13 million pounds to finance ESTIDAMA++ programme for 2023-2025 — SSC

AMMAN — Director General of the Social Security Corporation (SSC) Mohammed Saleh Tarawneh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), represented by the Director of Development at the British embassy in Amman, Angela Spilsbury, to finance the “ESTIDAMA ++” programme for the period (2023-2025) through a financial grant of 13 million sterling pounds.

This contribution to the ESTIDAMA++ programme comes under the FCDO’s five year 65-million pound flagship social protection programme, Strengthening Societal and Economic Resilience in Jordan, which supports the government in implementing the National Social Protection Strategy to protect the Kingdom’s most vulnerable residents.

The donation, which represents the long friendship between both Kingdoms, Jordan and the UK, will contribute to supporting 34,000 new vulnerable workers under SSC umbrella by the end of 2025, according to a statement from the SSC.  

Tarawneh stated that ESTIDAMA++ programme’s main objective is to extend SSC’s social security umbrella to vulnerable workers to improve standards of living and enhance efforts towards transitioning into the formal economy by using innovative and dynamic methods. 

ESTIDAMA++ is providing financial support for the targeted groups to ease the burdens on both the employees and employers, he explained. This is delivered through two mechanisms; first, subsidising the contributions of the workers and self-employed individuals with a monthly ceiling of JD30; second, by disbursing quarterly payments of JD100 across a 12-month period as a coverage incentive for the covered workers.

Tarawneh expressed his gratitude to the programmes donors, which include The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, to the programme’s technical partner, the International Labour Organisation, and to the GoJ, represented by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, for their role in mobilising the donor community towards supporting the social protection efforts in Jordan. 

Spilsbury said that the UK government is proud to pursue its partnership with SSC to support Jordan’s efforts in social protection by contributing to funding the programme alongside the Norwegian and Dutch governments. She added that extending social security to vulnerable Jordanian and non-Jordanian workers under the SSC umbrella, and supporting their continuity, will protect them from current and future social and economic risks.