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", to highlight the efforts and achievements of the Ministry of Development in developing and automating the transactions of the Register of Associations; and to emphasize the importance of "institutionalizing communication" to ensure continued dialogue, support the principles of transparency and accountability, and strengthen partnership between the government, civil society institutions, and the private sector.
The conference, which included local and international organizations, as well as several representatives of ministries and civil society, sought to institutionalize communication between associations and stakeholders and clarify the necessary procedures, based on the recommendations of the JONAF in its latest report on the experience of dealing with the Takamul platform and the official updates associated with it.
Bani Mustafa stressed the importance of the participatory role between the ministry and the Register of Associations on the one hand, and civil society and associations with their various competencies on the other, those who seek to provide the best services to local communities, and work to facilitate procedures and issue reports on the status of associations, as well as the plans and programs necessary to promote them, and to help them achieve their goals and objectives.
Elaborating on Takamul platform which was launched earlier this year, Bani Mustafa said that: "the Register of Associations has built a digital platform that contains all the data of associations, and the platform has been linked to all partners to ensure the transparency and credibility of the data that has been fed to the platform so that the platform serves as a "data bank" for all associations, and is available for everyone to view, in a way that ensures achieving a high level of transparency in data disclosure.
Samar Muhareb, ARDD’s Chief Executive Director, praised the cooperation with the Ministry of Development and the Register of Associations and the support of such dialogues and discussions, which seek to provide better experiences and support institutions to work on a larger scope and with more flexibility, stressing the need to institutionalize the work of civil society organizations, which in turn would reflect positively on society.
Dr. Sawsan Al-Majali, Consultant at Durrat Al Manal Foundation for Development and Training, and a member of JONAF’s Steering Committee, pointed out that the idea that civil society institutions limited capacities to provide the best service and engage directly with the needs of society is a major challenge for these institutions, and that work must be done to change this image, stressing that JONAF, since it was established in 2016, has played an active role in working with institutions and official bodies to contribute to the application of localization of humanitarian work, activating the WPS agenda, and finding solutions to internal challenges, such as coordination between institutions, institutional efficiency, building specialization, project sustainability, and others.
Taha Al-Maghariz, Secretary General of the Register of Association at the Ministry of Social Development, spoke about the goals and objectives of establishing the Takamul Digital platform, which aims to coordinate all efforts in the Kingdom regarding the work and activities of civil society institutions, official institutions, and the private sector. Al-Maghariz reviewed all the screens available on the platform and explained the purpose of its development, in addition to the indicators that began to appear through the use of the platform by civil society organizations, which includes the size of women's participation in the decision-making process, and reviewed the map of the distribution of civil society organizations linked to "Google Map" to serve all segments of society, and to determine the boundaries and locations of these institutions quickly and accurately.
During a review of ARDD’s report on the modern legal requirements to regulate the work of local and foreign associations in Jordan, the organization's legal advisor, Adv.Rami Qwaider, explained that resources need to be allocated to ensure the integrity of the legal status and avoid any violations or fines that would negatively affect the work of civil society organizations, stressing the need to enhance communication and inform organizations of these updates.
Regarding the challenges facing associations in dealing with legal procedures and local management systems of the association's file, the Executive Director of Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, Linda Kalash, pointed out that one of the most important challenges is the lack of knowledge in the associations of the need to amend the national number and register on the Takamul platform, as well as the lack of standardization of reference for the reviews and special reports made by the associations, explaining that "there is no need to request subsidiary approvals to obtain prior approvals from the competent authorities, as this hinders and delays the implementation and completion of projects."
Regarding the opportunities provided by civil society, the Director of Durrat Al Manal Company for Development and Training, and member of JONAF’s administrative board, Manal Al-Wazani, thought that we are going through difficult circumstances, and we need more cooperation and exchange of roles, noting that civil society institutions know the needs of society because they deal closely with individuals, in addition to their impact on laws and legislations, whether in times of crisis or even in normal circumstances, in addition to their important role in training, capacity development, job creation for young people, and work on entrepreneurial and professional programs.
In conclusion, the participants in the conference stressed the need to develop regulations for the work of associations electronically, in addition to focusing on building specialization in the work of associations, and the importance of localization of humanitarian work by giving civil society institutions a role in policy-making, with the need to strengthen communication between associations and the Register of Associations in the ministry, as well as providing technical and financial support to local associations to ensure the application of emerging legal procedures in the NGO sector and civil society.
The participants also stressed that the system developed by the Ministry of Development presents an opportunity to institutionalize the work of civil society organi, which contributes to improving the work of associations by providing access to a comprehensive database, exchanging experiences among them, avoiding providing the same services to society, and raising community awareness about the use of the “Takamul” platform through traditional means of communication and the media, and that local civil society organizations have an important role in this context.
