Rehoboth Business Center

Archive for September, 2010

Promoting Women and Youth Leadership in Solid Waste Management: Recommendations for a Project in Jordan?s Weidhard Refugee Camp

Located in the Middle East region, Jordan borders Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine. The population of this country should be approximately 6.5 million people by 2010. Agriculture is one of this country’s main sources of income and is especially promoted in the Jordan Valley. Over the past few decades, the problems which confront this country have included unemployment, low income levels and littering of wastes from all sectors. These problems are particularly rife in Palestine refugee camps in Jordan such as Weidhard and Zarqa camps where many women do not have access to jobs.  These refugee camps are one of the ten refugee camps in Jordan which accommodate some 326,000 refugees, making about 18 per cent of the 1,840,000 refugees registered with the office of UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, located in Jordan.  If the refugees living in the three unofficial camps and in camps’ environs were to be added to that number, it can be said that about 65 per cent of the Palestine refugees in Jordan live under similar socio-economic conditions.

In the light of the socio-economic problems in all the Palestinian camps, , it would be greatly recommended international agencies such as UNRWA, relevant UN bodies, the Arab League, NGOs and government of Jordan implement a project in Weidhard Refugee Camp and other similar refugee camps in Jordan. The main problems of Weidhard Refugee Camps include: deterioration of buildings and constructed areas; littering and stockpiles of waste; inconsistencies in the removal of waste; high levels of unemployment, particularly among women; high costs of fertilizer to use in farming; and

lack of the impact of the workings of environmental clubs.

Such a project could empower women, the youth and leaders in Weidhard Refugee Camp to engage in income-generating activities by collecting, recycling and selling some forms of waste for further use. This project will also help resolve the environmental problem of waste management, which has devastating impacts of pollution and climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases and other hazardous gases (from waste), negatively affects the health and living conditions of some sectors of the populace, the physical environment and land use. Women in these camps come into contact with many forms of waste such as household wastes, which are a result of their household activities. By enabling women to collect waste and further reprocess it into compost which will be sold to farmers, women leaders will ensure environmental protection while supplying reasonably priced fertilizer in the agricultural sector. The advantages of composting include improving soil fertility and healthy root development in plants. Composting also improves the health, living conditions and physical environment of the surrounding populace, leads to job creation, income generation, social upliftment, as well as a recognition and publicity outside of the community. In effect, environmental mechanisms could be used to attain developmental goals in this camp.

Depending on the success of its implementation, such a project could be replicated in other parts of Jordan in latter phases. This project could therefore contribute to Jordan’s attainment of sustainable development goals, in conformity with the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, which exhorts countries to implement environmentally sustainable policies and programmes; UN MDG 3 which requires that countries need to promote women equality in their programmes and UN  MDG 1 which requires countries to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Such a problem could also enable the integration of women and refugee issues into environmental issues, an approach which could make the attainment of Jordan’s development objectives easier, rather than treat these issues in isolation.

Such a project would also involve the implementation of a series of measures by the respective stakeholders who collaborate to enforce it. These measures include the following: liaise with the municipalities to clearly define the respective roles of each stakeholder in the process of project enforcement; identify a level, well-drained area where composting will take place;  identify and hire workers and women leaders to implement the project and conduct follow-up; identify the different kinds of waste which are produced in the refugee communities, and put them in different categories; purchase plastic bags, gloves, dust bins, boots, boxes and other relevant equipment for women leaders and workers; design two training courses for women leaders, farmers and a number of officials in these towns, on the types of organic waste which should be used for composting. These include tea bags, banana peels and many forms of kitchen waste, manure from birds, corn cobs, hair, peanut shells and paper.

