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Fostering Partnership, Transparency & Accountabiltiy
Higher Population Council
Jordan

The Problem

The last decade of the development experience in Jordan had revealed a set of population related issues and challenges which had negative impacts on the course of development in its economic, social, environmental and humanitarian dimensions. There was an increase in the rates of population growth, fertility, unemployment, poverty pockets, and an increase pressure on basic social services.
All of these circumstances were considered as a case against unknown criminal, until the National Population Commission (NPC) was established year 1973 to deal with population issues and its effects. But unfortunately the NPC stayed as a frame and lacks content, and it was kept as a name in the Department of Statistics for 15 years without any activities.
Upon the initiative of HRH Princess Basma Bint Talal a General Secretariat was established in 1988 to act as the executive body for the NPC and to revive it in order to start the national population programs. But the absence of accountability, efficiency and empowerment of stakeholders during the nineties and the stability of population indicators during the period 1999-2002 led to the establishment of the Higher Population Council to implement and follow up the National Population Strategy (NPS) - which was endorsed by the Cabinet (decision no. 195 dated 29/1/2002) - in order to achieve the goals of the NPS in Jordan that goes hand in hand in its goals and content with the aims of sustainable development which takes into consideration the demographic factors effects on balancing population growth with economic growth, and to tackle the development and population challenges facing the kingdom and to follow up on an accountable implementation of its plan of action .

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The HPC was formulated on 3/12/2002 according to the Cabinet's decision no. 3071 to act as the reference body entrusted with suggesting, formulating, monitoring, evaluating and updating the national population policies as well as creating a supportive environment to achieve its objectives within the framework of the national economic and social development plans and the socio-economic reform program.
The vision of the HPC is to achieve a balance between population growth and economic resources necessary to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.
Good governance mechanisms applied and implemented
The characteristics :
- Restructuring the Higher Population Council to be composed of the three pillars in the society namely government, private sector and NGO institutions
- Implementing governance mechanisms
- Integrated team works and actual partnership, cooperation and accountability
The HPC formulation mechanisms reflect the councils' transparency and accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, partnership and shouldering responsibilities.
The mission of the HPC is to participate in the national efforts that aim at achieving a sustainable development through establishing balance between population growth and economic growth by adopting policies enhancing the rational reproductive behavior, family planning, rational use of resources, women's empowerment, equity and enhancing productivity in order to increase per capita income .
The strategic goals of the HPC are as follows:
- Rationalizing population growth through RH and FP to achieve balance between population, economic resources on one hand and the development requirements on the other.
- Reduce negative impacts of unchecked reproductive behavior on the family, society, mother and child health.
- Address the unbalanced geographic distribution of population to achieve better interaction between human, financial resources and land, through a balanced regional development and effective relationship between "population and development"
- Improve the living standard and quality of life for the family and enhancing women's empowerment (social role)
- Strengthening HPC Arab and international relations and developing effective relations with the donor countries and agencies .

The strategy was implemented and the Reproductive Health Action Plan 2004-2007 was established with the aim to establish technical and procedural support to achieve the goal of the national population strategy for the year 2020 which is "to contribute in the national efforts to achieve a sustainable development through balancing between economic resources and population growth which can be done through decreasing total fertility rate from 3.7 year 2002 to 2.1 in the year 2020.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Proposed by: Her Royal Highness Princess Basma and the Prime Minister and special consultants.

Implemented by HPC general secretariat through integrated committees and teams based on the NPS components: reproductive health, population and development, advocacy and gender that focus on women empowerment.
The stakeholders are :
1. Governmental ministries such as (Ministries of Health, education, planning, labour, Awqaf and Islamic affairs, social development, finance). Government institutions (Department of Statistics, Housing and Urban Development Cooperation, Civil Status Department, Industrial Cities Corporation, Vocational Training Corporation, higher council for youth, higher council for information, Radio and Television Cooperation)
2. Private sector (vocational unions, private hospitals, Amman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Performing Arts center) .
3. NGOs (Jordanian Hashimite Fund for Human Development, Queesn Zein Al-Sharaf Institute for Development, Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, the Jordanian Commission for Family Planning and Protection, the National Council for Family Affairs، Arab Women's Organization of Jordan)
The HPC is the umbrella for executing all the initiative in cooperation with the above mentioned pillars in the society.

There are other committees within the HPC which act as stakeholders. These committees are as follows:
- Reproductive Health committee
- Population and development committee
- Demographic opportunity committee
- Advocacy and information committee
- Follow up and evaluation committee

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The National Population Strategy (NPS) and its main components:
1. Reproductive Health
2. equity between sexes and women's empowerment
3. population and sustainable development
4. Mechanisms for supporting and implementing the National Population Strategy.
The above were the base from which the HPC formed its activities. The NPS was formulated by a national team from all concerned national institutes, ministries, private sector and NGOs, in cooperation with the Consultants Support Team CST-UNFPA.
The NPS goals are:
1. Decrease population growth rate to 2.1% by 2010, 1.5% by 2020
2. Decrease total fertility rate to 2.9% by 2010, 2.1 by 2020
3. Increase contraceptive prevalence rate to 65% by 2010, 70+ by 2020
4. Decrease maternal mortality ratio to 33.5% by 2010, <30 by 2020
5. Decrease infant mortality rate to 17% by 2010, <15 by 2020
6. decrease illiteracy rate among females to 10 by 2010, <6
7. Decrease primary school dropout rate to 0.5% in 2010, 0% by 2020.
The actual start for implementation was January 2003.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
- The implementation of the Reproductive Health Action Plan 2003-2007(RHPA).
- Implementing special programs for population and development, seminars, conversational meetings, surveys and studies, national and regional forums:
o The first National Population Forum entitled "the National Population Strategy 2002-2020" dated 25/9/2004.
o The second National Population Forum entitled "Youth and Population Challenges" conducted during 11-12 Jan. 2005
o The third National Population Forum entitled "Population and Demographic Gift" conducted during 26-27 Mar. 2007
Workshops:
- Population and Environment " dated 15/11/2005. No. of participants (74).
- Two regional forums – King Hussein University 12/1/2006, no. of participants (115). Yarmouk university 1/7/2006, no of participants (130)
- Dialogic meetings on population, development and reproductive health issues, no. of meeting (8), no. of participants (240).

