USAID CEP Supports the Ministry of Interior to Draft First Decentralization Manual

USAID CEP Supports the Ministry of Interior to Draft First Decentralization Manual
Stakeholders review and propose edits to the draft procedures manual at an MOI workshop supported by USAID CEP.

When the Government of Jordan (GOJ) passed the new decentralization law in November 2015, the USAID Community Engagement Project (CEP) had a unique opportunity to contribute. Building on its experience implementing community engagement activities across four governorates, USAID CEP offered its expertise to the Local Development Department (LDD) of the Ministry of Interior (MOI). Through extensive collaboration, the two partners worked to embed community engagement methodology within key decentralization procedures.
The MOI/LDD and USAID CEP drafted the, “Procedure Manual for the Development of Governorate Needs Guide,” the first decentralization manual produced. To develop the first draft, MOI/LDD and USAID CEP co-facilitated three community dialogues sessions with 356 community members to gather input on preferred community engagement mechanisms. Next, a national dialogue session was held to disseminate key findings. 180 participants attended, including all 12 governors, 75 district directors, 33 MOI/LDD staff, and 38 community members. Finally, two stakeholder workshops were held to review the draft manual and gather input from 84 stakeholders with representation from all 12 governorates, 8 different government and 6 civil society entities. “This level of discussion is great! It may take a village to raise a child, but it will take the whole government to implement decentralization,” said a participant during a stakeholder workshop.

“USAID CEP has, without a doubt, helped us to achieve our objectives regarding decentralization,” said Fadi Ertimah, Head of the Community Outreach Department at the MOI/LDD. “The procedure manual is practical and also provides us with tools that we can refer to and share with our colleagues,” added Nis-reen Al-Hiyari, a local administration officer within the Planning and Investment Department, MOI/LDD.