Day: June 26, 2024

Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights recently convened a panel discussion titled “Assessing Arab Countries’ Compliance with United Nations Plan of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons.”

The event took place on the sidelines of the Fourth United Nations Conference to review progress made in the implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) to prevent, combat and eradicate the Illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (RevCon4).

The panel included an esteemed group of experts, including Félix Aklavon, Director of Programs at Center for Research and Studies on Security and Development; María Pía Devoto, Director of Public Policy Association of Argentina; Rafah Najah, Doctor of International Law; Fadi Abi Allam, President of Permanent Peace Movement; and Karin Olofsson, Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons, among other experts in SALW.

The discussion centered on the extent to which Arab countries have fulfilled their commitments to subm
itting national reports to UN Programme of Action for the period from 2018 to 2024, as well as the challenge of small arms and light weapons proliferation in the Arab region.

Fadi Abu Allam of Permanent Peace Movement explained that 35 Arab countries have submitted their national reports to UN Programme of Action. However, he noted that many obstacles and challenges, such as a lack of systems, human resources, financial and technical capabilities, and coordination mechanisms within government structures, have prevented some Arab countries from fulfilling this reporting requirement.

María Pía Devotoprovided an overview of the reporting rates, highlighting that countries like Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, and Sudan have the highest rates, while Libya, Yemen, and Somalia have the lowest.

Karen Olofsson of Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons underscored that the spread of small arms and light weapons threatens security and undermines sustainable development goals, emphasizing the need for civil society
organizations to work collaboratively to address this issue in the Arab region.

Rafah Najah, Doctor of International Law, criticized the League of Arab States for its limited role in combating the proliferation of small arms. Its role is limited only to attending and participating in international conferences without effective efforts to combat the spread of the phenomenon, calling on LAS to take a more active and substantive approach to preserving security and peace in the Arab region.

The panel discussion was moderated by Muhammad Mukhtar, Director of International Law Unit at Maat, who stressed that the proliferation of SALW has become a major obstacle to conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Arab region, as it fuels ongoing conflicts and undermines sustainable development.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Amman: “Israel is not only preventing food, medicine, water, and services from reaching Gaza, but also preventing UN organizations from delivering what little aid there is to those in need in Gaza,” he said.

He underscored that “this war must stop. Its continuation shows a flawed failure in the institutions of joint international action, and in our collective ability to stop war crimes that have been proven by all reports issued by independent organizations; war crimes that violate international law. Israel is now a rogue state that has been blacklisted among countries that kill and violate the rights of children, and the International Court of Justice demands that it stop its war and stop measures that violate international law.”

“The International Court of Justice is now considering the possibility that Israel may have committed genocide, all of this says that we cannot remain silent about what is happening, and we in Jordan and the Arab region certainly all want a just and comprehensive peace, but we all
believe that the path of this peace is what we agreed upon in Greece, in the European Union, and even in the United States: that its path is the two-state solution, but Israel is undermining this solution,” Safadi added.

“There is a partner for peace in the Arab world, but the truth is that there is no Israeli partner for peace, and now we are dealing with the most extremist government, which continues its aggression on Gaza, in using starvation as a weapon, and in destroying the infrastructure in Gaza, and there is also another war waged by Israel in the West Bank, where settlement continues, and settler terrorism continues against Palestinians, where attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites continue,” he said.

“I mentioned to his excellency the role of Jordan in protecting Islamic and Christian holy sites based on the historical Hashemite custodianship over these holy sites, and we see what is happening against these holy sites, not only an attack on Islamic holy sites, but also on Christian holy sites
, clerics, and confiscation of church properties, including the Orthodox Church, and all these illegal steps push the West Bank towards explosion, and if the situation in the West Bank explodes, we are to face a greater disaster than the disaster we are witnessing,” Safadi further added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: “The trilateral cooperation mechanism between Jordan, Cyprus, and Greece is a practical mechanism through which we have been able to achieve clear achievements in enhancing economic, tourism, investment, trade, cultural, and security cooperation, and we look forward to more cooperation and finding larger and more spacious spaces to build on these relations,” Safadi noted.

“I agree with what my Greek counterpart said that the relations between our two regions go back thousands of years of partnership and these relations are based on human values, mutual respect, and in recent history also our relations are based on the need to respect international law, respect the UN Charter, and respect common human values, but all these values are now being violated as a result of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza, 264 days of brutal aggression that destroyed an entire society, displaced more than two-thirds of the population, killed more than 39 thousand people, 70% of them children and women, destroyed schools
, hospitals, and mosques. This is a brutal aggression that will not achieve security for Israel and will not achieve security for the Palestinian people,” Safadi explained.

