Stronger Together: Promoting civil society and government collaboration to co-lead Social Protection efforts in Jordan
In line with Jordan’s Strategy Plan ‘Vision 2025’ and the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), the EU-funded Support to Social Protection Programme in Jordan (SSPPJ) aims to provide vulnerable populations with improved Social Protection systems, ensuring a balanced society with equal and sustainable access to opportunities.
Social protection is considered as a human right, designed to protect individuals and their families and ensure that they can meet their basic needs throughout their lives without leaving anybody behind 
– - Andrea Matteo Fontana, Head of the EU Delegation to Jordan,
during the launch event of the EU support to Social Protection in Jordan Programme in April 2019. –
The programme is jointly implemented by Expertise France, the Northern Ireland Cooperation Agency (NI-CO), and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in partnership with the Ministry of Social Protection.
A holistic approach to supporting social protection stakeholders
As part of this overarching programme, Expertise France collaborates with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) to strengthen the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in playing a more effective role in Jordan's social protection efforts. Through the Stronger Together project, Expertise France is promoting collaboration, inclusion, and social innovation to achieve social cohesion through the effective and collaborative role of CSOs.
The project aims at supporting local grassroots civil society organisations, alongside large, formal and professionalised organisations fostering new partnerships among them. Such partnerships will improve sustainability and contribute to a fairer conception of society vis-à-vis target groups, while addressing and paying attention to local priorities and national strategies.
Through an integrated and collaborative approach, such as tailored capacity building to CSOs and public actors, Stronger Together works towards the improvement and modernisation of the quality and performance of the Social Protection ecosystem to rural and urban deprived areas too. The project will be implemented in pilot areas, but its scope is nation-wide. The pilot areas of the project include Karak, Jerash, and six administrative divisions of Amman: Amman Qasabah, Marka, Al-Quwaismeh, Al-Jeezeh, Muwaqqar, Sahab.
Expertise France implements the project through five main activity components:
• Support to partnerships between public institutions and CSOs
• CSO Participation & Policy Dialogue
• CSO Capacity Building
• CSO Grant Scheme for Social Protection projects
• Social Innovation & Communication Challenges
Building blocks towards positive engagement
Civil society organisations are considered the executive arm of social development that is demonstrated through their active role in social services delivery
– Ayesh Awamleh, Head of Grant Technical Committee –
The Stronger Together project fosters collaboration between CSOs and the Ministry of Social Development; focusing on the value of partnerships among various players including civil society, public institutions, para-public organisations and the private sector. This is reflected through a participatory approach to lay the groundwork for positive engagement of youth, women, and people with disabilities in social protection activities.
The project’s Grant Scheme is one instance of positive engagement whereby CSO applicants are able to participate in the design and implementation of customised and targeted social protection activities aimed at promoting economic independence among women, youth, people with disabilities and vulnerable groups. The First Call for Proposals, launched in Karak, resulted in the implementation of eight initial pilot projects. With over 1000 direct beneficiaries, the pilot projects focus on economic development initiatives aimed at those who most need support. Throughout the implementation of those pilot projects, strengths, weaknesses, and lessons learned will be identified in order to inform future rounds of grant projects.
The Project will soon publish the results of the Second Call for Proposals that was launched last year, targeting Karak, Jerash, and “East Amman”. The Third Call for Proposals is to be launched in June 2021. It will be a national Call, through which Jordanian CSOs can present social project proposals to be implemented anywhere in the Kingdom, in response to Covid-19 related crisis.
Stronger Together has also established collaborative working groups comprised of stakeholders from public institutions as well as representatives from CSOs active in the field of Social Protection. Karak's Social Cohesion Working Group was the first to be established, and it has been steering the majority of project activities in Karak. Similar working groups have been formed in the governorates of Jerash and Amman. One of the prominent initiatives being prepared by the working groups at the moment is a series of policy debates that will take place in the coming months, promoting policy dialogue among various stakeholders in the Social Protection sector.
We need income-generating projects in our community to support our households and cover our expenses. Today, I can meet my needs without having to take any loans from the bank, and I can cover my expenses thanks to my work.
– Fatima Abdullah, a woman beneficiary from Karak –
The Stronger Together project, as the name implies, has been demonstrating how Social Protection work can achieve better processes and results when various stakeholders collaborate. It has also emphasised the various layers of impact attained through activities, partnerships, and policy-level participation.
Find out more about the Stronger Together Project