Further measures are to: enhance the skills of affected parties in the process of composting and the sort of wastes which should be avoided; train these workers on the environmental impacts of mismanagement of hazardous waste, as well as the economic and environmental benefits of sustainable waste management practices; conduct a series of environmental awareness campaigns on preventing the disposal of garbage on streets, littering and also, the incentives which could be granted to best practicing areas; draft and finalise a Guidance Manual and Waste Management Charter; and conduct a survey of the number of existing houses, shops, commercial and industrial areas as well as farms in these towns; Remove accumulated wastes from streets.

Other measures include the following: identify particular areas in these towns from where women leaders will collect garbage from shops and houses and where waste disposal bins will be established; distribute a questionnaire to find out some salient features of waste management in the four towns such as the constraints in waste management; organise group discussions to obtain more views from the community about waste management, with practical suggestions on how this can be improved; distribute plastic bags to houses and shops;  establish an organized and regular system of garbage collection from these sites and disposal to a particular dumping area in the four towns through discussions with local authorities; and arrange with local authorities to provide vehicles for transporting garbage; separate organic waste from inorganic waste, and put together the organic waste for composting in a box, with garden soil at the base, with the relevant temperature and amount of heat supplied; monitor the process of the composting; put the fertilizer in separate paper bags for sale to farmers; clean up the inorganic waste (example, plastic bottles) and recycle for re-sale and re-use; co-operate with local authorities and treat the remaining waste in a landfill, with due regard to sound ecological principles.

The outcomes and expected advantages of such a project are many. These include a rise

in certain positive trends such as trained leaders to raise the level of environmental awareness amongst individuals throughout the communities; derivation of more income and greater levels of job opportunities for women through promoting the recycling of waste for sale as compost; improved partnerships between the community, private sector and municipal authorities for the improvement of environmental concerns; formulation and implementation of Guidelines and a Charter on Waste Management which consists of environmentally rational principles in waste management; strengthened partnerships between the community and the Ministry of Environment, for enforcing laws and policies on waste management, while paying attention to the principles of the Waste Management Charter and Jordan’s Waste Management Policy; availability of reasonably priced fertilizer for purchase and use by farmers in the refugee towns and the Jordan Valley, as well as an established system of recycling waste for re-use.

In view of these, such a project could enable the global community and Jordan could to to resolve pressing problems such as poverty and lack of employment.  

College Student Internships in 3 Easy Steps – Intern Job Search Tips

If you’ve decided you’re going to apply for a college internship, the next steps you take will be vitally important; internships very rarely fall out of the sky and right into your lap. Finding an internship does not have to dominate all of your time and energy, nor does it have to be a frustrating process. There are three easy, basic steps that every internship job-seeker should adopt for their search.

1) Network

They say that the number one way to find an internship is through networking, but unlike the decades ago, the word “networking” has taken on a number of meanings. You should definitely talk to friends and family, and spread the word about your internship search. Make sure that you are as specific as possible about what you are looking for, so you aren’t bombarded with offers that are not going to suit your needs. Chances are, however, there will be family members who encourage you to take on positions with their own companies that may not be the best choice for your future career.

After your personal networks, reach out to your internet networks including Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other sites. You can do as little as posting your status as “looking for an internship; let me know if you know of anything” or reaching out to people in your circle who work at desirable companies or organizations in your field.

Finally, hit the Internet to look for internships. There are tons of sites devoted to job searches, many that specialize in internship and entry level positions. Don’t just send a ton of resumes out blindly; target specific people and industries, and treat each communication as a possible job. It is always possible that you may not be right for one job, but your good impression can land you in another position’s job pile.

2) Pitch

Your cover letter and resume are your pitch, the information that you are choosing to broadcast to your potential internships. Put a large amount of through into how you want to present yourself, and pay particular attention to any similarities that internships ads might have with each other. Each year, there are a certain number of buzz words and skills that pop up in the workforce. Reading through a number of internships ads and descriptions will help you figure out what they are, and this will help you writing a winning cover letter and resume for your internship.

