Strengthening the Principles of Good Governance through institutional capacity building for the charity organizations

and Ministry of Social Development Employees

In cooperation with the Ministry of Social Development and in partnership with the Visions Center for Strategic Studies, KAS Amman organized a one-day training workshop on Good Governance in Aqaba. The objective was twofold: Provide guidelines and general principles of governance to these organizations, and open dialogue between members of CSOs and the Ministry of Social Development.

One Year after the "Arab Spring"

European-Arab Youth Congress at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

What do young Europeans think about the Arab countries one year after the "Arab Spring" began? And what perceptions do young people from Arab countries have of Europe and Germany as potential role models? Young people from all over Europe and Arab countries met for two days at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin to discuss what can be learned from other people's point of views on the situation.

"Integrating Human Rights Concepts into University Curricula According to a National Action Plan"

Due to the importance and the crucial role Human Rights education has in the process of achieving a universal culture of human rights, KAS Amman and the Jordanian Centre for Civic Education (JCCE) conducted a specialized regional workshop for a group of University Professors to raise awareness and train them on how to integrate human rights concepts into university curricula. The outcomes of the workshop were highly successful and the concepts achieved will be further promoted.

Strengthening the Principles of Good Governance:

Institutional Capacity Building for Charity Organizations and the Ministry of Social Development

KAS Amman, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Visions Center for Strategic and Development Studies, organised a training workshop on February 25, 2012 which sought to raise the technical competence and legal expertise of governing bodies. It focused also on the cooperation between the Ministry and non-governmental organisations within Jordan. The participants shared experiences and identified mutual challenges, in order to develop solutions for the benefit of the Jordanian society.

Women and Media

The workshop “Women and Media“, organized by KAS Amman and First Media Company took place in Amman on February 11th 2012. The main goal of this workshop was the identification and analysis of the severe difficulties of women in gaining leadership positions in the Jordanian media sector. The different sessions targeted the various reasons for this problem and aimed for solutions eventually leading to gender equality.

Book Launching: "Jordan’s New Draft Competition Law: Achievement Made, Improvement Required"

On January 25th, 2012, Talal Abu Ghazaleh Organization and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Amman organized an event in order to celebrate the launch of a new book published by the two organizations. The book has the title: “Jordan’s New Draft Competition Law: Achievement Made, Improvement Required.” and it is giving insights why competition laws are crucial to economic development and countering corruptive practices. In addition to Dr. Martin Beck and Mr. Mustafa Nasereddin, also Mr. Hussein Al-Hamadani, Director of Competition Directorate, spoke on the event.

Opportunities, Problems, and Challenges of Oil-Producing Countries: Lessons learned from Rent Theory and Empirical Cases

Erkenntnisse der Rententheorie und Empirischer Fallstudien

On 1st of February 2012 resident representative of KAS Amman Dr. Martin Beck was invited to give a guest lecture entitled “Opportunities, Problems, and Challenges of Oil-Producing Countries: Lessons learned from Rent Theory, and Empirical Cases,” at the Department of Political Science of Salahaddin University Erbil, Iraq/Kurdistan. In his lecture Dr. Beck discussed the problems which are caused by external rents through the production of oil and presented policy recommendations to oil-producing countries.

Corporate Governance for Family Business

In recent decades, the focus of international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank has increased towards policies of corporate governance. On November 21, 2011, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Amman, in cooperation with Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, organized a discussion forum entitled "Corporate Governance for Family Business." Working also in the framework of social market economy, the aim of the conference was to propose ideas which could be implemented in the laws that affect businesses in Jordan.

Political Systems and the Role of Parliaments in the Emerging Arab Democracies

The onset of the Arab Spring compelled societies in the Middle East to demand their rights for meaningful democracy. Establishing a democracy requires political institutions that are able and willing to fully represent the interests and demands of the people. In light of these developments, KAS Amman and Al-Quds Center jointly organized a regional conference on Oct. 1-2, 2011 to discuss the role political bodies in these states play in achieving democracy and preventing the return of autocracy.

Women Empowerment through Research

KAS, the Women Empowerment Organization (WEO) and the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW)/ Lebanese American University (LAU) jointly organized a roundtable discussion on gender from November 16th - 18th 2011, entitled “Women Empowerment through Research”. The roundtable was successful in terms of opening new channels of communication between the network of scholars and civil society activists working on women and gender-related issues.