July 28 2004

Teen Health In Jordan

In a bid to counter the lack of information currently available to teenagers about sensitive health issues, the Ministry of Health and UNICEF Adolescents Project has developed an interactive training manual to be used by teenagers to train their peers starting next month in Jordan.
The manual covers a variety of teen health-related subjects, including traditionally sensitive areas such as drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS and family planning, while also providing the methodology for dealing with these difficult issues.
The manual merges scientific information from the Health Ministry with UNICEF’s input on basic life skills, and also draws on information gathered from focus groups with young people. It is divided into three main sections that deal with the physical, physiological and emotional development of young people, with the emphasis on changing behavioural patterns that can negatively affect teen health.
More Details

July 19 2004

UNIFEM Launches “Progress of Arab Women 2004” Report

Besides my interest in following up the progress of Arab women in all fields, this Report in particular means so much to me. If I were still in Jordan and in my job, I’d be the researcher working on this project, but hard luck for me 🙁
Anyway, whether I took part in it or not, this report is so important and helpful, and I think it’s worth discussing.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) report: “Progress of Arab Women 2004,” which aims to provide an insight into the world of Arab women and the progress achieved throughout the years, revealed that while women make up 49 per cent of the population in Arab countries only 28 per cent were in the active workforce, making these figures the lowest of any region in the world. On the other hand the report acknowledges and emphasizes the number of successful professional women in executive positions in a variety of Arab countries and also notes the increase in Arab women’s representation in national parliaments, the establishment of the Arab women’s organizations and the rising role of NGOs.
Three levels of action in the region are investigated towards women’s empowerment in the report: The policy level where international commitments are being made, the operational plans and actions at the national level, and the achievements and challenges in terms of the everyday lives of women.
The report also reflects the experience of Arab women in the context of social, economic and political security in a region that continues to face traumas and insecurities including radical social transformations, demographic transitions, poverty, resource shortages as well as occupation, war and civil strife.
The three key elements of social security proposed are Revisiting family codes and state practices which make women’s citizenship contingent on family relations, reforming welfare regimes so that they accommodate the needs of women, and regulating labour markets with gender sensitive and flexible mechanisms.
Economic security, as introduced in the report, refers to the need to protect people through the provision of job opportunities, a secure income, economic rights, and effective participation in economic life.
Education, training, microfinance and access to other loan and financial resources have been identified as means for enhancing women’s opportunities for income generation.
The chapter on “securing politics” reexamines possible explanations for the low political participation of women in Arab states, since “the number of Arab women involved in politics is still far from representative of their population in society.”
Some of the obstacles, according to the report, include lack of support and guidance necessary for women to reach decision making positions and lack of knowledge and understanding of political rights and responsibilities.
The report, marking the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Conference, is expected to serve as a mapping tool for Arab countries to review the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Her Majesty Queen Rania acted as patron at the report’s launching ceremony, which was attended by ministers, and representatives of NGOs, UN agencies, embassies, the media and universities. At the end of the ceremony, Abu Ghazaleh, UNIFEM Regional Director,presented Queen Rania, president of the Arab Women’s Summit, with a copy of the report, marking its launch from Jordan and highlighting the great strides the country has taken in the area of women and development.
Source: The Jordan Times.

July 19 2004

Youth of Jordan: Express Yourselves!

Around 120 Jordanian youth met senior officials and business leaders this week to explore ways of enhancing their engagement in the country’s social, economic and political life. Addressing concerns raised by the youth at the end of their two-day forum in the Dead Sea, King Abdullah of Jordan told students they should express themselves freely at all times and encouraged university students to continue expressing their views and concerns to government officials without fear or reservation.
Students say they are hesitant in arguing with their university professors for fear of getting a low grade or being “humiliated” or “told off.”
“The King said we have to do away with these fears, follow our own track and freely express ourselves,” said Abdullah Tayfour, a 4th year computer engineering student at the Hashemite University. “I believe that our contribution to such national dialogue was important and the extent of freedom to which we have been able to express ourselves was a great leap,” he added.
The students called for ensuring a “safer and more secure environment” to foster their participation in the country’s political life, efforts to eliminate fanaticism, greater involvement in higher educational reforms, providing incentives to empower women.
More Details

July 9 2004

MUD

The Youth Dance Theatre Troupe of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation’s Performing Arts Centre (PAC) will perform “MUD: Motion, Unmasking and Dilemma” tomorrow evening.
The theatre performance will explore our nation’s boundaries, existence and identity, and reality and illusions, according to PAC statement. The group will be representing Jordan in the “Contacting the World Theatre Project” which falls under the British Council’s “Connecting Futures” initiative.
The programme aims to build mutual understanding, learning and respect between young people with different cultural backgrounds in the UK and other countries around the world, according to a British Council statement. Details .

