sustainable development in jordan: a case study

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@ 2016 AYAT A. SALEH, submitted as a part of the 'Design for the Environment' course in the University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Sustainable Development in The

Kingdome of Jordan: A Case Study

Sustainable development can be defined as "meeting the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Within this context, sustainability has three dimensions, namely: social, economic

and ecological (Redclift 2009; Baker 2016, p.7).

The purpose of this case study is firstly to analyze the sustainable development

journey in the Kingdome of Jordan, or shortly Jordan. The analysis will take place

under three stages:

Firstly: setting the scene about the country by conducting a PESTEL

(Political, Economic, Technological, Social, Environmental and Legal)

analysis;

Secondly, presenting the Jordanian achievements against the Millennium

Development Goals for the period from 2000 to 2015;

Thirdly, a discussion for the contemporary challenges with respect to the

Sustainable Development Goals and the required management steps for the

period from 2015 to 2030.

1. The Big Picture

In order to draw a big picture about Jordan, a brief overview about the country, and

the key facts that shape the sustainable development agenda in the country will be

presented.

1.1 The Kingdome of Jordan: Country's Profile

Jordan became an independent country in 1946. Since then, the country managed

successfully to be a key partner in the region. The key facts about Jordan are

(Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016, p.2; Central Intelligence Agency 2016):

Population: 6.6 million (2015 census)

Total area: 89,342 km2 with only 0.6% for the area is water

Average annual population growth: 2.3%

Life expectancy: 73.9 years

Urban population: 83.4%

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HDI (Human Development Index): 0.745

UN (United Nations) Education Index: 0.700

GII (Gender Inequality Index): 0.488

Poverty (as a percentage of the population living on less than 3 USD/ day at

2011 international prices): 2.0%

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita based on purchasing power parity:

USD 12,050.3

A map for the country is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 Map for the Kingdome of Jordan

1.2 The Kingdome of Jordan: PESTEL Analysis

In order to have a broader overview, PESTEL analysis in table 1 shows the main

aspects that affect the sustainable development in the country.

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Table 1 Detailed PESTEL Analysis for Jordan

Political Economical

The country is surrounded by very intense political situations due to the conflict between Israel and Palestine and civil wars in Syria and Iraq. That created many refugees and pressure on the local services in the country (El-Naser et al. 2014; Fakhoury 2015).

The country has conducted many corruption investigations and cabinet reshuffles to ensure a stable political situation internally (IHS Global Inc 2015).

The country witnessed different protests against the government which were managed by a political reform agenda that covered different aspects such parliamentary and municipal elections (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

The economic growth in 2015 was 2.7% and expected to be 3.1% in 2016 (IHS Global Inc 2015).

The country depends on huge foreign aids from different countries (IHS Global Inc 2015).

Water scarcity problem created food security problem in addition to poverty and health issues (El-Naser et al. 2014).

High poverty rate especially among women which is about twice more than what it is for men (El-Naser et al. 2014).

The main industries in the country are: "tourism, information technology, clothing, fertilizers, potash, phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, cement and inorganic chemicals" (Central Intelligence Agency 2016). Unfortunately, the majority are easily affected negatively with the unstable political situation and the oil prices (International Monetary Fund 2015, p.17).

High unemployment rate (12.9%) (Central Intelligence Agency 2016).

According to 2013 statistics, only 11% of the GDP in were spent on education (which is low compared to international standards) with no data on the amount of spending for research and development (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

Sociological

The country is considered as the seventh-largest population in the Middle East and the 13th largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (IHS Global Inc 2015).

Young society; 36% of the population are below 15 years old (IHS Global Inc 2015).

95.4 % of the population is literate (Central Intelligence Agency 2016)

30% of the working employees is unionized (IHS Global Inc 2015).

Ecological Technological

The country is classified as the fourth poorest country in terms of water availability where most of the areas are classified as semi- arid to arid region (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Land degradation problem due to poor solid waste disposal practices and poor land use planning (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Climate change impact such as decrease in the rain fall by 15% which is expected to create a 30% decrease in water availability during the next 20 years (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Sanitation problem where not all people have access to wastewater services and sewage network (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Energy sector depends on foreign oil and natural gas where 96% of them are imported (El-Naser et al. 2014).

