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Fourth edition, October 2024
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Dear partners and friends,
We are pleased to share The Jordan International Cooperation Forum´s (JICOF) newsletter´s fourth edition.
Founded in 2022 by the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF), the Jordan INGO Forum (JIF), USAID, and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Jordan, the Jordan International Cooperation Forum (JICOF) is a one-of-a-kind platform that brings together members of local civil society, INGOs and the donor community to connect and coordinate advocacy on two key agendas: localization and civic space.
This newsletter aims to shed light on important updates about our shared issues on the local, regional, and international levels, enriching our knowledge with an overview of challenges and best practices relevant to localization and equal partnerships.
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ARDD: Reflecting on Arab Participation at the Summit for the Future
The Summit for the Future, held in September 2024, sought to reinforce multilateralism and reshape the international system to address today’s pressing global challenges, including climate change, inequality, and governance reform. Central to the summit’s outcomes was the Pact for the Future, a comprehensive framework designed to advance sustainable development, enhance peacebuilding efforts, and bolster human rights protections.. READ MORE
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What’s the UN’s new ‘Pact for the Future’ READ MORE
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Arab States urge reformation, addressing challenges at UN’s Future Summit READ MORE
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Local aid is missing from the UN’s new reform pact
The UN’s shiny new reform pact is all about transformation. But its humanitarian strands seem to describe a system much as it exists today, minus some core concepts: localisation and accountability to people in crisis.. READ MORE
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JONAF Strategic Meeting: “Activating Localization towards Sustainable Impact”
“Our journey started with one step, and we are still going forward on the journey of a thousand miles.” With these words, Dr. Sawsan Al-Majali, Consultant at Durrat Al-Manal Foundation for Development and Training (DMDT) and executive Board of the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF), summed up JONAF’s ongoing journey since 2016, during the strategic meeting held by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and JONAF, on Monday, September 23, 2024, entitled: “Activating Localization towards a sustainable impact”. READ MORE
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Can INGOs survive the looming financial crisis? Only through strategic growth and collective action
At a face-to-face meeting of Oxfan programme leaders in Johannesburg this week, some of the most pressing issues facing international development and humanitarian organisations came to the fore—decolonisation, civic space and the need for impact-driven strategies. A recurring theme in these discussions was the decline in official development assistance (ODA) and shrinking funding pipelines across the sector. More
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USAID’s Report to Congress on Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Participation
With more than half the world’s population under the age of 30, empowering and inspiring girls and young women to serve as civic and political leaders is an important vehicle for positive change in all countries. Worldwide, however, only 26.9 percent1 of parliamentarians are women, and only 2.97 percent2 of political representatives are under the age of 30, showing significant gaps in the representation of girls and young women’s voices in civic and political spheres. READ MORE
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The Green Accountability Agenda Is a Localization Agenda
As thousands gather in New York this week for Climate Week and the UN General Assembly, there will be much discussion of how we reach climate goals and many conversations that touch on localization debates. Yet the two agendas are inter–related and mutually reinforcing. We see an opportunity to align efforts. READ MORE
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Building (unfunded) accountability into the localization agenda – Part 1
This is the first of a two-part series of blogs about accountability in the non-profit sector and how funders can better understand how this relates to localization. READ MORE
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Localization doesn’t shift power. It deepens international dominance.
‘International actors have the power to let local actors into the humanitarian club – or to keep them out.’ READ MORE
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Beyond the buzzwords: how can we fix localisation to shift power in humanitarian aid?
The movement to decolonise humanitarian aid and development has gained momentum in recent years, particularly through the “localisation” agenda – a vision for empowered communities taking charge of their own futures. READ MORE
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International aid agencies pay the price for boom and bust
The staff cuts and financial turbulence at Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee reported by The New Humanitarian in recent weeks follow years of aggressive growth by international NGOs (INGOs), even as government aid budgets have fallen.READ MORE
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Development interdependence: Locally driven, globally informed
“This compendium of essays expands on the conversation from a roundtable hosted by the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution on April 5, 2024. The event’s purpose was to discuss the role of international expertise and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in a localization frame, a topic mostly absent in considerations of locally-led development.” READ MORE
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One Year into the War on Gaza.. an Educide amid the Genocide!
About a year ago, when the war on Gaza began, a new term derived from "genocide", Educide or Scholasticide both indicating the "deliberate extermination of the educational sector", entered the dictionary of terms and wars. READ MORE
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The Jordanian Register of Associations: a renewed determination towards digitization and development
Under the patronage of the Minister of Social Development, Wafa Bani Mustafa, the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and the Jordan National NGOs Forum (JONAF) held, on Thursday, August 22, 2024, a conference titled: “The Jordanian Register of Associations: a renewed determination towards digitization and development”. READ MORE
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RSC and GMI Sign MoU to Enhance Knowledge Sharing and Strengthen the Aid Sector
ARDD’s think tank, the Renaissance Strategic Center (RSC), and the Global Mentoring Initiative (GMI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster dialogue and improve governance structures in the international aid sector. READ MORE
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NATO’s Liaison Office in Jordan: the Risk of Militarizing the WPS Agenda and the Challenges for Sustainable Peace
The decision to establish NATO’s first liaison office in the Middle East, located in Amman, announced during the 2024 summit in Washington D.C., has sparked widespread controversy, particularly within the Arab world READ MORE
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Time is Running Out: The Middle East Displacement Crisis at a Breaking Point
The Migration and Refugee Forum in the Arab World condemns the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East, marked by new waves of forced displacement and the escalation of conflicts that are resulting in unprecedented levels of human suffering. READ MORE
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ARDD Calls for Urgent Action to Protect Civilians in Lebanon
ARDD is gravely concerned by the dramatic escalation of Israel’s brutal attacks on Lebanon since 17 September 2024 which according to the latest Lebanese government figures have left in excess of 1,000 people killed and 6,000 wounded with concerns that the number of forced displaced could reach 1 million. READ MORE
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Human Rights Organizations Call for Urgent Action Against Forced Displacement in Gaza
We, the undersigned human rights organizations, draw the attention of United Nations (UN) member states to Israel’s cataclysmic forced displacement of Palestinians in and from Gaza, the West Bank, and South Lebanon.READ MORE
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The Palestinian NGOs Network Issues a Study to Assess the Reality of Civil Society Organizations in the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme/ Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) has issued a comprehensive study assessing the state of civil society organizations in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for over 300 days. The study aims to analyze the current capabilities, challenges, and needs of these organizations, in addition to evaluating the losses and damages they have suffered due to the aggression, to ensure the continuation of their vital functions and roles.READ MORE
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“Hear Our Voice” Conference (Second Edition): “Civil Society Conversations on Humanitarian Responses to the Syrian Crisis”
Amman, Jordan - The second edition of the "Hear Our Voice" conference was held in Amman, Jordan on September 3-4 and brought together civil society organizations (CSOs), humanitarian agencies, and other stakeholders to tackle the ongoing humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis. READ MORE
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Development interdependence: Locally driven, globally informed
“This compendium of essays expands on the conversation from a roundtable hosted by the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution on April 5, 2024. The event’s purpose was to discuss the role of international expertise and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in a localization frame, a topic mostly absent in considerations of locally-led development.” READ MORE
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Grand Bargain Self-Reporting Cycle 2024 is out
The 2024 Grand Bargain Self-Reports results are out!
As part of the Grand Bargain 3.0 Framework in 2023, signatories agreed to streamline and simplify the annual self-reporting process.READ MORE
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