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Jordan has been granted considerate amounts of international aid moneys toward environmental conservation. Foreign aid goes into mitigation projects in the areas of water scarcity, loss of arable land for agriculture, and renewable energy. [1] Moreover, foreign aid goes toward the development of the eco-tourism sector. Jordan receives aid from different kinds of international agents. Principal institutions that donate money toward environmentalism in Jordan are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and World Bank. [2] Recently, Jordan has had problems to control its budgetary deficit, which directly affects its ability to manage its environmental problems. That has made some point out that Jordan depends on International aid to control environmental-related issues. [3] One of the examples of that is related to the construction of the East Ghor Canal.
Environmental conservation has been well-funded by international aid monies in the last thirty years. Environmental problems in Jordan that receive foreign aid are separated in three areas. These areas are water-related issues, issues related to agriculture, and renewable energy utilization. [4] According to the Brookings Institution, the foreign aid has become a way for Jordanian government mitigate environmental problems related to these three areas. In addition, international aid has also been used to support developmental activities related to the environment, especially eco-tourism and water management. [5] According to the World Bank, Jordan has seen a steep increase in the amount of Net official development assistance received, doubling the amount from 2004 to 2013. [6]
Year | Foreign aid to Environmentalism (in million US$) [7] |
---|---|
2007 | US$183.6 |
2008 | US$386.75 |
2009 | US$398.66 |
2010 | US$623.15 |
For 2007, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) cites that energy, agriculture, and water management retained 12% of international aid from a total of U$680 million. [8] This amount substantially increased over the past few years. In 2010, 30% of foreign aid received by Jordan was utilized toward water management, renewable energy production, and improvements in arable land. [9] Apart from an increase in the percentage rate, there has been also a considerable increase in the total amount of foreign aid derived for environmental concerns in Jordan in the period between 2007-2010. In fact, the total amount jumped from U$183.6 million in 2007 to U$623.15 million in 2010. [10] In 2009, the Brookings Institution declared that the Jordanian government was the seventh most efficient government in the Middle East and North Africa. Because certain organizations partner only with countries that use money efficiently, Jordan received a higher increment of aid. [11]
Jordan Receives various kinds of international assistance that go toward environmentalism. According to the Planning Law No. (68), the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) is the governmental institution that should first receive foreign financial assistance. [12] Signed in 1971, the law permits MOPIC to receive four types of grants: budgetary support, donor-managed grants, soft loans, and technical assistance.
International aid toward Environmental issues in Jordan comes from multiple donors. According to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the environmental sector (water, energy, and agriculture) receives grants from international agencies like as Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which has both delivered grants and co-financed projects in the country. [18] The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), multiple United Nations Agencies, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the World Bank also allocated international aid to Jordan for environmental purposes. In addition, the countries of Norway, Spain, and Switzerland also divert money toward environmental issues in Jordan. [2]
Since Jordan became a member of the Global Environmental Facility, the organization has granted money to various projects in the country. [19] Present in more than 180 countries and was created in 1992, GEF has various agencies in Jordan. [20] GEF allocates money to three types of projects in Jordan: national projects, regional projects, and small grants. In the national level, it provided more than U$60 million in the form of grants for 29 national Jordanian projects. [21] In some of the national projects, Jordan has had only partial success in reaching the goals set by the GEF. For example, because of inefficient use of aid, a major ecosystems management project in the country was cancelled. [22] Regional programs have received U$167 million in the form of grant. This money has been separated between projects for international waters, such as the Jordan River, biodiversity projects, land degradation, and climate change. [23]
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) primarily funds water services and supports eco-tourism in Jordan. Miyahuna (Jordan Water Company) received $30 million from the US to renovate water programs to be more effective and efficient, preventing water loss and inaccurate billing. At this point, Jordan's water loss is around 37%, but is expected to drop to 25% once the renovations are in place. [24]
In November 2014, USAID joined with the ministries of tourism and labour, the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) and the Higher Education Accreditation Commission as a first step toward cultivating the Pathways to Professionalism Scheme. This is intended to expand the tourism industry in Jordan through training all employees of hotels or other businesses with the intention of promoting all kinds of tourism, including eco-tourism. [25]
USAID has also partnered with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, and over the past 20 years they have particularly focused on the Dana Biosphere Reserve in the Jordan Valley. RSCN worked with NGOs and families in communities to figure out how to best utilize resources. The goal is to focus on ecological sustainability while promoting economic growth. This ideology increased the economic base of Dana, allowing younger generations who left to find a more economically stable environment to return and become involved with the tourism industry. After some years working in Dana, the RSCN expanded eco-tourism programs to other reserves: Aljoun, Wadi Mujib, and Azraq Wetlands. [26] For a complete list of Jordan's nature reserves, see Nature reserves in Jordan.
