Amman, May 16th - The Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), the Embassy of Japan, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have held an inauguration in Zarqa, to celebrate the completion of the humanitarian border management project “Mainstreaming COVID-19 Response into Humanitarian Border Management in Jordan” funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by IOM through 2021-2022.

The inauguration took place under the patronage of H.E. the Assistant Chief of staff for planning, Organization and Defense Resources of JAF, Brigadier General, Dr. Yousef Al Khatib, in the presence of the H.E. Ambassador of Japan to Jordan, Kaoru Shimazaki and the H.E. Chief of Mission of IOM in Jordan, Tajma Kurt.

The facilities inaugurated today include office space and the accommodation for female officers with an isolation room equipped with necessary Personal Protective Equipment.

This project also supported JAF and Royal Medical Services (RMS) to enhance the capacity for public health preparedness and response to cross-border communicable diseases by providing information sessions to 94 officers. The information sessions focused on topics of migration health, COVID-19 Infection, prevention, and control (IPC) response measures as well as mainstreaming rights-based approach and gender equality. To ensure the transferability of its knowledge within JAF, Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions were also conducted for selected 11 officers.

“As we are all aware, Jordan enjoys excellent relations with Japan and strong cooperation with the IOM Jordan. This relation is driven by a shared common values and interests, having said that, we in Jordan, more particularly in JAF look forward to enhancing our relations to promote peace, stability, and socio-economic development not only in this region but globally,” H.E. Brigadier General, Dr. Yousef Al Khatib, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Planning, Organization and Defense Resources stated.

H.E. Kaoru Shimazaki, Ambassador of Japan to Jordan stated “The Government of Japan is grateful to work closely with IOM since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in this important field, namely the border management which is one of the essential components for the regional stability. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts of both JAF and IOM to realize our projects.”

“The completion of this project represents the continued successful cooperation between the IOM, JAF, and the Government of Japan. The facility we launched today will certainly allow JAF to increase the number of deployed female officers, which in turn will result in better protection and safety of all the people who are residing in Jordan,” said Her Excellency Ms. Tajma Kurt, Chief of Mission, IOM Jordan.

As the leading intergovernmental organization promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all, IOM is committed to supporting Member States to improve their preparedness and establish adequate response mechanisms to protect crisis-affected people crossing the border while ensuring the national sovereignty and border security of the state is maintained.

For further information, please contact:

Saba Makkawi, Head of Migration and Management Unit, smakkawi@iom.int

Fedza Lukovac, Communication Officer, flukovac@iom.int