The assessment report is a final product of the Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices project (AMEG);; which is designed to support USAID missions in developing effective and efficient economic growth programs that address technical and strategic challenges. The report provides an introduction to Jordan's macroeconomic performance and structure and examines the field assessment's key lines of inquiry such as fiscal environment;; taxation;; customs and trade facilitation;; the energy sector;; policy analysis and political economic environment. It identifies the structure and performance of each inquiry and adds policy;; administrative;; and institutional environment;; and its challenges and opportunities.The report's concluding section outlines key challenges and opportunities;; and offers recommendations. Some of the findings include Jordan's lack of robust forum for soliciting and integrating input on economic policy issues from key stakeholders or the wider public and lack of institutional capacity to develop macroeconomic models. The report suggests facilitating national dialogue and consensus building on economic policy issues and building capacity to integrate stakeholder input.

The report aims to learn about young people's knowledge;; attitudes;; and behaviors with regards to water conservation;; energy conservation;; and waste management;; and it assess these against the learning objectives of the curriculum. It discovers that students' knowledge was sufficient and at times more sophisticated than that founded in the curriculum even though their attitudes and behaviors remain largely unchanged. The object of the survey pertains to the objectives of the Public Action for Water;; Energy;; and Environment Project;; which revolve around education for young people;; teachers and youth leaders to develop their knowledge and ethical values and attitudes. The survey focuses on assessing young people and educator's current awareness of water and energy resources and waste reduction and evaluating formal curriculum resources. The report points at the gap of translating young people's knowledge into genuine interest;; concern and action and proposes set of targeted actions including development of relevant resources and additional supplemental materials;; age-relevant projects to support environmental concepts in the national curriculum and assignment of environmental coordinator at all schools.

The report is based on the outreach and communication survey of USAID and other donors' efforts. It is part of the Public Action Project;; which supports USAID's technical and policy investments in the Jordanian water and energy sectors and specific initiatives in the environment. The survey was designed to report on past;; current and planned donor efforts in relation to water;; energy and solid waste management – with the main focus on water sector. It is intended to help the PAP team to design communication strategies and specific behavior change campaigns by building on lessons learned from outreach efforts. The report is based on the survey consisting of 39 open-ended interviews with donor officials and managers of donor-funded projects;; and it includes analysis and recommendations on coordination with current and planned donor projects. The report recommends improvement in coordination through development of national communication strategies;; assistance in water and energy sectors to establish trust and credibility with their customers;; reduction and streamlining of programs targeting schoolchildren;; and setting up of priority areas for change through technical assessment in water and energy.

The report aims to determine public attitudes towards water and energy utilities and assess public perception of Disi water;; scheduled to begin serving Amman residents in 2012. It is based on an omnibus survey;; structured;; quantitative and in-person interviews with 1000 respondents representing adult males and females across the twelve governorates of Jordan. This research is part of the was conducted as part of the Public Action in Water;; Energy;; and Environmental Project to initiate and establish clear and identifiable behavioral changes amongst the Jordanian public and decision-makers;; to lead to increased efficiency in the use of water and energy;; and to improve solid waste handling practices. The findings of the survey show that while a majority of respondents could correctly identify their water provider;; nearly a quarter could not and more than half of the respondents believe they are paying water rates that are unreasonable for the quality of water service they receive. The report confirm that the customer experience with both water and electrical utility companies can be improved and increasing awareness of the sound quality of the Disi water would support the public perceptions to continue to shift in a positive direction.

The report is based on the findings of the survey that was designed to review NGO/CBO experience in communication/outreach and assess the capability of individual staff in the relevant NGOS and CBOs. The primary goal of the project is to institutionalize social marketing practices in NGOs and CBOs;; because organizations in the forefront of development depend on their ability to reach target groups and remove barriers to change. The research was conducted as part of the Public Action in Water;; Energy;; and Environmental Project to initiate and establish clear and identifiable behavioral changes amongst the Jordanian public and decision-makers;; to lead to increased efficiency in the use of water and energy;; and to improve solid waste handling practices. The main findings of the research identify sources of funds and grants of the NGOs;; their major activities and partnerships. The report also suggests training for successful fundraising;; social marketing and media campaigns for the NGOs and continued surveys and interviews of the NGOs.

The report aims to better understand and quantify the attitude and the levels of awareness amongst large consumers of water and energy;; and it presents the findings of the interviews conducted with a representative sample of large consumers to better understand trends and behaviors related to water and energy consumption. The research was conducted as part of the Jordan Public Action in Water;; Energy;; and Environment Project (PAP) under the Prosperity;; Livelihoods;; and Conserving Ecosystems (PLACE);; which aims to initiate and establish clear and identifiable behavioral changes amongst the Jordanian public and decision-makers. The study categorizes large consumers into a number of main sectors including hotel and restaurant sectors;; commercial sector;; hospitals;; government buildings and industrial sector;; and the field surveys were collected as a random sample of different industries;; state and commercial buildings. The research finds that the majority of large consumers neither monitor their water nor their energy consumptions via sub-metering scheme;; showing that the majority of large consumers are not able to accurately determine the areas within their establishments that are the most consuming. This finding identifies four major obstacles in implementing the water and energy saving practices including;; lack of awareness;; lack of incentive programs amongst employees;; higher prices for higher quality savings devices and lack of proper maintenance.

This study analyzes the food markets of Jordan;; Syria;; Lebanon;; Palestine;; Iran;; Iraq;; and Yemen (ME-ODC Countries);; to better understand their dynamics;; particularly in light of the sudden flare in food prices.

The report is based on the KAP household baseline survey;; which measures the current awareness of methods of water and energy conservations to determine how the Jordanians currently dispose of their household waste and how serious they believe the threat of global warming to be in Jordan. The household baseline survey on the use of water;; energy;; and the management of solid household waste has been designed based on the Knowledge;; Attitude and Practice (KAP) model;; and it aims to serve as a prelude to education and changing public behavior in the water and energy sectors in Jordan;; and to supply specific initiatives in the environment;; in particular in regard to the management of solid household waste. The research is based on a qualitative research;; a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The report concludes with the main findings that the most trusted sources of information on water conservation were the Ministry of Water and Irrigation;; and the Jordan Water Company. The survey finds that the respondents believe that the water shortage can be overcome with the water authorities' leadership including their engagement in grand projects.