Sweden celebrates national day, voices respect for Jordan’s commitment to peace, dialogue

Sweden’s Ambassador to Jordan is Alexandra Rydmark, said that the Swedish royal family’s visits to Jordan over the past months have enhanced the historic deep-rooted ties, warmth and friendship between the two kingdoms and paved the way for the partnership for the future. Speaking to ceremony, held Tuesday evening to mark National Day of Sweden, Rydmark said, “In the past eight months, we have had three visits to Jordan by the Swedish Royal Family – Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden in October, Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden during the State visit in November and then only last week, the Crown Princess couple for the Royal wedding.” Rydmark extended her warmest and best wishes to HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein and Princess Rajwa al Hussein and congratulated all Jordanians for such a joyous, beautiful and successful event. She said the Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) announcement of opening direct flights between Stockholm and Amman and opening a Jordanian Embassy in Sweden, will facilitate ever closer relations and open up a world of opportunities for cultural and academic exchanges, trade and investment opportunities, and more tourists. Rydmark added that the first ever Swedish-Jordanian Trade and Investment Forum was held in November, in the presence of HM the King of Sweden and HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein of Jordan, in cooperation with Jordan Strategy Forum, Crown Prince Foundation and several business associations. “The idea was to increase knowledge of what our two Kingdoms have to offer each other – not the least the opportunities for our many brilliant young women and men entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow”. She mentioned that the establishment of two other crucial networks last year: The Sweden Jordan Business Network is already active in planning for activities for the coming year, and the Jordanian Swedish alumni network, formed by Jordanians who have studied or participated in entrepreneur or leadership programs in Sweden. “This year we also focused on cooperation in culture and in the creative sectors. Not only do these exchanges bring joy and build bridges. But our work has included the idea of how creative sectors can help us address some of the most pressing issues or today – climate change, sustainability, inclusion of youth and women, while at same time producing jobs and stimulating innovation.” Also, Rydmark further added, Jordan and Sweden’s partnership on global and regional affairs remain strong, grounded in shared aspirations for a better world and a shared belief in diplomacy. “Jordan’s unwavering commitment to peace and dialogue, and your key role in the Middle East have earned our utmost respect.” “Together with Jordan we continue to work for a two-state solution and respect for international law in the Israeli Palestinian conflict,” she said. “We also continue to work with Jordan on supporting UNRWA. We recognize Jordan’s hospitality in receiving refugees, also in partnership with many here tonight – colleagues from Embassies and the tireless efforts of civil society organisations and the UN family in Jordan – to which Sweden is strong supporter.” “I also want to take opportunity to deeply thank Jordan for your invaluable help in evacuating Swedish as well as European citizens from Sudan recently,” she noted. “The opening of the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman is another milestone that shows Jordan and Sweden’s shared commitment to regional dialogue,” Rydmark underlined. “The institute provides a platform for researchers, policy makers and thought leaders – young/old, women/men – to come together, share ideas and to deepen the understanding of each other and our common challenges,” she explained. This year Sweden is commemorating 500 years since the foundation of modern Sweden and Head of State, HM King Carl XVI Gustaf’s remarkable 50 years on the throne in September. “This year Sweden also holds the EU Presidency, where security, sustainability as well as democratic values and rule of law are our main priorities,” Rydmark said. In a speech at the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Haifaa Al-Najjar, lauded the distinguished ties between Jordan and Sweden in various fields, and expressed keenness to maintain and develop them.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Petra National Trust holds ceremony on preserving legacies project

