By: Nedal Zubeidi & Manar Musa
Jordan Daily - Civil society organizations in Jordan must move beyond numbers and focus on building effective alliances and sustainable partnerships to strengthen civic participation and evidence-based policymaking, speakers said on Thursday at the closing event of the EU-funded “EMPOWER_Jordan” project carried out in the governorates of Ajloun, Madaba and Tafileh.
The project, implemented by Acted in partnership with the Information and Research Center at the King Hussein Foundation, aimed to strengthen the institutional, advocacy and technical capacities of civil society organizations to support sustainable development and improve coordination across the sector.
The event, held at the Signia by Hilton Hotel in Amman, brought together representatives of civil society organizations, development agencies and policymakers to review the project’s achievements and discuss future cooperation.
Speaking during the closing ceremony in Amman, Dr. Ayman Halaseh, Director of the Information and Research Center, said the real strength of civil society lies in its ability to coordinate efforts, build alliances and develop a deep understanding of the challenges facing communities.
“The strength of civil society is not limited to the number of organizations, but to its ability to coordinate and build effective alliances and partnerships, and to have a deep understanding of problems and challenges,” Halaseh said.
He described the project as proof that civil society organizations are capable of working collectively to support public dialogue and policy development based on evidence.
“At the Center for Information and Research, we believe that civil society organizations are part of a broader system to enhance civil participation, expand the base of public dialogue, and improve the quality of policies based on evidence,” he added.
The project focused on improving governance, strategic planning and advocacy skills among beneficiary organizations while strengthening coordination and networking mechanisms between civil society actors, government institutions and the private sector.
The ceremony also included presentations of success stories from beneficiaries and the launch of four policy papers addressing social protection for agricultural workers, tourism licensing procedures in Ajloun, fundraising mechanisms for civil society organizations and water harvesting in Tafileh Governorate.