May 31 2004

Global Water Management Conference

Around 1,000 water experts from more than 30 countries are taking part in the five-day global conference for water management, which was opened yesterday in Jordan. The conference aims at finding the best policies and most efficient ways of using water and saving water resources from being wasted.
According to the Minister of Water and Irrigation, the amount of water available for personal use will drop noticeably by year 2025, whereas the capital investments in developing water supplies would increase to around the double, which is not affordable. Therefore, and to fulfill the requirements, Jordan will be reducing household water losses in order to save around 100 million cubic meters (mcm) by 2050; enhancing the efficiency of agricultural and irrigation policies, and minimizing groundwater over-pumping in order to save another 90mcm a year.
The conference is funded by the US Agency for International Development through its Water Efficiency and Public Information for Action Program.
Details

May 28 2004

The Marriage of Their Royal Highnesses

His Majesty King Abdullah II hosted a grand reception in celebration of the marriage of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Hamzah and Princess Noor Hamzah. The guests included royal families from Europe and the Arab world, gathered for the garden party held at Zahran Palace in Jabal Amman to await the arrival of the Royal couple.
Congratulations 🙂
Details & Photos are available at the following links: Jordan Times(English) , Al-Rai(Arabic) , Addustour(Arabic) .

Category: Jordan | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 17 2004

World Economic Forum In Jordan 2004

3 weeks after the Aqaba Summit, Jordan hosted the World Economic Forum 2004 from 15- 17May, in the Dead Sea, with the Slogan: “Facing the Real Challenges: Partnering for Change, Peace and Development”.
Headlines of the forum were: globalization, stabilizing the political situation in the Middle East, fighting poverty and improving the economical situation in the region.
More than 1200 politicians and businessmen participated in the Forum.
I have watched a part of King Abdullah’s speech, and must say it was pretty impressive. He discussed the Palestinian and Iraqi issues and stressed the need to solve the problems in the Middle East in the most efficient way that will bring justice and peace into the region.
On the other hand, there were people who weren’t happy with having the Forum hosted in Jordan, saying it’ll have negative results on the country in the long run.
The forum was carried out with the highest security precautions, guaranteeing the success of this forum. For more information about the forum check here: English and Arabic .