The available knowledge and tools are not sufficient to face the above challenges especially for the water/ wastewater management (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Jordan is a leader in ICT (information communication technology) sector in the middle east where some of the key achievements in this area are (Ministry of Information and Communications Technology 2013):

Late 1970s: developing satellite communication.

Mid 1980s: introducing mobile telephone service.

1982: starting international direct dialling service.

Jordan is number 82 in the world in terms of the number of users who have internet access (Central Intelligence Agency 2016).

Jordan spend 7.3% of the GDP for research and development in the area of science and technology (Elshuraydeh et al. 2005).

Legal

Internally, the country is divided into 12 governorates.

Externally, the country has representatives in many international organizations such as IMF (International Monetary Fund), IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and International Chamber of Commerce and many more (Central Intelligence Agency 2016).

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2. Sustainable Development Results in Jordan: 2000- 2015

Since the beginning of the sustainable development journey in 2000, Jordan

embarrassed every single opportunity to create a significant change in each of the

three pillars of the sustainability.

Firstly, on the social sustainability pillar, the country was ranked as 77th among

other 187 countries in the HDI (Human Development Index) as end of October 2015

(Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016). One of the main initiatives was the development of

3-year executive development programs (EDPs) to set agendas and manage them in

areas such as unemployment and poverty (Fakhoury 2015). As a result, the country

managed successfully to reduce the poverty rate from 21% to 14.4% for the period

from 1997 to 2012, increased literacy rate to 93.3% across the country and reduced

the infant mortality rate (which represents the number of death for infants under one

year) to 17 per 1000 infants (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Equally important, the country managed critical issues such as corruption,

governance and transparency intelligently through the adoption of a 'National

Integrity Charter' that is responsible for monitoring and setting recommendations in

this field (Fakhoury 2015).

Secondly, on the economic sustainability pillar, and despite of the volatility

around Jordan which affects the availability of external investment negatively (El-

Naser et al. 2014), the country adopted new laws that enhanced investment and

created a competitive business environment such as the new taxation law, the new

secured lending law in 2014 (Fakhoury 2015) and competition law (Bertelsmann

Stiftung 2016).

The results are shown in the growth of the GDP by 3.1%, the reduction in inflation

rate by 2.8% and the increase of the export growth rate by 9.4% by the end of 2014

(Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

Finally, on the ecological Sustainability, Jordan implemented rigorous steps to

face the severe water condition in the country. For example, the country started one

of the world's most unique water desalination project, or what is called 'Red Sea-

Dead Sea' project, in order to pump the water from Red Sea to Dead Sea. The

difference in the elevation between the two seas will be used to generate

hydroelectricity which will be used in the desalination process and hence providing

safe drinking water to the local community (Global Nature Fund 2013; Fakhoury

2015). As a result, 99% of the population have access to a safe drinking water and

63% are connected to a public sanitary sewage (El-Naser et al. 2014).

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On another important environmental impacts, the country adopted different targets

related to climate change, introduced codes for green building, lunched incentive

programs for hybrids and electrical cars and finally embraced a 'Solid Waste

Management Strategy' (Fakhoury 2015).

3. Status Quo and Future Plans: 2015 – 2030

The sustainability development in Jordan continues with the new Sustainable

Development Goals. Within the political turbulence in the Middle East region, the

journey becomes more challengeable. Syrian crisis alone created 4 million refugees

to neighbour countries and 8 million internally displaced in five years. Jordan hosts

1.4 million Syrian refugees which is the largest recipients for Syrian refugees and

resulted in impact with USD 6.6 billion as direct and indirect costs (El-Naser et al.

2014; Fakhoury 2015).

In order to achieve the sustainable development goals by end of 2030, the country

has to bridge different gaps. The below discussion will illustrate these challenges and

the path that should be followed for a brighter future under three themes namely:

Social challenges and transformation,

Economic challenges and transformation and finally,

Ecological challenges and transformation.

3.1 Social Challenges and Transformation

The three key areas that are crucial for a social development in Jordan are:

1- The growth in the number of population which was doubled since 1980

including the refugees over the last three decades. This growth creates a

pressure on the limited natural resources and the current infrastructure (El-

Naser et al. 2014).

