The report presents the findings of a desktop survey conducted to review gender studies in Jordan with an overall goal of the survey as to ensure that gender is adequately addressed throughout project research;; analysis and activities of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP). Under the PAP mandate to encourage water and energy conservation and to support behavior change towards more conservation and efficient practices both at the household level and in the commercial;; industrial and civil society arenas using social marketing behavioral methods;; the report is based on a gender desktop review of existing research on gender and natural resource management in Jordan. It capitalizes on the growing body of research on gender across sectors in Jordan including natural resource management;; to apply and adapt the findings to the PAP project activities. The report concludes with recommendations for the PAP projects such as donor collaboration;; improvement of women’s knowledge of water and energy saving methods;; engagement and creation of women’s participation to promote and support opportunities for small;; women-owned business promoting water and energy saving technologies and promotion of alternative technologies.

Defining the goal as improved prosperity;; accountability and equality for a stable;; democratic Jordan;; the strategy report highlights a long-standing partnership between Jordan and the United States. Amidst a number of challenges;; Jordan continues to play a strategic ally in the region and therefore;; the report stresses the importance of assisting Jordan in carrying out its stated commitment to broad-based political and economic reforms. The three development objectives are 1. Broad-based;; inclusive economic development accelerated;; 2. Democratic accountability strengthened;; and 3. Essential services to the public improved;; with a special development objective of gender equality and female empowerment enhanced. According to the report;; the key theme of the strategy is complementing support for Jordanian-led structural reform with grassroots activities of more visible and more directly “felt” people-level impact. The development objectives find specific areas of focus that need the USAID investments and support.

The report presents an up-to-date analysis of gender disparities in Jordan to inform development assistance programs by the USAID for the 2013-2017 strategic plan. The assessment report is prepared by the Global Health Technical Assistance Project;; funded by USAID Jordan and therefore;; it is based on a literature review and field work of the 21 focus group discussions held in Amman;; Irbid;; Tafileh and Zarqa. The report establishes that Jordan has begun to transition to a knowledge-based economy with the national advantage as its people. It also points out that despite the investments that have helped address gender equality issues;; Jordan continues to bear low female participation in the labor markets;; gender stereotypes about the role of females and males and conservative cultural norms. The report includes a sector-by-sector analysis;; recommendations;; gender review and an illustrative implementation plan. It concludes with key recommendations on the wide breadth of the USAID Jordan portfolio with a key emphasis on gender issues.

The report is based on a field assessment of 16 desert campsites in the city of Aqaba – Wadi Rum and Dieseh districts to evaluate these camps’ energy needs and their current energy situation. As part of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP);; a public education and behavior change communication program developed to support USAID’s technical and policy investments in the Jordanian water and energy sectors;; the report assesses the current government policies and behaviors related to the issues of water;; solid waste and energy at campsites in Wadi Rum and Dieseh. The fieldwork of the report was designed to assess current campsites’ situation and energy profile;; evaluate how to reduce their energy needs;; and assess the possibility of installing renewable energy for electricity. The report concludes with several recommendations such as the enhancement of energy efficiency;; re-design of the electrical lighting systems;; re-wire of the electrical circuits;; and enforcement of laws and regulations.

The report presents the findings of the government institutions efforts survey;; which is designed for the purpose of reviewing the government agencies’ current and past communication activities in water;; energy and environment. The specific objective of this survey is to review the Donor Position Paper on Outreach targeted sample of 36 staff from 22 government institutions from Aqaba and Karak. As part of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP);; a public education and behavior change communication program developed to support USAID’s technical and policy investments in the Jordanian water and energy sectors;; this report finds that many government institutions have more than one role;; overseeing solid waste management;; industrial water and reuse and environmental laws. The report also finds that the communications programs are scattered and credibility and trust between service agencies and their clients is a concern. The interview analysis suggests that the Public Action Project needs to focus on two or three specific areas;; and the report recommends all capacity building activities to be focused on one goal of developing;; implementing and measuring national communication strategies and action plans.

The study aims to evaluate the concepts of water;; energy and solid waste that exists in the curriculum and the manner in which they are tackled by mapping the current textbooks based the three themes of the study – water;; energy and solid waste. The report is based on a comprehensive study of 104 school textbooks from grades 1 – 10 in fourteen subjects. The survey finds that the environmental education concepts were vastly covered in all subjects of he study in a total of 1777 concepts;; and most of them focused on scientific facts and information with repetitive energy concepts and lack of sequential flow. This research was conducted as part of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP);; which aims to encourage water and energy conservation and to support behavior change towards more conservation and efficient practices both at the household level and in the commercial;; industrial and civil society arenas using social marketing behavioral methods. Based on the finding that there is little space allocated to the synthesis and application of information and knowledge and therefore the concepts remain superficially tackled;; the report recommends that support material should be prepared for the different grade levels and training programs should be developed for the teachers as real agent of change and role models.

The report explores the level of knowledge;; attitudes held and practices observed by young people towards environmental issues related to water and energy conservation and sold waste management. It maps out available resources;; programs and learning opportunities in the informal and non-formal education sectors;; through which positive environmental attitudes can be encouraged and promoted. The survey of the report assess the knowledge;; attitudes and practices of young people aged 7 -24;; educations;; staff and youth workers to identify strengths and areas for improvement through capacity building and explore existing resources;; programs to evaluate their effectiveness. This research was conducted as part of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP);; which aims to encourage water and energy conservation and to support behavior change towards more conservation and efficient practices both at the household level and in the commercial;; industrial and civil society arenas using social marketing behavioral methods. The study concludes that there is a need for more “green” programs that involve youth in a proactive way and therefore;; it recommends that programs targeting youth need to remain positive;; dynamic and in context. The recommendations of the report include development of environmental resources in the Arabic language;; the youth-led;; peer-led programs that involve participatory learning opportunities;; and social media tools to raise interests;; awareness and creation of environmental education task force.

The report was published from the World Health Organization/ United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF)’s pilot project to test a method for the rapid assessment of the quality of drinking-water in six countries;; including Jordan;; China;; Ethiopia;; Nicaragua;; Nigeria and Tajikistan. This assessment report aims to develop a tool that would support WHO/UNICEF’s joint program in strengthening the monitoring efforts of the global access to safe drinking water. The analysis of the report is based on the water samples and statistical data that were collected from 1600 drinking water supply sites in 67 clusters. The report finds that drinking water quality is generally high in the distribution network of Jordan and national standards for bacteria complies with the WHO guideline values. It also identifies the sanitary risk factors for Jordanian water supplies including the presence of sewer lines;; old pipes and failure to properly maintain household storage tanks.