanon for discussions on security and economic issues with government and civil society leaders, a statement from the US embassy said.

"The United States and the American people are committed to the stability of Jordan and economic prosperity for the Jordanian people,” Schenker was quoted as saying in the statement.

Also on Thursday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti met with Schenker over the latest regional and international developments and discussed means to enhance military cooperation and coordination in a way that best serves the interests of both countries’ armies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Thursday checked on the readiness of King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba to accommodate the expected increase in visitors coming through low-cost carrier flights starting next month.

The Crown Prince toured facilities at the airport, established in 1972, and checked the procedures to process arrivals and departures, a Royal Court statement said.

His Royal Highness stressed the importance of maintaining the airport’s readiness, and facilitating procedures for travellers, which will reflect positively on Jordan’s image.

The Crown Prince was briefed on the airport’s development plan, which includes constructing a new building in light of increasing air traffic, thus attracting international companies and providing job opportunities, according to the statement. 

His Royal Highness had inaugurated the expansion of the airport’s arrivals terminal in 2013.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the number of tourists entering via King Hussein International Airport is expected to increase in the coming six months to reach 53,000 visitors, potentially generating JD23 million in tourism revenues. 

During the same period last year, 27,000 visitors came through the airport, generating JD11 million in revenue.

King Hussein International Airport will receive visitors from Cologne, Rome, Sofia, Athens, London, Berlin, Geneva, Venice, Milan, Copenhagen, Russia, Slovakia and France, the statement added.

AMMAN — Farmers expressed their “disappointment” and “surprise” regarding Iraq’s reception of their goods, saying they expected to play “a more important role” in Iraq’s post-war market.

“Iraq used to be one of our biggest markets, and then we lost it for a long while, but when the borders were reopened and more than 10 agreements were signed, we expected things to return back to normal,” said Ahmed Sawaeed, a member of the Ghour Farmers Union.

Sawaeed added that “not only has Iraq’s demand for our produce not picked up since the agreements signed in November of 2018, they have actually declined”.

President of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables Saadi Abu Hammad said in February that his sector was “still witnessing stagnant export rates after the reopening of both borders”, referring to the opening of the Jaber-Nasib crossing with Syria as well.

In an interview on Thursday, he said that he “still stands by that statement, as our exports to Iraq have declined by at least 40 per cent compared with the same period last year".

President of the Jordan Truck Owners Association Mohammad Dawood said his sector’s expectations were also “surprisingly defied”.

“We thought that we would be seeing Iraqi truck number plates flooding Amman carrying produce and goods back and forth every day. Unfortunately, that has not happened, and our trucks have not been flooding Iraq either,” he said in a phone interview with The Jordan Times.

According to Dawood, Iraq’s vegetables and fruit market has been served most by trucks carrying the produce from Syria and Iran, saying Jordan’s farmers and truck drivers have been left “little pieces” of the trade’s share.

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday urged the international community to take "effective and rapid" action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement regarding his intentions to annex Israeli settlements, built illegally on occupied Palestinian lands, and to impose Israeli authority over the West Bank’s Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea regions.

During a meeting with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to Jordan, Safadi called on the international community to take a "clear" stance and denounce the remarks, rejecting the announcement as a clear breach of international law and legislative decisions and escalation of regional conflict and violence.

Safadi noted that this is a “dangerous escalation that shatters the foundations of the peace process” and will lead to further violence and conflict in the region, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Talks also went over the "disastrous" consequences of the Israeli announcement on peacemaking efforts, highlighting that the implementation of the announcement would jeopardise the two-state solution, which is the only way to solve the conflict.

He urged the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia, the US, the UK, France and China — to take the needed measures to stop Israel's illegal unilateral measures, a step that would protect the international law and reserve the right to live in conditions of peace and security. 

In addition, he called for exerting “real efforts” to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, as the only way to achieve peace.

The announcement, among other Israeli unilateral measures that include the expansion of illegal settlements and the Israeli forces’ violations against Jerusalem’s holy sites, are a threat to regional and international peace and security, Safadi said, adding that this demands a “firm international stance” to confront the occupation’s undermining of peace and the peace process.

This meeting, aimed at building a decisive international stance to confront the Israeli Prime Minister’s announcement, is part of extensive diplomatic moves led by His majesty King Abdullah to mobilise international support for the Palestinians’ right to establish their independent state on their national soil, the statement added.

Later in the day, Safadi met with Luxembourg’s Minister of Immigration and Asylum Jean Asselborn, during which they discussed Israeli prime minister’s announcement regarding his intentions to annex Israeli settlements, built illegally on occupied Palestinian lands, and to impose Israeli authority on the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea regions, with Safadi stressing that it breaks international law and undermines peace efforts.

AMMAN — After being implemented in 100 public schools, benefitting 15,000 schoolchildren during the last academic year, UNICEF’s “Let’s Live in Harmony” literacy programme is working together with the Ministry of Education to expand the ICT-integrated project to reach more schools and children, according to a UNICEF official. 

