Jordan

Conflict

Photos: What do refugee parents tell their children about Syria?

PRI's The World

March 22, 2017

At the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan more than 7,000 children have been born over the last five years since the camp was set up to handle the large numbers of Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country. How do parents describe what’s happening in Syria to their children who have no memory of the country? What do they say about their home? Photographer Alisa Reznick offers a glimpse of life in the Zaatari camp.

Jobs

Why do so few women work (for pay) in Jordan?

Whose Century Is It?

March 08, 2017

Get a good education, and the world's your oyster, right? Not necessarily, if you're a woman in Jordan. While Jordan has one of the highest female literacy rates in the Middle East, and there are more women in college there than men, gender discrimination still abounds in the workplace. This is not just costing women, it's costing Jordan — half to almost a full percentage point of GDP growth each year, says the Brookings Institution. What's at play here? Jordanian lawyer and human rights activist Asma Khader shares her thoughts with The World's Shirin Jaafari.

Conflict

Why Jordan is at the epicenter of nearly all Middle Eastern issues

America Abroad

December 17, 2014

The rise of ISIS is connected to Jordan. The Israeli-Palestinian crisis plays out in the shadow of Jordan. The Syrian civil war and it's ensuing refugee crisis are taking a heavy toll on Jordan. Even the Iranian nuclear talks has a connection to Jordan. So, why Jordan, a landlocked country with few natural resources but tremendous importance for American foreign policy, at the middle of it all.

Global Politics

Restarting the peace process

PRI's The World

July 27, 2009

President Obama has sent a team of high-level national security officials to the Middle East. He's trying to revive an Arab-Israeli peace process that has yet to get off the ground. The World's Matthew Bell reports.