His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday urged community leaders in refugee camps to suggest projects that would help ease poverty and unemployment in their areas.



"I have met with your fellow citizens and I asked them, as I have asked you, to contribute to the decision-making process through participating in drawing up strategies and programmes that would help reduce poverty and unemployment, which have become two urgent problems facing the Jordanian society," the King told the notables at a meeting in the Royal Court.



"What we want you to do is to suggest mechanisms and programmes and communicate them to the Royal Court and the government," as solutions to the problems the camps face.



King Abdullah called for increased efforts to address other grievances, including problems related to healthcare and education.



He highlighted the need to focus on the young generation and provide youth with suitable education opportunities, with focus on quality education that meets the market demands and future requirements.



The community leaders outlined their demands, pointing out problems they face with regard to basic services.



Prior to the meeting with the King, the camp leaders met with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit, who pledged that the government would do its utmost to address these grievances.



The leaders took turns to speak about the conditions of their camps.



They also thanked His Majesty the King for initiatives that helped relieve the harsh living conditions of camp residents.



The leaders highlighted a project to build concrete residential units to replace tin shacks for poor families in the camps, and the inclusion of the country's 13 refugee camps in the Ministry of Planning's Social Safety Net, a programme to improve the quality of life in underdeveloped areas through infrastructure and other projects.



The King has also directed authorities to allocate 300 seats at public universities for high school graduates in the camps. So far, 1,500 students have been covered by the initiative.



In addition, King Abdullah has donated a plot of land to build a charity clinic in Wihdat, which has so far served 60,000 residents in the camp and offered its free services to residents in villages south of Amman.



The refugee camps have also received food parcels under the "Hashemite Charity Caravans" programme, which covered all underdeveloped areas in the Kingdom.

The Jordan Times