Jordan

With the increase of refugee movements since 2014 in Europe and the Near East, the debate of how to plan appropriate shelters and emergency accommodation has gained a new momentum. Established techno-managerial approaches have been criticised as inappropriate and the professional community of planners and architects was increasingly drawn into debates for alternative solutions. This article traces the “innovations” that promise better, more effective, and more humane emergency shelters using the examples of the “Tempohomes” in Berlin as well as the Jordanian refugee camps of Zaatari and Azraq. In both cases, planners were employed to address the ambivalent reality of protracted refugee camps and include “lessons” from failures of earlier solutions. While the article acknowledges the genuine attempt of planners to engage with the more complex needs and expectations of refugees, a careful look at the results of the planning for better camps reveals ambivalent outcomes. As camps acquir...

In 2015, the Paris Climate Change Agreement was adopted, and in the ensuing years, countries, along with researchers, civil society and industry have been debating how to implement concrete action to address the climate challenge. The link between climate change and human security was first recognised in the early 2000s. This paper examines how climate change has exacerbated uncertainty and instability in vulnerable populations in different regions. It achieves this by looking at diverse national and local experiences through multiple policy lenses, namely, the proliferation of extreme weather events, coastal erosion and sea level rise, internal displacement, cross border migration, and climate change as a threat multiplier. It looks at specific cases in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands and the Levant to understand how human (in)security is being affected by climate change. It also addresses the future of global climate policy by assessing the current state of climate policies in light of the Paris Agreement. Global action on climate change is urgent. While many developed countries like to avoid notions of climate justice and differentiated responsibilities, the reality for the most vulnerable countries is that supranational policy is crucial if they are to tackle the climate challenge at home. This paper emphasises the importance of having meaningful and focused national climate adaptation and mitigation policies in place in order to address both the avoidable and unavoidable impacts of climate change on the economy, the culture and ultimately the security of a country.

This study finds that as climate change plays an increasingly important role in discussions of security, comprehensive strategies are needed to respond to climate-induced security threats and geopolitical (in)stability both nationally and around the world. The Paris Agreement was a good first step in driving countries to commit to curbing emissions and drafting climate adaptation action plans. We now need the global climate regime – including countries, industry, and researchers – to step up to the plate and implement effective policies if we are to limit the serious impacts of climate change. The findings in this paper aims to contribute
to the global debate around security and climate change.

Research proposal for assessing the impact of flipped classroom learning on Jordanian students' Maths performance. The proposal assesses various quasi experimental methods; including propensity score matching, (matched) difference in difference. Lastly, a diff-in-diff approach to measurement is adopted and the research design explained.

Dear Colleagues,‎

We are proud to bring to you the latest edition of the FORTNIGHTLY, a review of Middle East ‎business, developments and news, for the period ending 2 October 2019.‎

Some highlights of this issue include the following:‎

‎2.3  Cox Automotive Begins Israel Auto-Tech Operations

‎3.3  Dubai's Retail Sector Undergoing a Major Transformation Due to e-Commerce

‎8.3  Strauss Group Reduces Sugar in Its Milk Chocolate by 30% with No Artificial Substitutes

‎9.8  US Defense Innovation Unit Selects D-Fend Solutions' Counter Drone System

‎10.1  Israel Ranked 38th in the World for Economic Freedom

‎11.4  EGYPT:  Israel to Start Exporting Natural Gas to Egypt as Last Obstacle Is Removed

In addition, if you would like to bring to our attention any relevant Middle Eastern regional ‎development of interest, please notify me at: seth.vogelman@atid-edi.com.‎

This paper compares solid waste management in Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia; countries that are at different stages in terms of waste management but they share similarities pertaining to waste practices, sources and types of waste, demographics, waste infrastructure, and governing systems. By applying a cross-country comparison, similarities are identified and differences pertaining to the governance of the sector highlighted. The effort would help establish an exchange platform for policy-related issues and lessons learnt.