Petra National Trust (PNT) has organized and hosted the Preserving our Legacy Project Launching Ceremony at the Cultural Hub Bayt Yaish on Sunday. A PNT statement said that “the Petra National Trust is a key part of Preserving Legacies, an initiative funded by Manulife and partnered with the National Geographic Society, ICOMOS, the Climate Heritage Network, and local partners such as local community-based organizations, local individuals, representatives from the public sector on a project to explore climate impacts and responses in ten key heritage sites”. The Petra National Trust has been working to protect and sustain the World Heritage Site of Petra and other heritage sites in Jordan for the past 33 years. PNT’s work focuses on advocacy, preservation, education and outreach, community empowerment, and heritage-based socio-economic development. PNT is currently building a multi-disciplinary national and regional program on climate change and cultural heritage, according to the statement. “Preserving Legacies: A Future for our Past aims to empower every community to safeguard their cultural and natural heritage against climate change impacts by equipping local leaders with the scientific knowledge and technical training to develop place and people-based climate change adaptation plans.” the statement explained. The pilot project will model a scalable program that allows heritage sites to visualize future climate impacts and create a plan to manage those changes sustainably. By combining cutting-edge science, immersive storytelling, and community capacity building, this project will inspire the public to care for sites at risk and empower local leaders to manage adaptively their places of cultural significance. In 2023, two heritage sites, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras and Petra, Jordan are serving as pilot sites, and eight heritage sites are serving as observer sites to learn by shadowing the process, according to the statement. By working and sharing experiences this project can better develop and present culture-based solutions to many climate challenges and build more resilient communities. The joint efforts will document, study and utilize diverse knowledge, skills and practices, inherited and adapted methods of learning and technical know-how to build resilience and transform communities to meet climate-adaptation goals. Participatory processes are being conducted to address barriers that contribute to the lack of effective action on climate change at the community level in Petra region. In addition to interventions to achieve effective Petra’s six villages’ local engagement, planning, and decision-making on climate change by engaging, accessible processes, and understandable information. The approach is bringing important climate change information down to the local understanding and engage local stakeholders in the process and use holistic scenarios which combine multiple aspects of climate change. The ceremony was attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas, Petra National Trust President, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, Suliman Al Farajat, Chief Commissioner for the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority, Bilal Al-Khrissat Commissioner of Petra Archeology park and Tourism, Fadi Balawi Department of Antiquities General Manager, and Min Kim UNESCO Representative to Jordan. The ceremony was also attended by Preserving Legacies team members, Victoria Herrmann, Director of Preserving Legacies, Will Megarry, ICOMOS Focal Point on Climate Change, Andrew Potts of the Climate Heritage Network, Salma Sabour, Networking Coordinator, Khansa Bouaziz, Workshop Coordinator, Delie Ronsin-Quechin, ICOMOS Liason, Julianne Polanco, the State of California’s State Historic Preservation Officer, Michael Snyder, filmmaker, and Debora Trein, Director, Science (Human Histories) at the National Geographic Society.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Foreign Ministry welcomes agreement on Libya’s electoral laws

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of an agreement on Libya’s electoral laws. The agreement was announced in the Moroccan city of Bouznika by Libyan Joint Committee, mandated by the House of Representatives and the High Council of State (6+6), on laws that will govern the upcoming 2023 Libyan presidential and legislative elections. The Ministry lauded Morocco’s role in making this dialogue a success and the consensuses reached. The ministry expressed its hope that these consensuses would contribute to advancing the political settlement process in Libya, in a way that serves the hopes and aspirations of the Libyan people.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan condemns attack on Bahraini embassy in Khartoum

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the attack on the Bahraini embassy in Khartoum on Wednesday. The Ministry’s spokesperson Sinan Majali expressed Jordan’s solidarity with Bahrain, and its strong condemnation and denunciation of all forms of violence and vandalism, especially those that target and violate diplomatic buildings, calling for respecting the rules of international law and relevant international agreements, especially the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

HRH the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Prime Minister congratulated by the Minister of the Royal Court

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Prime Minister, today received a cable of congratulations from the Minister of the Royal Court, HE Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, on His Highness Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa successfully completing the Joint Command and Staff Course at the US Marine Corps University, in Virginia, the United States of America.

HE Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed wished HH Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman continued success in serving the Kingdom, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

HM King’s Personal Representative congratulates HM King, HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister and HH Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa

His Majesty the King’s Personal Representative His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa today sent a cable of congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Prime Minister and His Highness Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on the success of HH Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman, on his success in completing the Joint Command and Staff Course at the US Marine Corps University, in Virginia, the United States of America.

In the Cable, HM the King’s Personal Representative wished His Highness Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa continued success to contribute to developing the military sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain and serve the nation, under the wised leadership of HM the King, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Second phase of “Green Forever” set to be launched

Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak paid a visit today to Tubli Arboretum for the cultivation of mangrove trees.

He inspects preparations to plant to launch the second phase of the afforestation plan (Forever Green), which consists in planting 230,000 trees this year.

In a statement today, he indicated that the ministry was able to plant 230,000 seedlings of mangrove trees over the past five months

He commended the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to double the number of mangrove trees to be planted this year to 460,000 up from an initial target of 230,000 mangrove trees.

The afforestation drive is within Bahrain’s commitment at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) to increase mangroves fourfold until 2035.

“W have started preparing the site, which is the incubator through which mangrove seedlings are produced”, said the minister, noting that 230,000 seedlings will be produced in August, to be planted planting in various reserves across Bahrain.

He stressed the role of the private sector in supporting afforestation projects and doubling the number of trees, indicating that the ministry was able to set up partnerships in order to achieve these goals with various sectors.

He noted that 100,000 seedlings have been planted recently in partnership with the Royal Guard in the Al-Matula area, under the auspices of His Highness Lieutenant General Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, National Security Adviser, Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, Commander of the Royal Guard.

Source: Bahrain News Agency