Tracking status
Approach to JP in development
Team note
There is no Joint programming process in Jordan yet. The Jordan New Development Plan, Jordan 2025, was launched May 2015, with an implementation framework rolling through 3-year Executive Development Programmes (EDP) - the first one covering the period 2016-2018. Same timeframe (2016-2018) is used under the Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis. Other key national policies and strategies include the Human Resources Development Strategy 2016-2025 and the Ministry of Social Development Strategy 2017-2021.
European partners in Jordan
In 2016-2017 ODA from European partners amounted to more than USD 900 million (OECD figures), Germany being the largest donor to Jordan in terms of gross ODA (USD 269 million), right before the EU institutions (USD 240.7 million), France (USD 237.9 million), as well as the United Kingdom (USD 157.3 million).
In line with the revised European Neighbourhood Policy, the EU and Jordan have adopted the EU-Jordan Partnership Priorities and the EU-Jordan Compact. Cooperation under the Partnership Priorities is structured around three mutually reinforcing objectives: i) macro-economic stability and sustainable and knowledge-based growth; ii) strengthening democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights; and iii) regional stability and security, including counter-terrorism. Cooperation is also being pursued on cross-cutting issues such as migration and mobility as well as economic, social and political inclusion of vulnerable groups, including youth and women.
European partners aim to align their cooperation strategy with the Government of Jordan's national plans, in particular "Jordan 2025: a National Vision and Strategy”, a ten-year socio-economic blueprint aimed at improving the welfare of citizens and the basic services provided to them, as well as the the Jordan Economic Growth Plan 2018-2022 and the Government of Jordan 2019-2020 Nahda Priorities Plan.
The Compact aims at improving the living conditions of refugees and their host communities. Efforts to achieve this objective were reinforced at two consecutive conferences in 2017 and 2018 in Brussels on "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region”.
Political situation
King Abdullah II, King Hussein's eldest son, is Jordan's monarch since 1999. He appoints governments, approves legislation, and can dissolve parliament. In 2011, political turmoil in Arab countries reflected in street protests over political reform and the cost of living. Adverse regional developments, in particular the Syria and Iraq crisis, remain the largest recent shocks affecting Jordan, and have been reflected in an unprecedented refugee influx, disrupted trade routes, and lower investments and tourism inflows. (source: BBC country profile, July 2019)