April 27 2004

Jordan Saved From A Toxic Cloud

Jordanian authorities have broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan’s capital, Amman.
The plot would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done before, including the September 11 attacks. The plot was within days of being carried out, Jordanian officials said, when security forces broke it up April 20.
In a nighttime raid in Amman, Jordanian security forces moved in on the terrorist cell. After the shooting stopped, four men were dead. Jordanian authorities said. They said at least three others were arrested, including Azmi Jayyousi, the cell’s suspected ringleader, whom Jordanian intelligence alleges was responsible for planning and recruiting.
On a confession shown on state-run Jordanian television, Jayyousi said he took orders from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a suspected terrorist leader who has been linked to al Qaeda and whom U.S. officials have said is behind some attacks in Iraq.
The targets were the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister’s office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence.
“According to my experience as an explosives expert, the whole of the Intelligence Department will be destroyed, and nothing of it will remain, nor anything surrounding it,” Jayyousi said.
Details of the alleged plot were shown yesterday on the Jordanian television, including graphics of how the cell apparently intended to carry out the attack.
In an videotape shown on Jordanian TV, Hussein Sharif said Jayyousi recruited him as a suicide bomber.
“The aim, Azmi told me, was to execute an operation to strike Jordan and the Hashemite Royal family, a war against the crusaders and infidels,” Sharif said. “Azmi told me that this will be the first chemical attack that al Qaeda will execute.”
Jordanian authorities said the attack would have mixed a combination of 71 lethal chemicals, which they said has never been done before, including blistering agents to cause third-degree burns, nerve gas and choking agents. For more details ClickHere
I have seen Azzam Jayyousi’s confession last night, and I must say that I felt like blowing up the T.V. I mean he was so cold-blooded, he talked as if he was going to kill a mosquito or something. And then he was like: “I thought by doing this I’ll be serving God, and that even if I got killed I will directly go to heaven”. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO GIVE A SHITTY PICTURE OF ISLAM.
Islam has nothing to do with this, and what I loved about the Jordanian authorities is that they have interviewed Muslim “sheikhs” of mosques and universities, and they have all agreed that killing in the name of Islam is the worst thing anyone can ever do. And they have proved by Islamic Sharee’a (teachings, rules and instructions of Islam) that whoever kills a person, it’s as if they have killed all humanity, and whoever saves a soul, is as if they have saved all humanity. Therefore whoever kills a Muslim on purpose, and whoever kills an innocent person will be heading straight to hell where he’ll be burnt over and over again.
THER WERE GOING TO KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE, I mean for God’s sake could you please save us the stupidity and please do something good in your lives. Why attack Amman? You’re not happy with their strategies? Not happy with the system there? So if we’re not happy then we kill and get rid of all those who we disagree with? Is that what our prophet was suffering to teach us? Is there no other way to negotiate but with bombing and killing? Have we forgotten that religion is all about bringing peace to the world, have we forgotten that Quran asked us to be constructive, to build, to add to the world’s improvement, not the opposite. Or is it that you have your own rules and your own religion and love to call it Islam!! Have you forgotten that one good thing brings 10 times the reward, and one bad thing brings10 times the punishment and disgrace!
Did you forget that even in war Muslims are not allowed to kill children, women, old people, animals and plants of the enemy?! And now you want to burn a whole city and let them suffer for generations not caring about all the innocent people who are going to be lost. So it’s ok to kill who you disagree with even if that meant losing your family and the good people who can add to the construction of society more than you with your corrupted heads will!
Thing twice before doing anything, and please read the Quran, and study the Islamic religion well, and most important of all that, please stop covering yourselves with Islam, coz Islam is innocent, peaceful and have so many ways of bringing happiness and well being to societies without harming a bee.

For Information in Arabic you can check Addustour and Aljazeera

March 16 2004

Jordan Leads The Child Safety Program In The Arab World

Children, the blossom of life, the base of society, the past us, and the future generation. It’s them who give this life a taste and it’s to them we owe our happiness. They are the most important as they are the ones to build on what we already built, add to what we’re adding, and maybe destroy what we’ve spent centuries building. Yes, the children absorb what we offer. If we offer them good treatment, care, love and stability, they’ll grow to be constructive, responsible and mature members of society. If we did them wrong and took away their rights from them, then we’ll end up having pathetic fearful persons, or violent criminals. Therefore and from this belief in the importance of children, her Majesty Queen Rania launched the Jordan River Children Program in 1997. A program that cares for the well being of children and supports families in their task of nurturing children.
And recently, in the end of February 2004, Jordan hosted the first Arab Conference of the International Society for Child Protection. As a result Jordan started out its Child Safety Program, in an attempt to preserve the rights of children and solve all their problems. The main concern of the program is to protect the children from physical and sexual abuse that might be practiced on them through their parents, or relatives or outsiders. It also reveals all ways, symptoms and reasons for the abuse, as well as offer help to the families, different levels of legal punishment to the parent and shelter to the child. Above all this the program covers the medical treatments of children who are subject to abuse and insures the psychological treatment for both the child and the parent.
The Child Safety Program works along with the ministries of Social Development, Health and Education, and the Family Protection Unit of the Public Security Directorate, providing all kinds of relevant and needed services.
The program operates through two existing centers that are maximizing their available resources and facilities to meet their goals and serve the community: The Dar Al-Aman (Child Safety Center), which is the first in Jordan and the Arab world. The duty of this center is to temporarily shelter and to offer psychological, medical, social and educational care for children victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect. And the Jabal Al-Naser Prevention Center to increase awareness of healthy child-rearing practices that gradually decrease the incidence of child abuse and neglect.
The Child safety program discusses the reasons behind the passive role of other family members who find out about the child abuse but choose to remain silent, which are mostly: the fear of scandal, or the fear of losing the financial support of the parent or the fear of the power of the parent.
If you turn on the Jordan TV Channel you’ll notice the media campaign which aims at spreading awareness and providing instructions to children and parents, showing them the way to lead healthy life, and directing them to where they could find help and shelter. I find this really impressive and helpful. Parents or any other strangers will reconsider their behavior and children will be stronger and more aware of their rights and where to go and who to turn to in case of being a victim of abuse.

