Jordan

Young people have demonstrated resilience to shocks and led positive change in their communities across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Young people (aged under 30) constitute more than half (55%) of the population across MENA, compared with 36% of the population across OECD countries. While challenges vary significantly across the region, youth unemployment rates are among the highest in the world, young people tend to express low trust in public institutions, and nearly four in ten live in fragile and conflicted-affected areas. The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the need to place the needs of young people at the centre of an inclusive and resilient recovery. To support this process, this report analyses current governance arrangements and practices across 10  MENA governments in three areas: 1) uniting all government stakeholders to implement a shared, integrated youth policy and deliver services to young people; 2) building administrative and institutional capacities to mainstream the perspectives of young people in policy making; and 3) encouraging the participation and representation of young people and youth stakeholders in public and political life.

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.

With a share of 36%, youth (aged 12-30) represent more than one-third of the total population in Jordan. Public governance is critical for supporting youth’s transition to full autonomy and providing opportunities for their participation in economic, social and public life. The COVID-19 has hit young people in Jordan hard and has underlined the importance of access to high-quality public services and to opportunities to participate in decision making. This report provides an analysis of the governance arrangements put in place by the Government of Jordan to deliver youth-responsive policy outcomes with a focus on five areas: 1) Jordan’s National Youth Strategy 2019-25, 2) Institutional capacities of the Ministry of Youth, 3) Governance tools to mainstream youth’s considerations in policy making and service delivery, 4) Youth participation and representation in public life and 5) Youth-responsive legal frameworks.

Blockchain is mainstreaming, but the number of blockchain for development use-cases with proven success beyond the pilot stage remain relatively few. This paper outlines key blockchain concepts and implications in order to help policymakers reach realistic conclusions when considering its use. The paper surveys the broad landscape of blockchain for development to identify where the technology can optimise development impact and minimise harm. It subsequently critically examines four successful applications, including the World Food Programme’s Building Blocks, Oxfam’s UnBlocked Cash project, KfW’s TruBudget and Seso Global. As part of the on-going work co-ordinated by the OECD’s Blockchain Policy Centre, this paper asserts that post-COVID-19, Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and their development partners have a unique opportunity to shape blockchain’s implementation.

Jordan is undertaking ambitious decentralization reforms to place citizens at the heart of local policies and services. This review analyses the main gaps in the current needs assessment process, which aims to mainstream a participatory approach for the design of local development plans and budgetary allocations through a yearly collection and assessment of citizens’ needs. It provides actionable recommendations to strengthen the governance of this process, foster two-way communication and promote stakeholder participation at all stages of the policymaking cycle. The report accompanies the document 'Supporting Open Government at the Local Level in Jordan' that aims to equip subnational public officials with the relevant knowledge and skills to mainstream transparency, integrity, accountability, and stakeholder participation into the functioning and machinery of local administrations.

This report assesses the main governance and financing challenges to private sector participation (PSP) in the water supply and sanitation sector of Jordan, and provides ways forward to address them, based on international experience and OECD compendium of principles and good practices. Using the diagnostic analysis of the governance challenges to PSP in the Jordan water sector (Chapter 1), the report identifies ways forward to overcome bottlenecks focusing on three key pillars (Chapter 2): i) managing public-private partnership in a fiscally constrained environment through appropriate budget processes; ii) reducing the regulatory risks through supporting the development of a high-quality framework; and iii)managing and enhancing stakeholder engagement to improve accountability and buy-in. The report also includes an action plan with concrete measures to implement the recommendations proposed in the report. The report has been developed as part of a water policy dialogue conducted by the OECD jointly with the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med) in the context of the project labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) 'Governance and Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector', with the support of the FEMIP Trust Fund of the European Investment Bank.

This report presents the results of OECD's comprehensive review of Jordan's investment policy. It examines the role of investment in Jordan's economy, Jordan's investment regime and the national treatment instrument, Jordan's policy framework for investment, Jordan's adherence to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterpriese, and its investment framework in support of green growth.