Month: February 2023

Aqaba: Jordanian authorities and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to create new pond liners to help sustain a bird observatory in the southern Aqaba governorate.

The MoU was co-funded by USAID and the Jordanian government through the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), said a statement by ASEZA.

The agency pledged $1 million for the first stage of the Aqaba Bird Observatory development, and will also oversee and manage the project, while ASEZA will contribute JD400,000, it said.

The agreement will help protect the bird observatory, which houses water and green habitats that are a crucial pitstop for half a million migrating birds visiting the observatory annually and also a tourist attraction.

Chairman of ASEZA Nayef Fayez noted the importance of investing in the observatory to diversify Aqaba’s tourism product.

He added that 271 bird species, or 61 percent of registered birds, were spotted in the observatory despite its limited land space, making it an ideal destination for bird-watching.

USAID Acting Deputy Mission Director Emily Krunic said the agency is proud to expand partnership with authorities and companies in Aqaba to include the city’s natural heritage, pointing to 35-year-old ties between Jordan and USAID, mainly cooperation in the water sector.

The Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), and the Aqaba Water Company were also parties in the MoU.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: The Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) held a workshop on Digital Business Tools, bringing together the university’s Business School staff and students and the PSUT Elegant scholarship team, as well as a number of university professors and students at the Croatian University of Dubrovnik.

The workshop is part of the European Union’s Erasmus “ELEGANT” project and was organized by the Digital Research Center “CREDO,” tackling several topics: Digital Business Transformation, Digital Brand Management, Marketing Innovation, and the Future of Higher Education: Rankings and Accreditations.

On the sidelines of the workshop, the PSUT and Dubrovnik, Croatian UNIDU and Zagreb Croatian UNIZG signed two memoranda of understanding with the aim of strengthening cooperation in the academic and research fields and increasing student exchanges between the PSUT and Croatian universities. The MoUs were signed by PSUT president Wejdan Abu Elhaija and Vice-President of UNIDU Nebosha Borum and Vice-president for International Affairs for Institutional Cooperation of UNIZG Yurika Pavic.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) participated in the sixth edition of the Iraqi Tourism Forum in Baghdad.

The JTB’s pavilion included hotels, tourism and travel companies, and Jordanian hospitals.

Participation in the forum aims to enhance the promotion and marketing of the Jordanian tourism product, including medical and healing tourism, in the Iraqi market as one of the target Arab markets to the JTB, the board said Sunday in a statement.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: Public Security Directorate (PSD) Director Maj. Gen. Obaidallah Maaytah, on Sunday met with Ambassador of Germany to Jordan, Bernhard Kampmann, and his accompanying delegation.

The meeting covered ways to enhance police cooperation between the two countries, especially in capacity building and raising the efficiency of security and humanitarian services provided to citizens.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the PSD received a set of modern vehicles and equipment provided by the German government.

Maj. Gen. Maaytah said Jordan plays a leading role in combating crime and bringing about security and peace locally and internationally.

He added that the PSD continues to enhance ties with the German government, which are based on developing performance and building technical and training capabilities.

The PSD chief thanked the German government and lauded its role in supporting efforts to combat crime, and its contribution to establishing international peace and security.

In turn, the German envoy stressed the importance of the Jordanian role in maintaining regional security and stability.

He expressed the German government’s keenness to bolstering cooperation and coordination with the PSD, and supporting its security and humanitarian efforts by building technical and technical capabilities, and providing it with modern technical equipment.

The German grant included a number of vehicles to support police services, civil defense and emergency medical services, which comes as part of the cooperation between the German and Jordanian police within the German government’s “Empowerment and Enhancement Initiative”.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: At the invitation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Jordanian, Egyptian, Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. Senior Officials met in Aqaba, Jordan on February 26, 2023.

Following comprehensive and frank discussions, the participants announced the following:

1. The two sides (Palestinian and Israeli sides) affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them, and to work towards a just and lasting peace. They reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence.

2. The five parties recognize the importance of upholding unchanged the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem in word and practice, and emphasizes in this regard the Hashemite Custodianship/ special role of Jordan.

3. The Government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority confirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months.

4. The five parties agreed to convene again in Sharm El Sheikh in March to achieve the goals listed above.

5. The participants also agreed to pursue confidence-building measures and strengthen mutual trust in order to address outstanding issues through direct dialogue. The two parties will work in good faith to assume responsibilities and to enhance mutual trust through this arrangement.

6. Jordan, Egypt and the United States consider these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides, and commit to assisting and facilitating as appropriate their implementation.

7. The participants stressed the importance of the Aqaba meeting, the first of its kind in years. They agreed to continue meeting under this formula, maintain positive momentum and expand this agreement towards wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace.

8. The participants thanked Jordan for organizing and hosting this meeting and for its efforts to ensure it produced positive results. They also thanked Egypt for its support and essential role and active participation.

They also thanked the United States for its important role in efforts to reach understandings that led to this agreement today, emphasizing its indispensable role in efforts to prevent deterioration and find horizons for peace.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: Jordan’s National Centre for Culture and Arts (NCCA) won membership of Executive Board of the International Theater Association (ITI).

Jordan was elected during the 36th ITI World Congress meetings and Fujairah Theater Summit held from February 20 to 25 , which concluded its activities last Friday, and held under the theme: “We Unite for Humanity and Performing Arts”.

