The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) just concluded its Jordan Municipal Support Project (JMSP). The ultimate outcome of JMSP, which spanned over six years, was to strengthen the resilience of Jordanian municipalities in Central and Southern Jordan. JMSP aimed to strengthen the leadership and administrative capacity of municipal councils to deliver inclusive services, by accompanying 12 municipalities in implementing more effective strategies for solid waste management, and by sharing knowledge to improve inclusive local governance throughout the country. The project applied a peer-to-peer capacity building approach where Canadian municipal advisors shared expertise with their Jordanian counterparts, who later shared their experiences with peers to replicate good practices. JMSP also worked at the national level, building the capacity of Ministry of Local Administration (MoLA) to ensure sustainability and replicability of project results.
JMSP built the administrative capacity of its 12 partner municipalities in areas of planning and inclusive service delivery. Seventy-nine (79) women and men council members and staff were trained in Gender based analysis plus (GBA+). All 12 partner municipalities improved their engagement with women, men, youth, elderly, and persons with a disability. As a result, these municipalities implemented initiatives from their strategic plans that respond to the priorities of community members, such as parks and green spaces as well as the use of solar panels.
Another important point of focus of JMSP was to enhance women’s participation in decision making processes in local governance. This was done both at the national and local levels: at the national level JMSP trained and supported 20 Gender Focal Points (GFP) in MoLA to conduct participatory gender audits. At the local level, JMSP enhanced leadership skills of 36 of women executive and heads of local development units with training in in leadership, communication, problem solving, public speaking, which contributed to their ability to make informed decisions.
A total of 21 Canadians (17 women /4 men) from 9 municipalities and municipal associations were engaged in JMSP. They provided technical assistance in key areas of strategic planning, solid waste management, gender, and women’s leadership. Their participation benefited Jordanian partners, as well as their own municipalities in Canada. JMSP achieved many long-lasting results. Over the course of the project, JMSP reached 11 governorates out of 12 across the Kingdom of Jordan and a total of 6,864 direct beneficiaries (of which 38% were women) and 605,669 indirect beneficiaries. More info on the JMSP’s impact and case studies can be found here.