This study thoroughly elaborates on the influence of COO on consumer’s perception towards hospitality products, precisely on sanitary products. Country of origin encompass products imported from Italy and China solely. The main focus is on Jordanian consumers. It aims at studying the level of satisfaction regarding these products and the relation of the products country of origin to their standard of living and how it is conceived. Often, certain high-end products are linked with high prestigious lives and vice versa. Therefore, it has been asserted the need to conduct surveys distributed among 100 different consumers of these hospitality products in order to have a thorough finding for the reasons aforementioned. As a result, this study concludes whether consumers perceive Italian products as of a higher quality than Chinese ones due to the country of origin. Moreover, it is intriguing to fully understand the reasons for the different behaviors towards the product’s COO and its inf...

Dear Colleagues,‎

We are proud to bring to you the latest edition of the FORTNIGHTLY, a review of Middle East ‎business, developments and news, for the period ending 5 February 2020.‎

Some highlights of this issue include the following:‎

‎2.7  Comtech to Acquire Gilat Satellite Networks for $532.5 Million in a Strategic Transaction

‎3.4  The UAE’s First WeWork Officially Opens

‎5.3  GCC Medical Costs Set to Outpace Inflation by Over 300%‎

‎5.9  Positive Macro-Economic Indicators gave Egypt’s Economy a Boost in 2019‎

‎8.1  ELSE Nutrition Receives Notice of Allowance from U.S. Patent Office

‎11.7  GREECE:  Fitch Upgrades Greece to 'BB'; Outlook Positive‎

In addition, if you would like to bring to our attention any relevant Middle Eastern regional ‎development of interest, please notify me at: seth.vogelman@atid-edi.com.‎

In most Mediterranean countries the main source of water for domestic use are surface waters, with the exception of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. In the case of Palestine, it is because of its absence of control of surface waters, and Cyprus and Malta because of their insular character. In most countries the main use of water is for agricultural purposes, except in France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Palestine where urban and industrial use is dominant. A clear trend is the diversion of water uses from agriculture to industry and urban development. However, a mix of policies is needed to provide alternatives to the actual use of water for agricultural purposes, taking into account the demographic displacements to the Mediterranean shores, but also the enormous fraction of population dedicated to agriculture in many Mediterranean countries.
The waste water treatment situation is very uneven among countries and the related data corresponding to urban and industrial waste water production in most case has not been properly identified and differentiated. Waste water in France, Malta and Cyprus are treated to a tertiary level, while it is treated to a secondary level in the majority of Mediterranean countries. In several countries, such as Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Morocco and Palestine, most of the waste waters receive no treatment. Except Slovenia, the level of waste water treatment has increased for the last ten years in most countries, but with varying percentages ranging from 100% in the case of Malta to 1% in the case of Croatia.
Only few Mediterranean countries have implemented wastewater reuse within their water plans, and farmers often irrigate with untreated or partially treated wastewater.
Regarding desalination, most of the countries are nowadays using this technology, although only a few of them have done it within a planned integrated framework, and none has a clear strategy for the management of the resulting brines.

Energy security is one of the most important challenges Jordan is currently facing, as it imports 96% of its energy resources from foreign countries. Together with other sectors, the existing building stock is responsible for high energy consumption, as average energy performance levels are much lower than the standards prescribed in the recent Jordanian Energy Efficient Building Code. Addressing issues related to energy retrofitting will assist the country to develop effective plans to reduce the energy consumption of buildings and, therefore, decrease the associated energy costs on a large scale, thus helping Jordan’s sustainable development. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the current situation of the building sector and the energy performance of existing buildings in Amman, identifying issues, obstacles and opportunities to be considered for retrofitting this stock. The paper also provides a critical reflection on interviews with six local experts in the fie...

The Syrian crisis has generated the largest refugee movement since the Rwandan genocide and is described as the defining refugee crisis of our era. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, Syrian refugees are about to replace Afghans as the world’s largest refugee population. 1 Within this refugee population older, disabled and injured refugees face specific challenges that contribute to their vulnerability, yet, studies of humanitarian programming show that these same groups are often neglected in the assessment, data collection, design and delivery of responses. Therefore, in October and November 2013, Handicap International and HelpAge International undertook a research project to highlight the number and needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon living with impairment, 2 injury 3 and chronic disease 4 – for the purposes of this study these groups are referred to as “people with specific needs”. Throughout the report specific consider...

