Milestone in JordanÂ’s Integrated Financing Strategy Development
15 July, 2008
The second multi-stakeholder workshop on advancing the Integrated Financing Strategy (IFS) for combating desertification in Jordan, held in Amman on 8 and 9 July 2008, ended with a clear set of steps for finalizing the IFS by September this year.
The IFS is a GM product, anchored in the national institutional setting, and fully in line with the Ten-year Strategic Plan and Framework to Enhance the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
The workshop, organized by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) and the Ministry of Environment (MOE), with support from the GM, was attended by 75 representatives of government ministries, civil society, academia and development cooperation partners, with the objective of sharpening the focus of the IFS development and implementation process.
As highlighted by Mr. Naser al Shureidy, the Secretary General of MOPIC, the IFS process in Jordan is guiding the establishment of an investment framework for implementing the UNCCD through mobilizing a blend of financing including from innovative sources for the implementation of on-the-ground sustainable land management projects and programmes, and to facilitate the enhancement of the enabling policy, legislative, institutional and incentive frameworks that influence resource mobilization.
National stakeholders demonstrated their ownership of the IFS through their keen participation in discussions of the IFS development team’s interim findings on the national context, and by articulating their own roles in implementing the IFS. MOE and MOPIC demonstrated their commitment to increasing ownership of the IFS process through the excellent collaboration at the Secretary General level and also, at the operational level between Ms. Maha Al-Zu’bi, Deputy Director, Water and Environment Division, MOPIC and Mr. Hussein Shahin, Director, Nature Protection Directorate, MoE and Operational Focal Point of the UNCCD.
The IFS process has also led to reactivation of the National Coordination Committee for Combating Desertification (NCCD), and has breathed new life into implementation of the National Action Programme (NAP). Mr. Fares Al Junaidi, the Secretary General of MoE, stated that NAP activities planned to start in July include water harvesting, construction of underground wells and revegetation campaigns.
Critical gaps in information, knowledge and analysis were highlighted in order to guide the IFS finalization process. The meeting agreed that the next steps will include focus-group discussions to fill information gaps and deepen analysis; electronic consultations with all stakeholders; a final validation workshop; and joint submission of the NAP and the IFS for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Download Jordan briefing note on Developing an Integrated Financing Strategy (pdf, English, 544 kb)
Download English version of news article from The Jordan Times on the Integrated Financing Strategy ( pdf, English, 4.81 Mb)
Download Arabic version of news article from The Jordan Times on the Integrated Financing Strategy (pdf, Arabic, 3.28 Mb)
For more information:
Mr Roshan Cooke, Programme Coordinator, Asia and Pacific
Tel. +39 06 5459 2156
ro.cooke (at) global-mechanism.org
Mr Walid Nasr, Advisor, Asia & Pacific
Tel. +39 06 5459 2605
w.nasr (at) global-mechanism.org
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