2- Healthcare: according to the official statistics in the country, only 77% of

Jordanian citizens are covered by health insurance pension (Bertelsmann

Stiftung 2016). Additionally, the county has to manage the health services for

a huge number of refugees and patients from neighbor countries (The High

Health Council 2015).

3- Human rights and especially women rights: the official numbers for the

unemployment rate revealed that the unemployment rate for females is twice

more than what it is for males (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

In order to tackle these problems, the country should:

Eliminate all kind of stereotypes about women and promote equal

employment opportunities in the kingdom (United Nations 2013).

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Jordan developed 'National Strategy for Health Sector for 2015- 2019' to

improve the quality of the healthcare services in the kingdom. One of the

main tasks in this strategy is to issue a new 'Health Insurance Law' that

will organize the process between the government, the insurance

companies and the recipients (The High Health Council 2015).

3.2 Economic Challenges and Transformation

The two key areas of concerns for a successful economic development in Jordan

are:

1- Dependency on financial aid: Jordan depends heavily on external financial

supports (aid, long term loans and grants) (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

2- Poverty: Jordan has a high poverty rate where 2% of the population are living

on less than 3 USD per day (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016), in addition to the

low GNI (Gross National Income) for a medium- income country (The

European Commission 2014).

The required reform should introduce programs to reduce unemployment rate

and poverty, encourage SMEs (Small and Medium Size Enterprises) and

finally the reform of the 'personal income tax' (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016) and

'state pension system' (IHS Global Inc 2015). In order to face these

challenges, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Sector

Development sat strategies to lead the reform across the country. Some of

the current strategy is called 'Comprehensive Reform of Jordan's Public

Financial Management 2014-2017' (The European Commission 2014) and

Jordan Fiscal Reform Project (FRP) that is sponsored by USAID (USAID

2015).

3.3 Ecological Challenges and Transformation

On the ecological development side, the four key areas that are mandatory in Jordan

are:

1- Water scarcity and climate change: according to the official meteorological

forecast in Jordan, the country is predicted to have an increase in

evapotranspiration by 3%. That also is expected to be combined with a

decrease in rainfall by 15% and an increase in the demand of irrigation water

by 18%. As a total, the available water in Jordan is expected to be decreased

by 30% by 2035 (El-Naser et al. 2014). Not also the climate change is the

major contributor to the water scarcity, but also the domestic misuse of water

resources and the increase number of Syrian refugees who consume

approximately one million liter of water per day (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

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In order to tackle this challenge, the country should:

Limits the fresh water usage for irrigation and agriculture to recycled

water only (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

Continue with the agreement that was signed with the related authorities

in Palestine and Israel for the Red Sea-Dead Sea project. The project is

expected to be fully operated by 2018 (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

Seek financial aids to fund local projects for sanitation solutions

especially in rural areas (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Increase the awareness and possibilities of reusing reclaimed water for

irrigation and other applicable uses (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Protect the groundwater by decommissioning any active cesspits,

rehabilitate the current wastewater network to prevent any leakage and

adopt new sewer systems that depends on new technologies so the

operations and maintenance costs will be reduced (El-Naser et al. 2014).

2- Sanitation: the current wastewater network is not capable to handle all the

wastewater discharge in the country. Official numbers sate that only 63% of

the population are connected to a public sewer system. This also means

losing the opportunity of collecting, treating and reusing the wastewater for

other beneficial uses (El-Naser et al. 2014).

As solutions, the country should:

Invest in new wastewater sewage systems that can handle the effluent

in efficient ways (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Conduct rehabilitation and expansion for the existing sewer networks

and plants. Currently, there are 29 central wastewater treatment

stations which are expected to treat 280 Million cubic metre annually

by 2030 given that the government will implement the needed the

rehabilitation and maintenance projects (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Prevent the improper discharge and illegal water/ wastewater drilling

through official laws and regulations alongside with regular monitoring

for the quantities withdrawn (United Nations 2009).

3- Land degradation and desertification: the country suffers from the land

degradation due to improper use of the land, soil erosion, poor solid waste

disposal practices and the immigration from rural to urban areas (El-Naser et

al. 2014).

The solutions for this ecological problem lay in:

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Implementing physical solutions to prevent soil erosion such as some

agricultural practices and water irrigation system (United Nations

2009).