It’s important to note however that buzz words are not enough, and you can’t rely on jargon to get an internship. Be personal, and really think about how you will fit into the internship position. Be open about strengths, and show enthusiasm. The best candidates are those who don’t have to be asked “Is this a position you might be interested in?” The answer should be obvious from the cover letter through the interview.

3) Smile

For the most competitive internships, recruiters and hiring managers are more often than not looking for reason not to hire you. This is true at every step, and seems much less callous when you consider how many cover letters and job applications they must receive on a given day. This means that there are many things about the decision that are out of your control, and you can’t take it personally.

What you can do is stay positive, particularly during the interview process and beyond. Don’t get upset if no one calls you right away, or if people ask you the same questions over and over (they will!). Don’t get upset if they lose your resume and ask you to send another one. Smile if during the interview, the recruiter indicates that she doesn’t think that you’re right for the job; it might be a test, or she might be having a bad day. The only thing that you can ultimately control is how people see you, and you want that impression to be cool, mature and positive. Who wouldn’t want someone with those qualities to be their intern?

Marketing Jobs In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is on of the most preferred career destination for expatriates from across the globe. It is the largest country of Middle East and a birthplace of religion of Islam. Also, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest contributors to development aid, both in terms of volume of aid and ratio of aid volume to GDP. Most of its aid goes to poor Islamic countries or Islamic communities in non-Islamic countries. Saudi Arabia has the biggest stock market in Middle East and has been growing. The economy of the country is based on oil and petroleum largely since ages but the government is planning to diversify it. Saudi government has huge developmental plans as it has launched six ‘economic cities’ that will be completed by the year 2020.

The building up of these cities is aimed at promoting diversification of economy and increasing per capita income. With a lot of industrialization and development taking place, Saudi Arabia has in a way expanded its vision of being a job destination. It is natural that as the country grows and diversifies its economical focus, millions of jobs in Saudi Arabia will be generated across the industries. This makes it one of the most potential choices for expats willing to relocate in the country. Also, as more and more professionals migrate to the country, one can expect to see better mixing up of expatriates and locals. Apparently, business development is favorable in Saudi Arabia than ever before. Economic progress is visible and leading to product and service mobility in the market.

Therefore, employment opportunities in the field of sales, marketing and advertising are much improved and growing. Marketing jobs in Saudi Arabia are attracting everyone’s attention as career scope in the field has widened. It offers lucrative jobs in marketing to professionals from all over the world, especially from Asian and African countries as well as from within the country. In today’s age, nearly every brand or organization requires promotion to achieve higher visibility over competitors. The benefits of marketing can not be contested in any of the instances as it shows results almost instantly. Marketing has become a very vast industry with both online and offline ways of communication being available. This is why, marketing jobs across the companies in Saudi Arabia are coming up in large numbers. A firm can attain a strong edge over competitors if its marketing strategy is drafted well and accordingly.

From marketing officers to analysts to coordinators to managers, all kinds of marketing professionals are in high demand around the world. Marketing is an integral part for functioning of an organization as it comprises of both direct and indirect ways of generating profit. The high importance of marketing products and services has been long realized and thus, witnessing an all time boom. Some of the marketing jobs in Saudi Arabia firms are:

Head of Marketing
Brand Manager
Marketing Analyst
Marketing Executive
Category Manager
Marketing Manager
Key Accounts Manger
Sales & Accounts Manager
Brand Coordinator
Public Relations Coordinator
Marketing Engineer
Dealer Development Manager
Advertising & Marketing Executive
Marketing Specialist
Visual Merchandising Manager
Business Strategy Manager
Consulting Officer

Saudi Arabia employs professionals from all countries; one only needs to be skilled enough and experienced to perform the given tasks. One may look for jobs in Saudi Arabia in newspapers and company websites or may check with recruitment agencies as well. Online web portals like naukrigulf.com are also popular for listing available jobs in Saudi Arabia. One can live the dream of working abroad by just being alert and going through right kind of sources.