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Ammon News - by Khetam Malkawi/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — More than 7,000 Jordanians have so far defined their priorities for the period after 2015 by voting through the United Nations website.

For the 7,123 Jordanians who voted over the past two months, finding a better job opportunity is the main priority, receiving 5,257 of the votes.

The second priority for Jordanians is “good education” (4,702 votes), followed by “an honest and responsible government” (4,052 votes) and “better healthcare” (3,864 votes).

The year 2015 is the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programme, which has made a “huge impact on the lives of millions of people” since its adoption in 2000, according to the UN.

This recognition triggered the UN and its partners worldwide to accelerate action to achieve the goals that are not yet attained, and also underscored the urgency of designing a post-2015 development framework that would build on the MDGs’ successes, address the weaknesses of the current framework and meet new global challenges, according to a UN statement.

For this purpose, consultations with stakeholders are taking place in 84 countries worldwide, to assess the views of several groups on priorities that should be reflected in the future development agenda beyond 2015.

“Jordan is one of the countries selected to carry out such post-2015 national consultations,” the statement said.

Those wishing to vote can log on to the “MY World” survey (www.myworld2015.org) and 6 out of 16 possible issues they think would make the most difference to their lives.

The survey will be open until 2015, but the focus for UN Jordan is from June to December 2013.

The target number of votes from Jordan is over 50,000, according to the UN.

According to Nora Isayan, communications officer at the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Jordan, the voting campaign started on social media, in addition to radio spots to encourage Jordanians to define their priorities.

In order to reach Jordanians in different governorates, the UN also launched an SMS campaign, where messages were sent to 25,000 mobile users in 12 governorates, to encourage them to take part in the vote.

And now, with more than 100 volunteers, the UN is conducting campaigns in shopping malls and public places to encourage wider participation.

Efforts were made to reach out to rural areas and governorates other than Amman, the UN said.

Special attention was paid to ensure a gender-balanced participation and the involvement of disadvantaged groups, including persons living with disabilities. Youth and civil society were also extensively consulted.

Some 37 events of different nature were completed from October 2012 to May 2013, to feed in different degrees into the 11 global themes, according to the UN.

A total of 2,500 people from over 190 organisations, including 20 women’s NGOs, directly participated in this dialogue.

Among those involved, 55 per cent were male, 46 per cent under the age of 24, 58 per cent were from Amman while 42 per cent from other governorates, including rural areas.