Way to go Jordan, keep up the good work 🙂
For more information about the Child Safety Program in Arabic you can check ZavenOnline
whose program (Sireh Wenfatahet) on Future TV talked about this issue yesterday.
And for more information about the Jordan River Foundation and its other programs ClickHere
Hoping that all other Arab countries will follow the steps of Jordan to make sure our precious children are in safe hands.

November 22 2003

Eid Al Fitr Is Almost Here :)

All Muslims of the world are preparing for the Eid. Eid that will end the holy month of Ramadan to get back to our normal eating habbits.
Families are going out shopping with their kids buying new clothes, toys, sweets and anything they need and can afford. Everyone is awiting the minute they’ll wake up on the calling for Eid prayers and hear the people pray all together with their voices thanking God for what he’s giving them, showing appreciation to his blessings and expressing their love to the weak, poor and lonely.
I remember every Eid how I get to hear Dad’s voice in the mosque calling for prayers and the voices of neighbors and friends all gathering to pray and exchange Eid greetings. After that they give all the people in need what they gathered the days before: meat, food, clothes that might be new or old, money and Eid sweets. Other than that they take a portion of what they gathered and send it to countries who are poorer and living bad condition because of war, a natural catastrophy or anything at all.
Then the elder members of the family men go visit the brothers, sisters, cousins daughters and sons and grandsons. So after the prayers dad would go in the early morning to relatives and our married sister and her family carrying sweets or flowers, then come back home where the whole home smells like fresh backed delicious Eid sweets (Ma’moul) which mom spent a whole week making with her own hands, stuffing some with walnuts, ones with pistache and flower extracts, others with dates, decorating each piece with tiny little things creating most beautiful shapes. YUMMY, I miss that. She’d spend long days working as she always makes so many because she know we loves them and one of us alone could finish 30 pieces in one day, yes yes , it’s that tasty and it’s that great. No one makes ones as good as she does. I really wish I could have my share this time 😛
After coming back home we’d all gather in the sitting room exchange greetings and kisses, sit together and instead of having breakfast that is prepared to be eaten, we get a couple of bites and then attack the sweets, that are too light and way too tasty. Then the phone starts ringing from all over the world, friends, relatives and all. Even our christian friends call and visit and share us the great Eid Al Fitr.
When it’s lunch time each family gathers, some choose to keep it only parents and kids, some invite more, some choose the first in a year and then choose the second for a change the year to follow. We eat home cooked meals, the whole house is decorated with candles, flowers and Eid cards. TV is most probably on suggesting great programs to watch and enjoy.
Then we all start visiting people with our parents, and that’s how it goes: first day is for the closest, second the less close and the third for the less less close 😛
It’s great, and i miss it, as here in Tunisia it has another way to be done, which is nice as well. It’s just that I miss my family and the way we celebrate in the Middle East. Oh and I miss Ma’moul, lool, had no time to make some, and even if i had, they wont turn out as great as mom’s.
Tunisian Sweets are so Yummy too 🙂 My husband and I have our own way of celebrating, we go both of us visiting relatives and friedns. Here in Tunisia men go visiting alone normally and women wait for the men to come and visit to recieve them, but because I have no one of my family to come and visit me as they don’t live here, and because we love sharing things together, my great understanding husband chose to take me with him visiting… something I really appreciate of him. And i enjoy it this way, he does too, I guess 🙂

Happy Eid Al Fitr To All Muslims of the world, may it bring on blessed days, more love, happiness and great health….