Studies and working papers :
- "Poverty Pocket and unemployment, their relation with high fertility in Jordan" – 2005
- Maternal Morbidity during pregnancy and after it (pilot study)- 2005
- Jordanian Youth Health- 2005
- A study on the "Estimation of savings which was achieved by the National Population Strategy during 1994-2004-
- A Paper on "Strategic Planning and Population in Jordan – 2006
- A paper on "Integrating population policies in development 2006"-2006
- A paper on "the problem of population growth in big cities and municipalities" – 2007
- A paper on "The Achievements of the Higher Population Council"- 2007
Studies under implementation:
- Maternal Morbidity in Jordan 2007
- Maternal Mortality in Jordan 2007-2008
Surveys:
- Assessment survey for legislatives, policy makers and media people. - 2005
- the first survey on youth about population issues, development and reproductive health- 2006
- A survey to measure the opinion of the Jordanian university students in population and development- 2007
Activities during 2003-2004:
- Conducting (12) dialogic meetings on youth and reproductive health, no. of participants (823).
- Conducting (4) televised interviews
- Conducting (2) workshops on population and development, no. of participants (25).
- Conducting (3) training workshops on population, reproductive health, and development in Zarqa, Ma’an & Mafraq of the National Population Week (1-7 Dec., 2004), no. of participants (302).
- (2350) Participants in regional seminars.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
- Resistance based on inaccurate political , religious , social perceptions and believes .
- The bureaucracy in procedures and measures
- Weakness in providing sustainable fund allocations
- Unable to cover fully remote areas in Jordan especially in the Badia, rural and Ghor areas.
- Traditions and customs that focus on tribal power through more offspring especially males.
- Lack of accurate and sufficient information, and the misleading information especially in the field of family planning

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
HPC budget :

International Resources:
- USAID (financial and Technical)
- UNFPA (financial and Technical)
- JICA (financial and Technical)
Local Resource
- Ministry of Planning and International Affairs- Financing
- Ministry of Finance – Financing
Human Resources :
- HPC/GS staff
- Committees of the main domains of the NPS from different ministries (government, private sector and NGOs…etc)institutions
Logistic Support:
- Jordan Hashimite Fund for Human Development

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Definitely the experiment is sustainable and transferable

The evidence that this intervention is sustained:

- Prime Minister is the chairman of the HPC is considered as the major support and sustaining the HPC initiative.
- The Main Funding agencies are committed to finance the HPC projects and plans.
- HPC is supported economically by funding the Reproductive Health action plan – phase I 2003-2007, and phase II 2008-2012.
- Jordan Fund for Human Development (Johud)is providing HPC).
- HPC is supported socially by Ministry of Interior governors in the field work through governorates and districts.
- HPC is supported through secondment staff from different Ministers as consultants to support HPC with experiences and information.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
From an organizational respect:
- As the prime minister is the chairman of the HPC ( insure transparency that provide accountability of stakeholders and allow efficiency and effectiveness in the deliverable results.) , this will give the HPC more power to execute and implement its activities and merits.
- The effect of cooperation with other national institutions:
o Religious leaders, female and male preachers at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs
o Social facilitators- Ministry of Social Development and NGOs
o Ministry of Health, the liaison officers from the ministry who work with the HPC in the fields of reproductive health in addition to professional health institutions in the private sector.
- the social influence through :
o Dialogic meetings in the governorates, districts, camps and Bedouin areas
o The understanding of the local communities to family planning programs and their support to it.

The HPC established strong relationships with the following:
- USAID by extending the POLICY project to support the General Secretariat in implementing the second phase of the National Work Plan for Reproductive Health.
- UNFPA: participating as a main partner in formulating UNFPA work plan for the years 2008-2012.
- JICA: "Integrating Health and Empowerment of Women in the South Region Project" in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Jordanian Hashimite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD)
- National organizations: Ministries of Health, Planning, Social Development , Education (by including curriculum on population and reproductive health year 2005), Higher Education (including the subjects of population, development and reproductive health in the compulsory national education curriculum which was started during the academic years 2005-2006), Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, and JOHUD .

In fact, smart methods utilized for involving all stakeholders in this national issue were highly valuable in our achievements based on a highly transparent and accountable manner.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Higher Population Council
Institution Type:   Non-Governmental Organization  
Contact Person:   Dr. Zuhair Al Kayed
Title:   Secretary General  
Telephone/ Fax:   962 6 5523574
Institution's / Project's Website:   962 6 5519210
E-mail:   zuhair@johud.org.jo  
Address:   Al Madinah Al Munawara St.
Postal Code:   5118 Amman 11183
City:   Amman
State/Province:   Amman
Country:   Jordan

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