USAID mission in Jordan commemorates agency’s 60th anniversary, local development progress

AMMAN — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Wednesday commemorated a major milestone, marking 60 years since it was founded by President John F. Kennedy.  

For six decades, USAID has built its reputation as the world’s leader in international development by partnering with countries around the world to strengthen communities and improve lives, said a statement from the agency. 

The US government has supported Jordan’s development for 75 years, providing Jordan with more than $17.3 billion in foreign aid since 1946, the statement said.  

Today, the US economic assistance programme to Jordan is the largest in the world.  

USAID works closely with Jordan’s government and people to support Jordan’s economic stability and security through programmes that generate private sector-led growth, strengthen water security, advance accountable democratic governance, enhance the participation of women and youth in the economy and public life, and invest in education and health to leverage the potential of Jordan’s most important asset, its people, read the statement.

USAID has directly supported a 40 per cent reduction in infant mortality in the last 20 years, expanded equitable access to education for Jordanian and refugee students, and increased the availability of drinking water and improved sanitation for millions of Jordanians, the agency said. 

USAID has helped many Jordanian small- and medium-sized businesses take advantage of trade opportunities under the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement, which has increased trade between Jordan and the US from $568 million in 2001 to more than $3 billion in 2019.

In July, the US government donated 500,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Jordan reflecting the strength of the US-Jordanian partnership.  

USAID has partnered with the Government of Jordan to fight COVID-19 by training more than 16,500 healthcare providers to identify and treat COVID-19 patients, increasing PCR testing capacity from 5,000 to 65,000 tests per day, and launching communications campaigns that reached over seven million people throughout the country to promote behaviours that limit the spread of the virus and increase demand for vaccines. 

To support Jordan’s economic recovery, USAID contributed $40 million to the Istidama wage subsidy programme to keep people employed during the pandemic and established a multi-donor fund that has raised over $100 million to bolster the National Aid Fund’s emergency cash assistance for Jordan’s most vulnerable populations.