The NCCA, in a press statement released Sunday, took part in the event as representative of ITI UNESCO in Jordan, adding that its director, Lina al-Tal, highlighted the center’s achievements related to theatrical arts and festivals.

The center’s national team for interactive theater performed a play, titled: ” Life Cycle,” the statement noted.

To pick ITI Executive Board body, Jordan, represented by NCCA Director, Lina al-Tal, was elected as the first Arab woman since the association’s establishment, along with 11 members from Belgium, Croatia, Ghana, India, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Germany and Italy. Sudan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: Chairman of the Senate’s Committee for Arab, International Affairs and Expatriates, Hani Mulki, on Sunday discussed with Vice President of French Senate, Helene Conway, the region’s key political and economic developments following Arab Spring and political changes in the surrounding countries.

Mulki, in presence of French Ambassador to Jordan, Alexis Le Cour Grandmaison, spoke about joint tripartite cooperation between Jordan, Iraq and Egypt to enhance economic infrastructure and trade exchange to serve common interests.

Jordan, Mulki noted, is keen to build on Jordan’s good relations established by His Majesty King Abdullah II with all European countries, especially France, which have yielded multiple successful French investments in Jordan, including Lafarge and Orange Telecom.

Mulki said Jordanians back His Majesty’s support to Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights, foremost is their right to establish their independent state on June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as the only way to achieve comprehensive and just peace.

The world, he said, today is more aware of Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians, thanks to new media outlets and social platforms, which are accessible to all without exception.

Mulki called on collective action in Western and Arab-Islamic societies to heal the rift resulting from Islamophobia, which led to growth of Western hostility and contempt for Islam, stressing need to work to criminalize all extremist terror acts regardless of religion.

For her part, Conway noted France condemns and criminalizes any extremist terror act carried out by any party on French soil.

Conway also said her country is looking forward to strengthening relations and partnerships, especially with Middle East countries, led by the Kingdom, to achieve a better future for coming generations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: President of the Senate Faisal Fayez on Sunday met with the senator representing French citizens living overseas Helene Conway-Mouret to discuss ties and regional issues.

Fayez lauded the level of Jordanian-French relations in various political, economic and parliamentary fields, stressing the strength of relations, which “are based on mutual respect, joint cooperation, and agreement on many issues of common interest,” foremost of which is the need to find political solutions to various regional issues.

The meeting also tackled means to develop relations between Jordan and France and strengthen them in various fields, especially in the economic, investment, parliamentary and cultural areas. To that end, Fayez underscored the importance of activating bilateral agreements and increasing joint investments, pointing out that French investments in Jordan are successful and that Jordan has many investment opportunities and is a suitable and successful destination for new French investments, especially in the sectors of water, energy, transportation, medical and religious tourism.

For her part, Conway-Mouret lauded Jordan’s security and stability despite the surrounding conditions, and the pivotal role played by His Majesty King Abdullah II to end regional conflicts.

She underlined her country’s commitment to enhancing cooperation with Jordan in various fields and activating parliamentary relations between the two sides.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA)’s technical workers conducted lab tests for a total of 63,251 samples of foodstuffs, drugs and medical supplies during 2022.

In a statement on Sunday, JFDA’s Director General, Nizar Mhaidat, said 52,772 food, 7,530 drug, and 2,949 medical supplies samples were respectively conducted in the administration’s labs last year.

He added that the JFDA “successfully” passed 45 tests of lab-related efficiency samples during 2022, with a completion rate of 100% under the program to prove lab competency, he noted.

Meanwhile, he said JFDA control lab “successfully” passed requirements of the accreditation unit of Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO) and retained certification of its drug-affiliated lab’s Research and Development Division according to the international standards (ISO17025: 2017).

This process, he noted, aimed to ensure quality of lab reports and issue results with “high” accuracy, which are reliable in decision-making procedures that would guarantee safety and quality of food, drug and medical supplies.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: A workshop titled “Information Verification and Consensus,” held Sunday, tackled building a national system to monitor epidemics of communicable diseases.

Head of the Jordanian National Center for Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Control (JCDC) Raeda Qutb stressed the importance of the “Survey and Evaluation of Communicable Diseases Monitoring Systems in the Kingdom” project, which is being implemented by the center in cooperation with the IQVIA consultant company and with the support of the World Bank.

During the workshop, which was held to review the results of a JCDC and IQVIA report and pinpoint gaps in communicable disease monitoring systems, Qutb stressed that the project aims to lay out the information technology infrastructure of the national entities and stakeholders to monitor communicable diseases through the One Health Approach, their scope of work and their databases and data systems.

The project also highlights the skills required for a health information system to build a unified, integrated and efficient national platform for monitoring epidemics of communicable diseases, thereby contributing to a scientific analysis of data and variables and coming up with recommendations that help decision-makers and policy-makers to make appropriate evidence-based decisions on public health policies.

Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank Takahiro Hasumi said: “The Covid-19 pandemic and public health threats in Jordan and neighboring countries over the past three years have taught us the importance of efficient and timely monitoring systems,” stressing that accurate data are the basis of making informed and evidence-based decisions in responding to public health threats, including prevention, detection and management.

The workshop brought together officials from several ministries, including the Ministry of Health, the Jordanian Royal Medical Services, the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, and various relevant national and international health authorities.

Source: Jordan News Agency