Amman: On the 4^th of July, under the patronage of the Minister of Interior H.E. Salameh Hammad, the Ministry of Interior, the United Nations Development Programme UNDP and the University of Jordan held a launching ceremony of the Jordan University Programme, a European Union-funded initiative to conduct the first master’s and higher diploma certificate programmes on Local Administration and Local Development in Jordan under the Decentralization and Local Development Support Programme DLDSP components.

“The biggest treasure of Jordan is its people and we need to continuously invest in building their capacities. In this regard I want to commend all the Jordanian and international entities for establishing this academic initiative, which will supply the Jordanian labour market with qualified experts in local administration and local development,” said H.E. Salameh Hammad, in his opening remarks. H.E. also noted that the programme provides 40 fully-funded scholarships for candidates from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Local Administration, other line ministries and civil society organizations working in the field of local development.

He added that the Program requires efforts of all international organizations and donors to ensure its sustainability and promote it to other countries in the region so as to attract students to the local administration and development programmes.

“To continue support and activities serving various local communities in Jordan, the UNDP supports the Government of Jordan in its ambitious mission of promoting good governance and enabling people in local communities to participate in decision making and assessment of their needs. To ensure that these objectives are realized, it is crucial to enroll skilled champions at national and local administration levels in the academic programme that introduces scientific principles and experiences of other countries that have successfully implemented decentralisation," said the Deputy Resident Representative at UNDP Jordan, Majida Al-Assaf. Stressing successful cooperation between Jordanian, Italian and Dutch universities, Al-Assaf also praised the EU for championing this initiative as well as supporting good governance reforms in Jordan.

“This is a very timely academic initiative that comes at a sensitive time for Jordan: Today more than ever the country needs all the public institutions and officials to demonstrate their most efficient and effective performance. The recent establishment of the Ministry of Local Administration contributed to improving the ongoing decentralisation experience, at the centre of which are the people who expect quality services and economic opportunities. The University of Jordan is therefore proud to be part of this initiative and since it supports various academic programmes serving the local communities, it expedited the accreditation process and reduced the academic fees by 30% for scholarship recipients,” said Professor Abdel-Karim Al-Qudah, President of the University of Jordan.

For his part, Gianmatteo Arena, the European Union delegation's Chargé d'Affaires, said: "The European Union stands by Jordan in its ongoing efforts to achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. The on-going "Decentralization and Local Development Support Programme", implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and amounting to EUR 4,400,000, is an example of EU commitment to supporting the Government of Jordan in achieving these goals."

During the ceremony, H.E Minister of Interior, President of the University of Jordan and UNDP representative signed two memoranda of understanding in the presence of their excellencies the Minister of Local Administration, Chargé d'affaires of the European Union and representatives of the embassies of Italy and the Netherlands, partner European academic institutions and Government of Jordan.

Jordan University Programme is an EU-funded initiative to conduct academic degree on Local Administration and Local Development designed by the UNDP, the University of Jordan, The Hague Academy, University of Groningen (Netherlands), University of Florence/ ARCO (Italy) and the Ministry of Interior. The Master and Higher Education Degree Programmes are designed to equip students with the necessary expertise and skills to support local economic development, improve service delivery, and promote the rule of law. The EU, in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and UNDP, is providing 40 scholarships that fully cover the tuition fees of the entire academic degree.

Starting in September 2019, the programmes include activities dedicated to acquiring advanced knowledge in the fields of local economic development, local governance, statistics for the measurement of local development and the Sustainable Development Goals, law, planning and budgeting and civil society engagement.  The syllabus contains subjects such as Local Development Planning and Budgeting, Fiscal Decentralization, Civil Service Ethics and Anti-Corruption, Sustainable Local Economic Development, etc.