Jordan Municipal Support Project concludes 6-year journey

AMMAN — The Jordan Municipal Support Project (JMSP) concluded on Monday, leaving a strong legacy for the fostering of sustainable behaviour, including solid waste management approaches, officials said. 

The project, titled “Together, We Built”, is concluding its six-year initiative. The project was funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and was implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in partnership with the Ministry of Local Administration. 

The initiative was funded with a total of $20.7 million over six years, with $19.6 million provided by the government of Canada and in-kind technical assistance contributions of $1.1 million from Canadian municipalities.

During the project, 12 partner municipalities were trained to improve resilience and service delivery in support of decentralisation, good governance, improved solid waste management delivery and gender equality, according to a presentation during the ceremony. 

“JMSP’s aim is to strengthen municipal leadership and administrative capacity in central and southern Jordan,”  JMSP Director Gaby Senay said during her remarks. 

Senay added that the project adopts a tailored approach for each partner municipality by implementing capacity-strengthening interventions consistent with their needs.

The biggest achievement of the project is for all the municipalities to foster sustainable behaviour approaches in the long-term and implement projects that succeed. 

“Municipalities have gained knowledge and experience in designing and implementing strategic plans, solid waste management plans and initiatives,” said Hussein Mheidat, Secretary General at the Ministry of Local Administration.

Mheedat said that the project works with its partners to promote social cohesion, inclusion and gender equality by engaging communities across all interventions and planning.

“These interventions contribute to better governance practices and improved sustainable waste management services offered to citizens, as well as to the country’s decentralisation process overall,” he added. 

Some results of the projects included municipalities saving money with the installation of solar panels, the creation of better routing systems to pick up waste, capacity-building to increase staff’s knowledge on their tasks and ensuring an efficient use of resources, according to a statement from the organisers. 

In addition, 20 other municipalities have implemented initiatives from the five best practices identified by JMSP partner municipalities:Solar panels, accessible and educational parks, solid waste management plans, improved and organised routing systems and green rooftops.