US supports water conservation efforts
Jordan Times
June 27, 2007
ByHani Hazaimeh, Jordan Times, Amman
AMMAN -- American Ambassador to Jordan David Hale on Tuesday awarded a total of JD133,000 in grants to 19 community-based organisations (CBOs) in Amman and Madaba in support of their water conservation efforts.
Funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID), the grants are part of the Community-Based Initiatives for Water Demand Management.
The project was initiated in 2006 when the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) signed a memorandum of understanding with Mercy Corps, an international relief and development organisation, and the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) to launch a five-year project on water management in rural areas.
The memo stipulates presenting a total of 150 grants, each worth JD7,000, to be distributed equally to CBOs in Jordan's 12 governorates, according to a US embassy statement.
Over the next five years, $1.5 million will be granted to help communities, especially in rural areas, use water more efficiently to meet local needs, according to Hale.
The project will also provide training to enable these communities to operate lending programmes designed to improve their management of local water demand.
Most of the grants will operate as loan funds, and will support the households of ordinary Jordanians in their effort to better manage water resources, the statement said.
In his address at the ceremony, Hale said Jordan has made remarkable progress in economic and social reforms over the past years adding that the country has started implementing a broad programme of political reforms based on its market needs.
Amman Governor Saad Manaseer hosted yesterday's event at City Hall, which was by attended by Madaba Governor Wanas Harahsheh, government officials, members of Parliament and community leaders.
Also on Tuesday, Director of USAID's Water Resource Management Office John Smith-Sreen presented grants worth JD7,000 each to 14 community-based organisations from Maan and Aqaba governorates.
On Wednesday, the Tafileh governor is scheduled to host a similar ceremony for nine community organisations based in the governorate, who will receive grants totalling JD63,000.
USAID has allocated a total of $245 million as economic assistance to Jordan this year, which will be spent on education, health and water management, according to the US embassy.
The Kingdom is one of the 10 most water-deprived countries in the world, with per capita water consumption estimated at 170 cubic metres per annum, compared to 1,000cm per annum in other countries.