Engaging Citizens in Jordan’s Local Government Needs Assessment Process

Acknowledgements

The review was prepared by the Directorate for Public Governance (GOV) under the leadership of its former Acting Head and current Deputy Director, Janos Bertok. It is part of a long-standing collaboration with Jordan on open government, gender equality and youth engagement in the framework of the MENA-OECD Governance Programme.

The review was produced by the Open and Innovative Government Division (OIG) under the strategic direction of Alessandro Bellantoni, Head of the Open Government Unit.

The report was drafted by Craig Matasick and Paulina López Ramos with contributions from Michael Jelenic and Carla Musi. Sophie Le Corre and Elena Martin Gomez-Tembleque provided administrative support throughout the development of the publication.

The OECD Secretariat wishes to express its gratitude to all those who made the OECD Report “Engaging Citizens in Jordan’s Local Government Needs Assessment Process” possible, especially the Government of Jordan. In particular, the OECD would like to thank the team of the Ministry of Planning and International Co-operation (MoPIC) in Jordan headed by Hatem Habahbeh. The team would also like to thank the Ministry of Local Administration, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance and the Institutional Performance Development Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office for their contributions to the publication. These in-depth insights were instrumental in further improving the OECD’s understanding of the Jordanian context and helping to recommend courses of action that reflect local priorities. Likewise, the OECD would also like to express its appreciation for the contributions of Dr. Amer Bani’s team in Al Hayat RASED.

Finally, the OECD also wishes to acknowledge the co-operation and support of the current Minister of MoPIC, Nasser Shraideh, as well as the former Minister, Wissam Rabadi, in addition to the important contributions provided by the many stakeholders from the public sector and civil society, through surveys conducted by the OECD and contributions in fact finding missions in February and March 20191.

Note

← 1.  Stakeholders included elected members of governorate and municipal councils, mayors as well as officials from development units at all three levels from: The Amman Governorate; Madaba Governorate; Zarka Governorate; Mafraq Governorate; Tafilah Governorate; Ma’an Governorate; Jerash Governorate; Ajloun Governorate; Tafila Municipality; Battir District; Salt Municipality; Ajloun Municipality; Jaresh Municipality; Zarka Municipality Mafraq;

Participants from civil society included representatives from: Rasheed; Opinions without borders for sustainable development; Community Media Network; Qudurat Association for Community Development; Change agents for sustainable development; Virtue Charity Association; Jordan Legal Network; We Rise Center; Tomorrow's Youth Center; Namaa Development and Capacity Building; Bashayer Al Nour Charity Associatiom; Madaba Tomorrow for development and training; Our Children’s Future Cultural Association; The Creatives Association to support students and the local community; Sons of Al Khalil Association for solidarity; and Ain Rasun Charity Association.