Limiting the rural immigration by improving the living conditions in

these areas (United Nations 2009).

Setting regulations for the improper use of lands and monitor that

regularly (United Nations 2009).

4- The energy sector: Jordan lacks the needed resource to generate electricity,

therefore, around 96% of its fossil is imported (El-Naser et al. 2014). Given

that all power plants in Jordan are operated by fossil (IHS Global Inc 2015),

the expected increase in demand means high financial risk within the volatile

prices (El-Naser et al. 2014).

Some of the suggested solutions are:

Introduce renewable energy: some strategies and laws are already sat

such as the 'National Energy Strategy of 2007-2020'. This national

strategy states that 10% of the energy should be from renewable

sources by the end of 2020, therefore, the government authorized nine

licenses for solar-energy project and two wind energy projects in 2015

(Bertelsmann Stiftung 2016).

Exploit the oil shale that is already in the country where some

researchers showed that there are more than 40 Billion tons in 21 sites

across the country. The government started the exploration, research

and assessment process with the 'Royal Dutch Shell Company' in

2009 but more efforts are needed to commercialize it (IHS Global Inc

2015).

Before concluding the discussion about the road to solve the above challenges, it is

worthy to mention that the success of a sustainable development agenda

incorporates other managerial aspects such developing integrated communication

and information sharing platforms, developing community outreach programs, the

lunch of community awareness and education initiatives and finally providing training

programs for all personnel involved in the deployment process (United Nations

2009).

Additionally, the sustainable development journey is similar to any management

process. The success depends on following five stages which are: evaluation,

review, assessment, audit and monitoring (Berger & Steurer 2006, p.1).

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Moreover, policymakers should acknowledge the conflict that might happen between

the three sustainability pillars. Developing a common understanding, clarifying any

conflict of interests between the related parties, trust and open discussion can help in

resolving the conflict and hence successfully leading the discussion and negotiations

processes (Pisano et al. 2013) .

Finally, sustainable development is an ongoing process. As Baker (2016) described

it: "Sustainable development is a dynamic concept. It is not about society reaching an

end state, nor is it about establishing static structures or about identifying fixed

qualities of social, economic or political life" (Baker 2016, p.9). The process includes

continuously prompting the sustainability thinking in all aspects of life rather than

insisting on achieving a steady state of performance (Baker 2016, p.9).

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

As a conclusion, although Jordan is a small country and with limited resources, the

country achieved many great results and improve the living conditions year on year.

As a summary for the sustainable development in Jordan is shown in table 2.

For future researches in this area, it is recommended to:

1- Combine the literature review that was done with interviews, focus groups or

even questioners. The purpose of combing more than one data collection

methods is to get a deeper understanding for the subject and more

contemporary information.

2- Compare and contrast the UN approach for sustainable development, which

was expressed here in terms of the Millennium Development Goals and the

Sustainable Development Goals, with other approaches to have a

comprehensive picture about the research topic.

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Table 2 Summary for the Sustainability Development in Jordan

Achievement from 2000 to 2015

Challenges from 2015 to 2030

So

cia

l S

usta

inab

ility

Ranked 77th in Human Development

Index

Poverty was reduced from 21% to

14.4%

increased literacy rate to 93.3%

Reduced the infant mortality rate to

17 per 1000 infants.

The dramatic growth in the number

of population

The healthcare sector especially

the health insurance service

Human rights and women rights in

specific

Eco

no

mic

Su

sta

inab

ility

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew

by 3.1%

Inflation rate reduced by 2.8%

Export growth rate increased by

9.4%

Reduce the dependency on

external financial aids

Reduce the poverty level which is

currently 2% (the rate measure the

percentage of the population who

are living on less than $3/day)

Eco

logic

al

Su

sta

inab

ility

99% of Jordanian citizen have

access to clean water

63% of the people are connected to

a sewer system

Introduced green building codes

Promote the use of hybrids and

electrical cars

Lunched a Solid Waste Management

Strategy

Water scarcity where it is expected

to have a decrease in the available

drinking water by 30% (end of

2035)

Upgrade the current sanitary

system

Land degradation and the increase

in land's desertification

Around 96% of the fossil used in

the country is imported, therefore,

implementing renewable energy

solutions is a must

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