Project profile — Municipal Services and Social Resilience

This project supports Jordanian municipalities hosting significant numbers of refugees in delivering services and promoting employment opportunities to foster social resilience. Project activities include: (1) improving infrastructure and services that benefit all women and men in the community; (2) creating labour-intensive employment for both Syrians and Jordanians; and (3) providing technical assistance and training to municipalities to improve inclusive governance practices, mainly to engage and respond to the needs of women and youth.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved access to quality essential services and employment opportunities for 2.5 million Jordanians and 500,000 Syrians in 21 municipalities highly affected by the influx of Syrian refugees; and (2) improved governance of inclusive municipal services in the targeted host communities.

Results achieved at the end of the project (January 2025) include: (1) improved access to quality essential services and employment opportunities in 26 municipalities, benefiting over 3.1 million people (19% Syrian and 47% women); (2) created 110,112 person-days of employment through labour-intensive public works. These works include improving 2.6 million square metres of rehabilitated, paved and newly opened public roads, installing 1,200 streetlights, and constructing 9,000 square metres of public buildings and 12,000 square metres of public parks; and (3) improved local governance of inclusive municipal services in 26 target communities through skills development in municipal planning, community consultations, project and contract management, gender equality and environmental and social safeguards. This resulted in increased citizen engagement, as well as better participation and prioritization of community needs by municipal governments.