Jordan

This chapter will analyse the governance arrangements put in place to design, steer, coordinate and track progress in the implementation of Jordan’s National Youth Strategy (NYS) 2019-25. For this purpose, it will benchmark the arrangements in place against the eight principles of good governance as set out in the OECD Assessment Framework of National Youth Strategies to identify strengths and opportunities to build up further administrative capacity and partnerships. The chapter will provide comparative evidence from across MENA and OECD countries to translate the commitments of national integrated youth strategies into tangible improvements in the lives of youth.

With around 36%, young people aged 12-30 years constitute more than one third of the population in Jordan. Their successful engagement in the labour market, public and political life, and society is crucial for their personal well-being and economic prospects and for overall economic growth, social cohesion and trust in government. This chapter sets out the context in which youth in Jordan are coming of age. It will discuss national, regional and global factors shaping the opportunities for young people, assess their current situation and cover trends that are likely to shape their lives and that of future generations.

The decentralization reform in Jordan can be better understood when assessed against a series of factors shaping its implementation – namely, economic, demographic, social and political.

The water sector in Jordan is under increased pressure. The Syrian refugee crisis has resulted in important strains on the sector, particularly in the northern governorates. This is compounded by rising electricity costs, which represent a significant share of water costs. Moreover, fiscal stress has led the government to accept a 36-month Stand-by Agreement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which contains significant reforms of public expenditure. There is, therefore, little domestic fiscal space in the short to medium term to meet capital and operating requirements in the water sector. Given the pressing financing needs, the rationale for harnessing private sources of finance and know-how is thus apparent.

To provide relevant context for the consideration of investment in renewable power in Jordan, this section provides a brief overview of Jordan’s economic and energy trends. Jordan’s economy has exhibited moderate economic growth for a number of years, but has struggled with energy security and supply challenges, as well as large current account and fiscal deficits leading to rising public debt. These imbalances are closely linked to the regional refugee crisis and the structure of Jordan’s energy sector. Securing energy supply is a key priority for the energy sector, to cope with: high energy dependency; frequent exogenous shocks due to regional conflicts; high electricity costs; rapid growth in demand for electricity; a high ratio of energy imports to total imports; and high levels of support for fossil fuels. These challenges all point to the need to scale up investment in domestic energy supply, and especially in renewable power generation,1 in order to sustaining economic growth, improving energy security and reducing budget pressure associated with fossil-fuel imports.

This chapter assesses productivity trends and the potential of FDI to enhance productivity and innovation performance in Jordan. Building on the stocktaking of Jordan’s competitive edge, the chapter presents the governance framework and policy mix that supports investment impacts on productivity – focusing on institutional arrangements and policies at the intersection of investment, innovation and SME development. The chapter applies the forthcoming OECD FDI Qualities Policy Toolkit (cluster on productivity and innovation).

This chapter examines the formal organisation of youth affairs in Jordan with a focus on the administrative capacities within the Ministry of Youth. It will analyse the coordination mechanisms established horizontally (across ministerial departments) and vertically (across the different levels of government) to translate the ministry’s strategic objectives into programmes and activities across the governorates. Based on an overview of innovation in governance to mainstream youth concerns in policy making across MENA and OECD countries, it will point to good practices and lessons learned that could be applied in Jordan.

At a moment when many countries of the MENA region are looking to accelerate economic growth and build more stable, open societies, this report argues that greater women’s economic empowerment holds one of the keys. It asserts that despite challenges some countries are facing in guaranteeing women equal access to economic opportunity, progress is underway and can be further nurtured through targeted, inclusive and coordinated policy actions. Building on the conclusions of a first monitoring report released in 2017, the report analyses recent legislative, policy and institutional reforms in support of women’s economic empowerment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and seeks to identify success factors that have helped anchor reform. Moreover, it delivers actionable examples and practical tools for policy makers to help them transform policies into effective actions for women’s economic empowerment.

Public communication is an essential part of government policy and an important contributor to transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation. This Citizens’ Voice in Jordan Report provides an analysis of internal and external communications processes, examining progress achieved to date and remaining challenges. It provides recommendations for the Government of Jordan for making a strategic use of public communication and strengthening the media ecosystem in the interest of promoting a more open government.

This chapter seeks to provide an analytic framework to better understand the differentiated, yet complementary, roles that public communications and media ecosystems can play in supporting Open Government Reforms. As such, this chapter will discuss the current global and regional context, which underpin both the importance and timeliness of improving capacities for improved public communication and establishing the foundations for a well-functioning media and information enabling environment. Subsequently, this chapter will put forth the OECD’s analytical framework, including the setting, catalysts, and potential outcomes related to improved public communication and media enabling environment. Finally, this chapter will discuss how public communication and robust media can function as complementary mechanisms for supporting Jordan’s Open Government agenda as well as its COVID 19 response efforts.

This chapter provides an overview of the main legal and institutional changes that have affected the state of public communication in Jordan, including the recent growth of the media and information sector. It then presents the OECD's framework for open government, public communication, and media ecosystems, which will be analysed in depth in subsequent chapters of the report. The chapter ends with a summary of the main conclusions and recommendations of the report concerning the governance of public communication, the strategic use of core capacities, and opportunities to promote a sound media and information enabling environment in the country.

This chapter will reflect on the conditions under which Jordan’s decentralization reform efforts arose, the issues shaping its pace and scale, and its potential to support the further opening of the government. It will do so by outlining the role of open government as an instrument to streamline the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation at the local level in the country. The chapter will also explore the contextual factors influencing the implementation of decentralization in Jordan, as well as its main tenants and progress achieved to date. It will conclude with an outline of the methodology of this report.

Following an assessment of internal communication mechanisms in Jordan, this chapter will explore current practices and gaps in key communication competencies, including the use of audience insights, digital communication and evaluation. It will also provide recommendations on how such capabilities can contribute to increased transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation.

This chapter provides an action plan building on the diagnostic analysis provided in Chapter 1 and related recommendations provided in Chapter 2. It presents the practical steps that the Jordanian authorities, together with various stakeholders including donors, could take to make water reforms happen in Jordan. The concrete actions are defined in a time frame. They are related to relevant reforms and initiatives currently underway in Jordan and refer, where appropriate, to international practices.