Partners Jordan helps implement new municipal laws
Partners-Jordan is facilitating ground-breaking public participation in the implementation of new municipal laws in Jordan.
Partners-Jordan Center for Civic Collaboration continues to serve as an important link between government and civic organizations in Jordan. With support from the Forum for the Future, Partners-Jordan has been working closely with the Ministries of Municipal Affairs and Political Development, municipality leaders, and youth organizations to help implement new municipal laws that were passed in 2007 that require increased public participation in local decision-making. Partners-Jordan closely cultivates a neutral role in the country in order to convene and work directly with local government officials, training them in good governance and community participation techniques and methods, as well as working with youth-oriented civic organizations to train them in effective Cooperative Advocacy strategies.
As part of this initiative, Partners-Jordan conducted a social-mapping process with local working groups in the target municipalities that revealed that there are many parallel efforts by municipal government and civic organizations working on similar problems, but with very little overlap or synergies. The various sectors have little knowledge or recognition of each others operations, strengths or goals. Building on the skills from the previous trainings, Partners’ staff helped facilitate dialogues to construct social maps in each municipality that distinguished crucial relationships, determined development obstacles and identified joint strategies between municipal officials and civil leaders to launch new joint initiatives. Obstacles that the groups identified ranged from relational, (difficulty working together because of lack of trust) economic, (unemployment and scarcity of resources) to political (decision-making structures and accountability).
Partners-Jordan is now working within the target municipalities to help implement some of the solutions reached during the dialogue processes, including new Town Hall meetings to assist the municipalities’ Development Units to coordinate with civil society groups, increase networking with the private sector, and create a joint database of projects to support future fundraising for local development initiatives.
For more information on Partners-Jordan’s municipal initiatives, please contact director@partners-jordan.org.
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