Project profile — Jordan Municipal Support

This project aims to strengthen leadership of local municipalities and improve their ability to provide services, primarily in the central and southern parts of Jordan. Specifically, the project focuses on twelve selected municipalities that have been impacted by the influx of Syrian refugees. The project involves close collaboration with Jordan’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and other strategic partners to improve local governance and operational capacity to respond to increasing demands for municipal services, including more effective strategies for managing solid waste. Canadian municipal practitioners and elected officials are also mobilized to provide peer-to-peer technical assistance to Jordanian municipalities through the creation of a virtual municipal training institute.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) strengthened leadership and administrative capacity of Jordanian municipalities to meaningfully engage the community (particularly women and youth) in municipal decision-making, and to plan and deliver more inclusive services; (2) improved solid waste management services in host municipalities through the engagement of women, youth (girls and boys) and other key stakeholders; and (3) strengthened public engagement and knowledge sharing between Jordanian and Canadian municipalities.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2023) include: (1) strengthened leadership and administrative capacity of municipalities to meaningfully engage the community, particularly women and youth, in municipal decision-making and to plan and deliver more inclusive services; (2) developed the Municipal Capacity Assessment Tool with the 12 partner municipality, to identify overall gaps and implement it in municipalities across the Kingdom (total of 100); (3) established the Institute for Local Administration as a directorate within the Ministry of Local Administration (MoLA), with 21 programs ready for delivery and 59 trainers skilled in adult learning methodologies, facilitation and training; (4) implemented strategic plans and initiatives developed by the municipalities that respond to the priorities of community members, such as parks, solar panels, municipal capacity building and improvements; (5) trained and supported local governance to conduct participatory gender audits to enhance women’s participation in decision-making processes; (6) improved solid waste management services by working with partner municipalities to improve health and safety, waste collection, composting programs, sorting, upcycling and social areas. This includes seven municipalities that created or improved solid waste management and environmental departments, six municipalities that improved health and safety by training workers, and 11 municipalities that improved the efficiency of waste collection through better route planning, bin distribution and vehicle maintenance. Also partner municipalities carried out 118 community engagement and education programs involving women, men, youth, girls, and boys on solid waste management activities and applying and fostering sustainable behaviours; and (7) strengthened public engagement and knowledge sharing between Jordanian and nine Canadian municipalities and municipal associations, and provided technical assistance in strategic planning, Solid Waste Management, gender, and women’s leadership. This resulted in the implementation of 22 initiatives in 20 non-partner municipalities, promoting good practices with peer support from the Jordanian partner. municipalities.