Jordanian minister urges volunteer work to fight poverty

The National Conference on Social volunteer work in Jordan was opened by Princess Basma yesterday. Several organizations working in the field participated in the conference.

"Major regional developments that have taken place since the beginning of the decade triggered further pressures on Jordan's economy," Minister of Social Development Mohammed Mamsar said in a speech at the opening session.

"Poverty in Jordan had risen to 26% at the end of last year and 45% of Jordanian families have a monthly income of less than JD 150," he stated. Mamsar urged all concerned parties to coordinate efforts to draw up a national strategy to boost volunteer work to curb poverty rates and create new job opportunities.

Participants noted that there are 720 NGOs providing various social services throughout Jordan.

Many working papers tackling various aspects of social and volunteer work were presented at the conference.