The “Let’s Live in Harmony” multimedia literacy project was designed to improve literacy capabilities of refugee and Jordanian children between the ages of five and 10 in double-shift schools, equipping students with grade-appropriate stories via “Android open-source technology accessed through tablets provided to schools”, according to UNICEF Jordan’s website. 

The programme is run by UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of Education, implemented by Integrated International and supported by UK Aid, UNICEF Jordan Education Specialist Rana Kawar told The Jordan Times in an e-mail interview on Wednesday. 

Materials for the project, comprising a library of 100 stories, were designed to complement the national curriculum by developing critical thinking and communication skills and fostering respect and teamwork among students from KG to third grade. The materials were created in a digital, interactive format to be administered via tablets during a weekly extracurricular class, according to the education specialist.

Through the support of the Queen Rania Centre for Education and Information Technology, 400 teachers were trained last year to administer the curriculum and lead supplementary classroom activities to help students practise and reinforce behaviours and skills covered in the materials, Kawar indicated.

After an initial trial run in 10 pilot schools, UNICEF implemented “Let’s Live in Harmony” in 100 schools throughout the Kingdom for the 2018-19 academic school year.

Kawar noted “extremely promising” results from the project, stating that an initial assessment showed “an increase in literacy performance, awareness of social cohesion vocabulary, and an increase in social and collaborative behaviour among Syrian and Jordanian children attending double-shift schools”. 

She also mentioned that the organisation recorded “significantly improved reading outcomes across second-and-third grade students by 30.4 per cent, regardless of their sex or shift, and with a dosage of once a week over one semester”. 

Additionally, “students gained an additional five words on average throughout the semester, as assessed by the Rapid Assessment for Reading Skills”.

The project received positive feedback from students, teachers and administrators alike. Rayyan, a seven-year-old student, said: “I like to use the tablet, it has pictures, animations, other things and songs and it is useful for our studies.” 

Teacher Suad Nayef noted that the weekly session was “fun, interactive and attractive for students, [providing] them with information in an accessible way”, Kawar noted in the interview.

Asmaa Doughmi, principal of Khalda Secondary School, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday that the weekly “activity class” for the first and third grades was “well enjoyed” by all students who participated within the school, including Iraqis, Libyans, Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians.  

“They improved,” she said. “There was a progress in their reading.” The only challenge, she noted, was the lack of sufficient tablets. “They had to wait their turn.”

UNICEF’s Kawar also pointed to this problem, stating that “the use of technology in education remains to be a costly solution”. 

Currently, she said, UNICEF is “looking at alternative options, exploring the availability of infrastructure inside the schools and building on existing technology programmes within the Ministry of Education”.

Doughmi indicated that a re-run of the programme would be well-received, saying that her school as yet has no formal plan to implement it this year, but “we hope to”.

According to Kawar, the current goal is to integrate the programme “within its strategic direction to support the Ministry of Education in improving the learning outcomes of all children in Jordan and [re-enforce] the use of technology in education, in line with the Ministry of Education’s strategic plan 2018-2022.”

“We hope to build on the success of the programme and achieve similar, if not better results.”

JERASH — With summer nearing its end, environmental activists are calling for talks with the government regarding the development of Jerash forests.

“We can conclude from the experience of many this summer that the forests are extremely unequipped and neglected, and that is the opinion of both locals and tourists,” said Mastoora Smadi, a worker in the Jerash Tourism Department.

The hundreds of dunums that make up the forests are “without bathrooms and benches, having very few trash bins as well”, pointed out Smadi.

Jerash forests are a destination for “many families who want an open space to have a lovely time over a barbeque, or tourists who want to explore the area”, Jerash Municipality Member Mohammed Zreigat told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He added, “given that the forests receive special attention from people not only in the north but beyond it, there should be a bigger part of the municipality’s budget attributed to it.”

The Jerash forests have been facing problems other than just a lack of public facilities. In the winter, the forests face illegal logging.

“Given the low budget allocations, there is very little to no monitoring in these forests. Especially at night, no one guards them — which means anyone can easily cut up trees and load them in a truck to be sold or used personally for fireplaces,” added Zreigat.

Ministry of Environment Spokesperson Essa Shboul said that the ministry is “aware of the littering and the illegal logging.”

He added: “The ministry has very little money assigned to it, so the places we oversee also receive minimal funding as a consequence. However, we are trying to attract funding from environmentally concerned donors.”

Shboul mentioned that the Jerash and Ajloun forests will be getting “new benches, new trash bins, and new forest guards” as of January 2020.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah has sent a cable to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the occasion of his country’s independence day.

In the cable, King Abdullah wished the president continued good health, and the people of Mexico further progress and prosperity, according to a Royal Court statement.

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti on Thursday received Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang at his office, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Huneiti and the ambassador discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations in service of the two countries’ armed forces. The Chinese military attaché in Amman also attended the meeting, according to Petra.