This study aims to focus light on practices of Human Resources Management at the Public Academic Libraries located in Jordan, and their role of determining the effectiveness of the Personnel performance and the quality of services presented to users in these libraries in peculiar Al-Hussein Bin Talal University Library that the current study has taken to be the module; it demonstrates the concept of Human Resources Management and the environment it is influenced by and tries to show up the role of the functions of human resources management (such as job planning, recruiting, motivating, and training of personnel) and how they may impact the effectiveness of personnel performance. The current study concluded a number of results that all the tested variables negatively correlated, could improve the performance of the Academic Libraries administration, and found out there is a strong relationship between practicing personnel administration functions effectively and improving their performance leading to a higher level of productivity and creativity.

Since the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) supervise and legalize the Saudi insurance sector, and as the Jordanian Insurance Commission (IC), which is an administratively and financially independent organization, regulates the local insurance sector; the purpose of this research is to critically examine the structure and functioning of insurance regulator in Saudi Arabia and Jordan through comparisons with the regulatory structure in UK. This is as an attempt to fill the lack of research in this vital area in order to arrive at constructive
suggestions that could enhance the quality of insurance regulation in both countries. Indeed, this paper found that
the insurance sector in Saudi Arabia and Jordan lags behind most of the other developing economies in Asia and Europe. Also, full implementation of the insurance regulatory Information System (IS) and publication of a clear
regulatory ladder could support the taking of early and consistent intervention action on insurance companies.

Job stress is common in health care professionals in the west. Less is known about its prevalence in Middle Eastern countries. To determine job stress, its sources and its effect on health care professionals in northern Jordan. A simple random sample of 101 physician specialists, 126 dentists, 52 general practitioners and 123 pharmacists in northern Jordan completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire, and addressed structured questions about job stress. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were used to describe and compare participants, and a binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with stress and reported health problems. Of the 402 health care professionals, 27% reported high levels of stress. Prevalence was highest among general practitioners (33%), then dentists (30%) and pharmacists (25%). The lowest stress was among physician specialists (12%). Factors associated with the highest stress were being a genera...

The Syrian conflict has transformed the economy of Jordan’s northern border region. The changes have been painfully felt in Ramtha, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away from the Syrian city of Daraa. Ramtha was a prime destination for Syrian goods imported formally or informally. Petty cross-border trade, especially informal trade, was not only the basis of the city’s economy but also the foundation of an implicit contract between the authorities and locals. The state allowed such trade because it supplemented local revenues, enhancing social stability. This saved the state from investing resources that would have been needed to create jobs. By undermining this understanding, the Syrian conflict provoked growing local discontent.

The historical novel From the Nile to the Jordan is an enthralling story about the "Second Exodus" of Jews from Egypt to Israel. This so far little-noticed aspect of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, could spread new light on the events of 1948, make the suffering of both sides public and bring the middle east one step closer to peace. Before 1948 there was a prospering community with 100,000 Jews in Egypt, today there are only few Jewish widows left. This book combines the well-researched historical facts based on Aharoni's research on the topic, as a professor of Sociology, with her personal perspective as a witness who had to leave Egypt as a young woman. This approach makes the book an eye-opener for an important chapter of Jewish history, that is widely unknown. Aharoni goes beyond the past, aiming at using the story of the "Second Exodus" as a tool for reconciliation, convinced that if Israel and Egypt can make peace, peace between Israel and Palestine is possible too.

The purpose of the study is to determine the social and health impacts of microloan default on women by relying on in-depth interviews with a group of women who have failed to repay their microloans in Jordan. It is evident that defaulting on their microloans is a result of women's inability to repay those loans from the start. One of the predominant social repercussions of defaulting is the pressure and rebuke that women are subjected to by their family and community, especially when a woman faces prosecution for defaulting on her microloan. These repercussions have in turn led to constraints on women's mobility and caused damaged to her health and wellbeing. In many cases, such women resorted to emotional eating which consequently developed into obesity or being subject to severe stress caused her physical harm, such as dental damage or hair loss due to vitamin deficiencies.

The Arab Spring led to a major transformation of political systems of the region's most countries; an increase in the significance of radical Islam in the political life; a degradation of the security environment. In addition , changes in the region's economy cannot be overlooked. The events connected with the Arab Spring gave the Russian Federation completely new challenges. The country has to yet again define the character of its relations with Muslim countries and adapt its foreign policy to the new post-revolutionary reality. The Arab Spring also represents a challenge for Russia in its internal affairs.

