Fifty bedouin women graduate from JUST vocational training programmme

AMMAN — Fifty women from Karak and Al Muwaqqar have received graduation certificates on their successful completion of a one-year veterinary training programme.

The programme, funded by the Department of States Middle East Participatory Initiative, was executed by the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), according to a JUST statement.

The objective of the programme was to train 50 unprivileged bedouin livestock owners to recognise, prevent, control and report transboundary animal diseases, improving their chances of increasing sales, whether from cheese-making or the sale of healthy livestock, said Programme Director Nabil Hailat, according to the statement.

It also aimed to increase the capacity of these women in effective food safety, dairy production and marketing, leadership and taking advantage of economic opportunities, said Hailat, who is a professor in the faculty of veterinary medicine at JUST.

By the end of the programme, the trainees were able to form a Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) platform to help serve their communities, he added. 

This platform hopes to help bedouin women produce higher-quality animal products, increase their sheep sales and establish household markets. To ensure its sustainability, four brochures, a booklet and a website will be created for the programme. 

The platform activity falls under the main objectives of JUST, which include reaching out to underdeveloped communities and helping them to participate in national development while enhancing their livelihoods, said the statement.

John Heshmeh, assistant cultural affairs officer at the American embassy in Amman, expressed appreciation for the programme’s outcomes, mentioning that they “reflect the fruitful cooperation” between the American people and the people of the region, according to the statement.

The certificates were granted under the patronage of JUST President Saeb Khreisat and with the representation of Mohammad Khalefeh, dean of the faculty of veterinary medicine, and the attendance of Wasim Barham, director of the Consultation Centre at JUST.