Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury and European Union ambassador to Amman Joanna Wronecka signed a new €4.7 million EU grant to support the Department of Statistics in conducting that year’s population and housing census.
Fakhoury said the census was expected in December and would collect comprehensive, integrated data on Jordan’s population, demographic distribution, and social and economic characteristics. The grant would reduce the government’s burden in financing the census, whose total cost was 20 million dinars ($28 million).
He said implementation would extend over 12 months and cover the total salaries of 1,000 temporary census workers, vehicle rental, and other expenses.
Wronecka emphasized the census’s importance given the Syrian crisis’s economic and social pressures on host communities in Jordan. It would also meet donors’ need for more complete, accurate information, helping identify and address difficulties more effectively.
She said the EU supported the department’s census efforts because of their importance in the complex regional setting created by the Syrian crisis, particularly as Jordan was among the countries affected.
Fakhoury also signed agreements with the German Agency for International Cooperation for six technical cooperation projects implemented by the agency and funded by the German government, with financing to be agreed during annual Jordanian-German talks.
One agreement covered a €3.9 million environmental protection and biodiversity project, whose grant had been approved in 2014. It aimed to apply an approach encouraging more sustainable environmental behavior.
The two sides also signed a €6.5 million decentralized wastewater management project to develop partner capacity in the wastewater sector by building an industrial wastewater treatment plant as part of climate adaptation in Jordan. Another agreement covered a €2.3 million energy-efficiency project to improve methods used at Water Authority pumping stations.
They also signed a €1.55 million project supporting host communities in response to the Syrian refugee crisis through water-network technicians, a grant agreed in 2013, and a €2.5 million project to improve community water-use efficiency.
Fakhoury thanked Germany for its continuing support through grants, technical assistance, and concessional loans for vital sectors such as water, education, energy, and refugees. Germany was one of Jordan’s largest supporters.