Jerash – In collaboration with the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), Munya Specialized Resorts conducted a workshop on strategic planning at the Princess Basma campsite in Dibeen. The opening of the workshop was attended by the Jerash governor, Mr. Ali Azzam and over 130 participants representing the local community in Jerash.

The two-day workshop aimed at putting forward a comprehensive master plan on the region's developmental needs and social development programs that achieve positive, effective and tangible results in accordance with the priorities of the people of Dibeen, its villages, and the areas within the Al Maa'rad and Burma municipalities.

During the workshop Mr. Nidal Khawaja, Munya's General Manager, reaffirmed that the Munya Tourism Project's key objectives are to stimulate the area's economy and positively affect the local community in line with the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II to extend the benefits of investment to local communities.

Mr. Khawaja went on to express his pride in Munya's partnership with the JRF and its continuous support, indicating his faith in the Foundation's pioneering role in creating and supporting sustainable social, economic and cultural programs derived from national needs and priorities.

He also highlighted some of Munya's CSR programs, which are dedicated to supporting the education sector in cooperation with JRF by adopting several schools in Dibeen and its surrounding areas through the Madrasati initiative. Within its contribution, Munya will help improve the schools' infrastructure, develop programs to enrich the learning environment, meet national safety and health requirements, develop teaching tools, and train teachers by giving them additional skills that support their existing experience in this field. In addition, Munya will offer scholarships to high school students from the area, enabling them to continue their higher education in universities and institutes in several fields, and provide them with training for basic skills such as English language and computer courses.

Mr. Khawaja added that Munya Specialized Resorts will provide funding to local co-operatives and commissions in collaboration with the JRF in order to support the implementation of local production projects within the area. The co-operatives will own these projects, and will utilize local resources for their products.

Eng. Ghaleb Al Qudah, the JRF's Community Empowerment Program Manager, added that this workshop is only one of a series of activities and functions that will be implemented within the comprehensive Dibeen local development program. The program will establish a work plan and strategy, which will be designed by members of the local community who are better able to identify their developmental needs and living requirements.

He further indicated that the workshop's results will determine the nature of the development programs and projects that will be implemented over the course of two years in partnership with the local community.

Al Qudah added that the JRF takes pride in its cooperation and partnership with Munya, and that Munya enjoys a strong sense of awareness of its social responsibility and is in fact dedicated to playing a proactive role in elevating the community's standards of living, which represents an ideal model for public-private sector partnership.

The Jordan River Foundation (JRF), established in 1995 and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, is a non-profit Jordanian NGO that aims to empower the Jordanian society, especially women and children, and in turn improve the quality of life to secure a better future for all Jordanians.

Munya Specialized Resorts is one of the tourism development subsidiaries under Jordan Dubai Properties (JD Properties), the investment arm of Jordan Dubai Capital in the tourism and real estate sectors.