Environment Minister Taher Shakhshir and US Ambassador to Jordan Alice Wells have met in the past to discuss what has been done via USAID to support Jordan's environmentalism, as well as bring to attention the environmental stresses that have increased in recent years due to many factors, including increased refugee population, specifically from Syria. [27] Wells was cited as saying that “Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world," maintaining that it is important for Jordan to focus on water policy and efficiency because it is such a water-poor area. [24]
In the Workplace | At Home | Internationally |
---|---|---|
Established a network of energy engineers in Jordan, complete with training for the workplace [28] | 2012 social marketing campaign to raise awareness of how much energy families and companies are using [28] | Formed ties to US-based energy research groups such as the Colorado Public Utility Commission, Arizona Public Service, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District [28] |
Provided technology for research purposes [28] | Environmental education programs | |
Credited companies that invested in alternative energy sources [28] | ||
Jordan Competitiveness Programme holds job fairs held in Amman aimed at recruiting people in workforce into ecological/sustainable projects [29]
|
Agricultural research in Jordan stems from several places, including universities and private entities, but the only government-sanctioned group actively researching is the National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer (NCARTT). In 2003, USAID made up 6% of NCARTT's agricultural research funding. With headquarters just outside Amman, NCARTT uses roughly 50% of Jordan's agricultural research funding. NCARTT has a focus on human resource development, though they are known to have a low salary cap which discourages experienced researchers from participating in their programs. [30]
Many institutions of higher education are likewise involved in agricultural research through funding research centers or educating students about resource management/conservation practices. These research institutions are also funded by USAID. [30]
Jordan's economy is primarily dependent on the service industry such as tourism and banking, while the agriculture sector made up roughly 2% of Jordan's GDP. Because Jordan experiences difficulties with securing natural resources pertinent to agricultural development, such as water, agricultural research points to areas that need development in order to maintain that sector of Jordan's economy. With fluctuating resources, environmental conservation approaches in Jordan are directed toward resource conservation. [30]
Source: [30]
For contextual history of Jordan in relation to agriculture, specifically water, see Water supply and sanitation in Jordan.
Jordan has increasingly needed international aid to continue managing environmental issues. The foreign assistance dependency conundrum that strikes environmentalism in Jordan has three key aspects to it: the country's failing taxation system, the changes in foreign policy, and the misuse foreign aid currently. Environmental areas affected by such dependency are Jordan's electric grid, and the development of water projects.
The realm of environmentalism is affected by Jordan's failing taxation system. In 2012, Jordan had a budgetary deficit of U$1.2 billion. [31] The Jordanian government took some austerity measurements, such as lowering subsidies on commodities that are not vital for the average Jordanian and increasing state revenues through the Income Tax Law. These measurements were put in place in order to control the country's budgetary deficit. [32] In the same year, Jordan received the third highest amount of aid from the United States per capita, behind Israel and Afghanistan. [33]
However, the challenges faced by the Jordanian government to collect tax revenues have offset the increase in foreign assistance recently. In other words, Jordan's budgetary deficit did not remain under control. [34] This led to an electricity crisis because there were not enough foreign aid in the form of grants and soft loans to support the state budget and development projects. Without enough foreign assistance, the government could not subsidize the renewable and non-renewable electric grid of Jordan. [34]
According to the Washington Post, the amount of aid received by Jordan has influenced the political and social scenario within the country. In fact in 2011, when King Abdullah put pressure for regime change in neighboring Syria, local journalists declared that this showed Jordan's dependence on the West. The country's peace treaty with Israel also demonstrates Jordan's dependence on the West. [35]
"If the Jordanian state had any strategic sense – any real perception of its sustainability – it would try to limit the amount of foreign assistance it receives."
