His Excellency Professor Mohammad Hamed, President of the University, and the principal investigator of the research project, Dr. Shatha Al-Assaf, signed a funding agreement for the research project submitted by the Scientific Research and Innovation Support Fund of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, represented by its Director, Professor Waseem Halsa, on Tuesday, March 24, 2025.
The research project, titled "Activating Alternatives to Deprivation of Liberty Sanctions to Combat Drug Crimes and Recover from Addiction (A Legal and Social Analytical Study)," was the only project to receive funding within the humanitarian, social, and economic axis of the Special Session to Combat the Drug Abuse and Its Impact on Society. The research project was submitted under the umbrella of the Women's Empowerment Center and the International Projects Unit at the University, headed by Professor Inshad Jumaa, from the University's research team consisting of the principal investigator, Dr. Shatha Al-Assaf, and co-researchers, Dr. Amal Al-Habashneh and Dr. Dima Al-Aoun.
The importance of the research project lies in identifying the reasons for the scarcity of adopting alternatives to custodial sentences in drug crimes, and then building the capacity of judges to enable them to choose appropriate alternatives to custodial sentences and preparing a guide on how to choose appropriate alternatives to sentences, taking into account the specificity of drug crimes, and encouraging governmental and private entities to apply alternatives to custodial sentences in their facilities, and spreading awareness of the danger of drug addiction and its social and economic harms and the importance of applying alternative penalties in drug crimes and their role in integrating addicts into their society and removing societal stigma from them.