“The path to this is the two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital on the June 4, 1967 lines, to live in security and peace alongside Israel,” he said.

“This war must stop, and what Israel is doing, killing children, destroying schools, destroying international law, and destroying the credibility of all international institutions is a harm and a crime that must stop,” Safadi added.

He pointed out that the humanitarian situation is increasingly catastrophic, as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report was released yesterday and showed that 96 percent of Gaza’s population suffers from unacceptable humanitarian conditions, and that the United Nations and its organizations are unable to distribute food and medicine.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Athens: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, met in Athens on Wednesday with his Greek counterpart, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, and discussed bilateral relations and ways to develop them in various fields, as well as efforts to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip and end the worsening humanitarian disaster it is causing.

In a joint press conference held by the two ministers after the meeting, Safadi emphasized the deep-rooted partnership between Jordan and Greece, and the shared keenness to develop them, maintain consultation and take joint action to strengthen partnership and create a regional environment that provides security, safety, stability, development and achievement for the peoples of the region and the two friendly countries.

Safadi underlined the importance of the existing mutual cooperation and within the framework of the trilateral cooperation mechanism between Jordan, Greece and Cyprus, which His Majesty the King and the leaders in
Cyprus and Greece are keen to develop continuously.

“We are partners and we want to achieve the same goals; we want to develop our bilateral relations and build on this solid partnership rooted in decades of joint work, shared values and a common concern to serve the interests of our two countries and peoples, as well as within the framework of joint work to build security, peace and stability in our region,” he said.

“We are in the same neighborhood; what happens in our region affects Greece and what happens here is affects us, and any threat to security and stability in either of our regions is a common threat to us, hence the keenness to maintain consultations and work together to strengthen partnership and think together about how to create a regional environment that provides security, safety, stability, development and achievement for our peoples and countries,” Safadi added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Kharabsheh, announced “positive” indicators for gas exploration operations in Risha area, adding that feasibility studies are in their final stages for this purpose.

On the sidelines of his press conference held Wednesday with Minister of Government Communications and Government Spokesperson, Dr. Muhannad Mubaidin, to talk about details of the new time-related electricity tariff, Kharabsheh affirmed that the existing quantities of gas are “sufficient to cover needs of the Kingdom’s electrical system for dozens of years.”

Kharabsheh noted a third party is currently studying the gas reserves to confirm figures announced by other parties, which studied them.

The minister also referred to the compressed natural gas (CNG) station project that was recently inaugurated to supply the Kingdom’s industrial sector with CNG quantities, which is an “important” achievement made during His Majesty King Abdullah II’s reign.

In a related context, he said the minis
try is currently working to advance Jordan’s mining sector to raise its economic indicators and strengthen the Kingdom’s position on the regional and global mining map and related industries within framework of the Economic Modernization Vision.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: The Senate, represented by the head of its Women’s Committee, Khawla Armouti, and its member Ihsan Barakat, in her capacity as also a representative of the Arab Parliament, participated in the 6th Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians.

The conference, which is organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, began its activities in the Qatari capital, Doha, in cooperation with the Qatari Shura Council.

Armouti spoke about the sustained impact of terrorism and violent extremism on men and women and its different effects perpetuate gender inequality.

In her speech, she noted role of men is “usually clearer in terrorist organizations, but women’s involvement is “different and more complex.”

“Although women play less combat roles than men, but they play a crucial role in supporting activities, primarily logistics, recruitment and propaganda,” she pointed out.

According to the committee’s statement, she said terrorism, on the economic level, exacerbates existing gender disparities in
the labor market, adding that terrorism disrupts societal structures, which often leads to increased restrictions on women’s rights.

On the sidelines of the conference, Armouti discussed with the Deputy Speaker of the Qatari Shura Council, Dr. Hamda Al-Sulaiti, aspects of joint cooperation and action to increase Jordanian Senate’s parliamentary collaboration with Qatari legislative body.

The two-day conference aims to boost participation of women parliamentarians in formulating and implementing policies and legislation, exchanging adequate expertise and practices among female parliamentarians from different countries, and enhancing awareness about the importance of women’s role in combating terrorism.

The event also seeks to develop “comprehensive and sustainable” strategies to combat terrorism, stimulate research on the women’s role in this field, and provide recommendations for developing national and international legislation and policies to ensure “effective” efforts.

Source: Jordan News Agency