Riad al Khouri, Jordan Business Week. First Aid, June 2011. [36]
The increasing amount of foreign aid toward environmentalism has led the country into a position of dependency on external support. Furthermore, the efficiency of the aid has been questioned. One way in which this takes place is the integration of international agencies into government. Looking at the United States and its foreign policy with Jordan demonstrates a good example of this. The United States has filled in the institutional gaps in the environmental sector within the Jordanian government. For instance, the Water, Resources, and Environment Office within USAID plans, builds, and maintains most of the country's hydraulic infrastructure. [37] Constructed with international aid from the USAID between 1959 and 1987, the East Ghor Canal Project pioneered the large scale environmental project coordinated by foreign agencies and exemplifies a project of extreme necessity for the Jordan people that needed international help. [38] In fact, the construction of the canal took place only after Jordan complied to the United States requirements to not explore other sources of water. [39]
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $50 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, and sustainable cities in developing countries. It is the largest source of multilateral funding for biodiversity globally, and distributes more than $1 billion a year on average to address inter-related environmental challenges.
Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It is widely used as an indicator of international aid flow. It refers to material resources given by the governments of richer countries to promote the economic development of poorer countries and the welfare of their people. The donor government agency may disburse such resources to the government of the recipient country or through other organizations. Most ODA is in the form of grants, but some is measured as the concessional value in soft (low-interest) loans.
Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely related concepts include: developmental aid, development assistance, official development assistance, development policy, development cooperation and technical assistance. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in a developing country, rather than short-term relief. Development aid is thus widely seen as a major way to meet Sustainable Development Goal 1 for the developing nations.
Aid effectiveness is the degree of success or failure of international aid. Concern with aid effectiveness might be at a high level of generality, or it might be more detailed.
In international relations, aid is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
Japan emerged as one of the largest foreign aid donors in the world during the 1980s.
Haiti—an island country 600 miles off the coast of the U.S. state of Florida—shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Haiti has received billions in foreign assistance, yet persists as one of the poorest countries and has the lowest human development index in the Americas. There have been more than 15 natural disasters since 2001 including tropical storms, flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes. The international donor community classifies Haiti as a fragile state. Haiti is also considered a post-conflict state—one emerging from a recent coup d'état and civil war.
US$43 billion in International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid in 2003 was sent as foreign aid to Indonesia, and this assistance has traditionally been an important part of the central government's budget. From 1967 to 1991, most aid was coordinated through the Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) founded and chaired by the Netherlands; since 1992, without the Netherlands, the organization has been known as the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI). Although Indonesia terminated its IMF aid program in December 2003, it still receives bilateral aid through the CGI, which pledged US$2.8 billion in grants and loans for 2004. Japan and the Asian Development Bank also have been key donors.
Nepal relies heavily on foreign aid, and donors coordinate development aid policy through the Nepal Development Forum, whose members include donor countries, international financial institutions, and inter-governmental organizations. Japan is Nepal's largest bilateral aid donor, and the World Bank and Asian Development Bank are the largest multilateral donors. Donors have been reported as losing confidence in Nepal as a result of political interference and corruption in poverty relief efforts as well as the country's apparently poor capacity to utilize aid. According to World Bank figures, official development assistance increased from US$8.2 million in 1960 to US$369 million in 2003 and then fell to US$177 million in 2004. According to Nepal's Ministry of Finance, total foreign aid committed in fiscal year (FY) 2003 was US$555 million, with 63.3 percent in grants and 36.7 percent in loans. In FY2004, total foreign aid committed was US$320 million, of which 37.7 percent was grants and 62.3 percent, loans. In June 2004, active World Bank credits totaled US$302 million, with the greatest portions allocated to the financial sector and to energy and mining. By the end of 2012, the outstanding World Bank IDA loan totaled $ 1.48 billionArchived 2015-05-05 at the Wayback Machine.