The aim of the present study is to identify the extent
to which commercial Islamic banks in Jordan pay
attention to knowledge management and to explore the
interest level with various knowledge resources in their
strategies. The other goal is to identify the part taken by
knowledge resource diversification strategy in the increase
of organizational learning levels among employees.
Participants were (220) employees selected with the
simple random method and recruited from the different
organizational levels at branch Islamic banks in Jordan
representing 20% of the whole population (N=1101). Data
collected using the questionnaires were analyzed to and
the following results were reached:
a. In general, the commercial Islamic banks employ
the diversification strategy management at high level
(M=3.93), and questionnaire areas were in the following
descendent order: organizational entities, human
resources, and artifacts made in the organization.
b. Results show that knowledge resource diversification
strategy management has a significant part at a high
level (M=4.34) in increasing the organizational learning
level among employees at the Jordanian Islamic banks
studied. Specifically, dimensions of knowledge resource
diversification strategy management were in descendant
order: artifacts made by the organization, organizational
entities, and human resources available at the organization.
c. There were no statistically significant differences
attributed to sex and experience regarding the role of
knowledge resource diversification strategy management;
whereas statistically significant differences attributed to
academic qualifications were found regarding the role of
knowledge resource diversification strategy management
excluding the knowledge resources related to artifacts
made by the organization.

Even though Jordanian authorities vowed a security crackdown after the attack on al-Karak castle on December 18, the episode seems to have found the security apparatus largely unprepared, and it is now imperative for the country to increase the awareness of the external and domestic threats posed by Daesh.

Czy ochrona środowiska może stanowić fundament dla pokojowego współżycia społeczności w rejonach konfliktu? Bazując na koncepcji zaawansowanego zapobiegania konfliktom (ACP) uznajemy, że taka sytuacja jest możliwa dzięki (często ukrytym) mechanizmom desekurytyzacji i depolityzacji jakie wiążą się z zacieśnianiem współpracy ekologicznej na poziomie transnarodowym. Staramy się odpowiedzieć na to pytanie poprzez analizę doświadczeń pozarządowej organizacji Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), działającej na terenie Izraela, Jordanii i Autonomii Palestyńskiej i będącej jedyną trójstronną organizacją ekologiczną w tym regionie. Korzystając z materiałów tej organizacji, wywiadów oraz dostępnych wypowiedzi kluczowych aktorów politycznych, staramy się prześledzić proces desekurytyzacji i pokazać w jakich warunkach jest on możliwy.

Parents are the most important and influential people in their children’s lives. In Jordanian society, parents are an essential part of children’s learning and education. Over the last two decades, Jordan has made great strides in the field of parental involvement in education as a result of its great interest in the early childhood sector. This chapter addresses efforts made by local, regional, and international organizations and agencies to establish parental involvement programmes in schools and to create community awareness of parent engagement. This chapter draws on evidence from past studies to discuss what has been done in the field of parent involvement and discusses implications for policy and practice to develop parental involvement in early childhood education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of knowledge management on organizational performance among 260 service organizations in Jordan. In the present study, Data were collected from 422 service organizations in Jordan. The present study employs a questionnaire survey approach to collect data for testing the research hypothesis. The response rate was 74 percent. Relevant statistical analytical techniques, including factor analysis, reliability, and regression for analysis were used. The results indicate that all three dimensions of knowledge management (technical knowledge, cultural knowledge, and human knowledge) have positive and significant influence on organizational performance. Keywords: Knowledge management; Organizational performance; Service organizations; Jordan

Determining the optimum tilt angle for PV system based power plants is crucial to be considered when fixing the PV systems. Although the optimum tilt angle is normally close to the latitude value of the location, lots of other factors affect this. So when designing a power plant, it is necessary to take these factors into consideration to maximize the output of those plants. The present paper reviews the main scientific concepts related to solar radiation, the models used to describe the solar radiation properties, and the methods of calculating the optimum tilt angle. The optimum tilt angle for northern Jordan and, as a case study, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) Campus is then calculated by applying the appropriate methods and models. In addition to that, simulation software is used to calculate the optimum tilt angle and the yield of the power station. Other factors affecting the tilt angle of a PV array are reported and relevant recommendations are given. © 20...