US embassy cable - 03AMMAN5567

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005567 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM/ANE and NEA/ARN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, EAID, KPAL, JO 
SUBJECT:  COMPLETION OF FY02 PRM AMBASSADOR'S FUND 
PROJECTS IN JORDAN 
 
Ref:  02 STATE 15910 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  POST'S TWO PROJECTS FUNDED IN FY02 UNDER 
PRM'S AMBASSADOR'S FUND FOR REFUGEES IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
WERE COMPLETED BY JULY 2003.  THE TWO PROJECTS - PURCHASE 
OF A MINIBUS FOR THE COMMUNITY REHABILITATION CENTER AT 
BAQA'A CAMP AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN ADDITION TO THE 
WOMEN'S PROGRAM CENTER (WPC) AT JEBEL HUSSEIN CAMP - 
RESPONDED TO CRITICAL, LOW-COST GAPS IN REFUGEE 
ASSISTANCE IN JORDAN AND GENERATED GOOD PUBLICITY FOR THE 
EMBASSY.  AMBASSADOR GHNEM INAUGURATED THE JEBEL HUSSEIN 
WPC ADDITION IN A JULY 7 CEREMONY.  THE EMBASSY RECEIVED 
INTERIM ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL REPORTS PER THE 
GRANT AGREEMENTS AND WE ARE SATISFIED WITH THE PROJECTS' 
MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT BY THE LOCAL GRANTEES.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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A Bus for Disabled Children in Baqa'a Refugee Camp 
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2.  The Embassy funded the purchase of a 14-passenger 
minibus for the Community Rehabilitation Center (CRC) at 
Baqa'a refugee camp.  The CRC purchased the bus in 
November 2002 and has used it efficiently since then as a 
multi-purpose vehicle.  As of August 31, CRC staff and 
therapists had used the bus to conduct a total of 381 
visits to three hundred disabled children at their homes. 
CRC staff also used the bus for one hundred and fifty 
field visits and meetings.  The bus enabled CRC staff to 
bring eighteen children to attend social activities at 
the center and 45 to summer camp activities in August. 
Families of the disabled children were particularly 
pleased to be able to receive CRC staff at their homes. 
 
3.  The CRC governing committee and staff worked as a 
team and cooperatively managed the project. CRC was in 
continuous contact with the RefCoord office, UNRWA and 
the Department of Palestinian Affairs to facilitate the 
purchase of the bus.  CRC submitted detailed interim 
financial and administrative reports in April per the 
grant agreement.  The CRC has sufficient funds to cover 
the annual maintenance costs of the bus and will 
therefore continue to use it as a multipurpose vehicle, 
including reaching the disabled children in their homes 
and bringing them to the center. 
 
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More Room and Programming at the Women's Center 
In Jebel Hussein Camp 
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4.  The embassy provided $20,000 to construct a one-room 
(107 square meters) addition to the Women's Program 
Center (WPC) at Jebel Hussein camp.  The room is used as 
a fitness center, allowing the WPC to expand its popular 
hair-dressing training program and beauty salon, reaching 
an additional 100 trainees per month and generating more 
income for the center.  The external construction was 
completed in February 2003 and the internal finishing was 
completed on May 30.  The construction schedule was 
delayed by three weeks due to war-related increases in 
material costs but WPC eventually managed to obtain lower 
priced materials.  Jebel Hussein WPC contributed USD 5600 
of its own funds to finish and paint the addition and 
purchase equipment for the fitness center.  Ambassador 
Ghnem inaugurated the new addition on July 7, generating 
favorable coverage in the local press. 
 
5.  This project is contributing to the WPC's overall 
financial sustainability, due to the growing popularity 
of fitness programs in Jebel Hussein camp.  The extra 
space provided by the project also enabled the center to 
introduce more courses including evening fitness 
training, computer skills, international computer 
driver's license (ICDL) and internet training. More women 
and young girls are now coming from other refugee 
neighborhoods to participate in the center's training 
courses. 
 
6.  The WPC governing committee and staff worked as a 
team and cooperatively managed the project.  WPC was in 
continuous contact with the RefCoord office and UNRWA for 
mutual consultation and cooperation whenever necessary. 
WPC also submitted detailed interim financial and 
administrative reports on time per the grant agreement. 
 
HALE