The Royal Society for The Conservation of Nature (RSCN) is an independent voluntary organization that is devoted to the conservation of Jordan's natural resources; it was established in 1966 with the late King Hussein as Honorary President.
International aid has been provided to Palestinians since at least the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Palestinians view the aid as keeping the Israeli–Palestinian peace process going, while Israelis and other foreign policy authorities have raised concerns that it is used to fund terrorism and removes the imperative for Palestinians to negotiate a settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. As a provision of the Oslo Accords, international aid was to be provided to the Palestinians to ensure economic solvency for the Palestinian National Authority (PA). In 2004, it was reported that the PA, within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, receives one of the highest levels of aid in the world. In 2006, economic sanctions and other measures were taken by several countries against the PA, including suspension of international aid following Hamas' victory at the Palestinian Legislative Council election. Aid to the PA resumed in 2008 following the Annapolis Conference, where Hamas was not invited. Aid has been provided to the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian non-governmental organizations (PNGOs) as well as Palestinian political factions by various foreign governments, international organizations, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and charities, besides other sources.
In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world for more than 60 years. Approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food assistance. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government's largest provider of overseas food assistance. The food assistance programming is funded primarily through the Food for Peace Act. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance also receives International Disaster Assistance Funds through the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) that can be used in emergency settings.
Water supply and sanitation in Jordan is characterized by severe water scarcity, which has been exacerbated by forced immigration as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Six-Day War in 1967, the Gulf War of 1990, the Iraq War of 2003 and the Syrian Civil War since 2011. Jordan is considered one of the ten most water scarce countries in the world. High population growth, the depletion of groundwater reserves and the impacts of climate change are likely to aggravate the situation in the future.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency was established in 1991 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea as a governmental organization for Official Development Assistance (ODA). KOICA's goal is to enhance the effectiveness of South Korea's grant aid programs for developing countries by implementing the government's grant aid and technical cooperation programs. KOICA is led by three-year-term president of the board who is appointed by the President upon the recommendation of Foreign Minister.
United States aid to Sudan has three key objectives: a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses, and genocide in Darfur; implementation of the north–south Comprehensive Peace Agreement that results in a peaceful post-2011 Sudan, or an orderly path toward two separate and viable states at peace with each other; and ensuring that Sudan does not provide a safe haven for international terrorists. Sudan has experienced two civil wars since 1955, the second of which lasted 22 years. During this time, the U.S. was the largest provider of foreign aid to Sudan, largely focused on humanitarian aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sudan is listed as the U.S. government's highest priority in Africa due to "its importance for counter-terrorism and regional stability, as well as the magnitude of human rights and humanitarian abuses" U.S. foreign aid to Sudan has begun to see some positive indicators of performance although critical reaction has said that aid to Sudan is neither strategic nor focused.
Ecotourism in Jordan has grown tremendously due to environmental pressures and the demand for jobs outside of the cities, especially since the establishment of the Dana Biosphere in 1993, the first biosphere reserve.
The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) advises the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on issues concerning agriculture, higher education in developing countries, and food insecurity. BIFAD was established and recognized by Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act, and both the BIFAD board and Title XII recognize the critical role of U.S. land-grant institutions in food and agricultural security, domestically and abroad. BIFAD consists of seven board members appointed by the White House, four of whom must have been part of the US Academic community. The board's mission is to draw on the expertise and scientific knowledge of those in higher education to advise the US international assistance on the effect of domestic efforts to end food insecurity.
Waste management in Kazakhstan is an important concern within the country, considering the billions of tons of industrial waste produced yearly, the currently less-than-optimal state of solid waste management, and existing toxins remaining from both pollutants and Kazakhstan's historical position as the USSR's testing grounds for rockets and nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan has very few services for recycling solid waste, and waste management is currently dealt with using regional programs.
Foreign aid for gender equality in Jordan includes programs funded by governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that aim to empower women, close gender based gaps in opportunity and experience, and promote equal access to education, economic empowerment, and political representation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
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