Day: November 9, 2022

Minister of Tourism Nayef Fayez briefed travel stakeholders gathering in London on Jordan’s tourism recovery path from the Covid-19 pandemic fallout, saying that revenues have been improving since the start of 2022.

During a press conference held Wednesday by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) for media partaking in the World Travel Market (WTM) London, he spoke about low-cost flight’s contribution to the recovery and how Ryanair, Easy Jet, Wizz Air, and Transavia managed to increase flight capacities to the Kingdom. He also went over investment opportunities available in the tourism and hotel industry, mainly in southern Jordan.

For his part, JTB Director-General Abdul Razzaq Arabiyyat said: “Our goal is to achieve pre-pandemic visitor numbers,” while noting that Arabian Gulf tourist numbers during 2022 are higher than those recorded in 2019.

Some 4,500 tourists visit the city of Petra daily as well as 2,518 daily visitors to Jerash governorate – the highest since the pandemic – he continued, noting that such figures are a positive indicator for recovery.

Arabiyyat also highlighted the Jordan Pass, which provides hassle-free entry to over 40 of Jordan’s tourist attractions, campaigns by Expedia and Skyscanner to promote Jordan during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and incentives program for international trip organizers and charter flights.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The National Council For Family Affairs (NCFA) and UNICEF on Wednesday organized a consultative meeting on the action plan for child protection for 2023 and reviewed the key outcomes of cooperation between the two sides on child protection programs for 2018-2022.

Speaking at the meeting, NCFA Secretary-General, Mohammad Miqdadi, lauded UNICEF’s efforts and all partners, including national institutions and international organizations, with regard to the protection sector, in a way that enhances the concept of a participatory approach and joint cooperation.

Miqdadi also referred to the government’s latest and key achievements on the protection aspect, adoption of Child Rights Law, which is a cornerstone to protect children from violence, including the legal texts on child labor and school dropout.

The gov’t action also provided health care for children and secure places to play and other articles that guarantee safe childhood, calling on to steer focus on the “effective” preventive programs in ensuring protection for this group.

Miqdadi indicated that the national study on violence against children in Jordan, which was prepared by the NCFA, in cooperation with UNICEF, showed that children from the national sample in 8-17 years age group were exposed to physical violence at a 74.6% rate.

Results of the study also showed that 58.3 percent of the sample members were exposed to psychological violence and 27.3% suffered at least one form of sexual violence, he noted.

Meanwhile, 13.2% of the same group age were exposed reported at least one form of cyber-bullying, he noted.

For his part, Mariyampillai Mariyaselvam, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF, stated that this meeting with partners focuses on a presentation of the key achievements in the last five years under cooperation of Jordanian government and UNICEF, as well as the importance of benefiting from these steps when setting priorities for the coming years, hailing Jordan’s national achievements with regard to child protection.

Mariyampillai also stressed the role of dialogue among stakeholders involved in building forthcoming plans, to ensure that recommendations serve future aspirations in accordance with systematic frameworks.

A set of axes were discussed, including the focus of policies, strengthening the response system and child protection, in addition to awareness and preventive programs to protect against violence, Mariyampillai said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Princess Basma bint Ali, founder of the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, on Tuesday received Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Dr. QU Dongyu, and the accompanying delegation, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Khaled Hneifat.

Princess Basma hailed FAO’s “strategic” role and its continuous cooperation to support economic projects in Jordan’s flora sector.

Dongyu commended the model of Jordan’s botanical garden, describing it as “distinguished and picturesque,” adding that this Jordanian experience should spread across the world.

Meanwhile, RBG director general, Mohammad Shahbaz, gave a detailed presentation on the RBG’s facilities, as well as projects being implemented and the seed bank.

Her Highness and Dongyu toured the RBG’s venues.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh on Wednesday met with the Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu, and an accompanying delegation for a discussion on food and water security and climate change.

The meeting focused on Jordan’s relations with the UN agency as well as joint cooperation programs. In this regard, the Prime Minister thanked FAO for its assistance in developing Jordan’s national food security strategy and implementation plan, which was launched by the government in August.

Concerning food security, Khasawneh stated that Jordan has a strategic stockpile of basic commodities such as wheat and barley, which is sufficient to cover periods of time that are among the longest by global standards.

The premier went on to say that this stock contributed to mitigating the effects of the Corona pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on global food supply chains.

He also emphasized that Jordan is actively seeking to strengthen regional cooperation in food security and aims to become a regional hub for food security and related logistical and technical services.

In turn, the FAO director lauded Jordan’s efforts in the areas of food security and climate change response, stating that they are proceeding in accordance with established priorities and a systematic methodology.

He highlighted the organization’s initiatives and programs that it has implemented in its unrelenting pursuit of achieving food and water security and addressing the issues brought on by climate change.

Source: Jordan News Agency