His Majesty King Abdullah II on Monday attended a ceremony, held at the Royal Cultural Centre, to mark the 20th anniversary of the King Abdullah II Centre for Excellence (KACE), during which the next cycle of the Centre’s awards for the years 2026-2028 was launched.

His Majesty presented awards to a number of individuals in recognition of their contributions to advancing the Centre’s growth and development. The King bestowed the King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein Order for Distinction of the First Degree on His Royal Highness Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, chairman of the KACE Board of Trustees.

In his remarks during the event, KACE Vice Chairman Marwan Juma spoke about the Centre’s 20-year history and achievements, and its pivotal role in driving modernisation in collaboration with key authorities. 

Juma also explained that the new awards cycle prioritises developing standards of excellence, performance evaluation, capacity building, and impact maximisation, with a view to embedding a culture of excellence within organisations that elevates performance and sharpens decision-making.

For her part, KACE Executive Director Wedad Qutishat noted that the new awards cycle had broadened its scope to include public and private sectors as well as universities, with the aim of fostering graduates’ development to better prepare them for current labour market demands. 

Qutishat added that the upcoming cycle will feature updated criteria focusing on organisations’ adaptability, responsiveness to citizens’ needs, and ability to enhance user experiences across both digital and traditional service delivery channels.

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Alaa Batayneh, and a number of senior civilian and military officials attended the ceremony.