Jordanian Civil Society as an Impactful Development Stakeholder

Over the next 7 months, 60 Jordanian Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), 5 policy NGOs and 5 think tanks will take part in the WANA Institute’s Civil Society project, funded by the European Union (EU). The first capacity building workshops took place in Aqaba on 9 and 10 December.

The project “Strengthening of Think Tanks, Youth Initiatives and Civil Society Organisations” aims at building the capacity of non-governmental stakeholders to deliver results-based development assistance by equipping them with skills, tools and evidence, combined with an overall levelling of the playing field. This project is carried out in cooperation with the National Center for Human Rights.

Community Development and the Human Rights-Based Approach

The WANA Institute selected 60 CBOs, including 14 youth initiatives, to take part in a series of 7 workshops. The first training focuses on community development and trains the CBOs on how to apply a human rights-based approach in their programme design. It also introduces them to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and demonstrates how to carry out surveys and map stakeholders.

The first session took place in Aqaba on 9 and 10 December for CBOs from the southern governorates and will be repeated on 16 and 17 December in Amman for CBOs from the northern and central governorates.

After each training, the CBOs will return to the field to implement the knowledge they gained, and will return the next month for follow-up. This will result in a greater impact of assistance delivery, restored power balances with donors, and improved governance through a legitimate system of checks and balances.

Jordan’s Development Priorities

As part of the same project, 20 representatives from think tanks and policy NGOs will participate in a series of 5 roundtable discussions. The first one will be held on 13 December and will discuss Jordan’s development priorities. The aim of the session is to reach a consensus on the challenges and opportunities for Jordanian CBOs as a first step forward. 

Made possible by the generous support of the people of the European Union.