Ma’an Lenabne: Empowering Communities through Political Engagement, QUDRA program

“Ma’an Lenabne” is the Arabic word for “Together We Build”. As reflected in its name, this project seeks to strengthen resilience for Syrian refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises.

The program is jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF), Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID), and Hungarian Interchurch Aid in program partner countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Kurdistan Region of Iraq/KRI, from April 2017 till July 2019. “The Together We Build” project is carried out in three Jordanian cities (Mafraq, Sarhan, and Ramtha) by working with community-based organizations (CBOs) and community committees throughout the decentralization process to hold leaders accountable to participatory budgeting.

The project develops accountable local government and civic engagement among the people, which are prerequisites for the establishment of a healthy and transparent democracy that ARDD advocates for. Expanding the role of the people in these decentralization efforts is unique in that it empowers the people as changemakers in the community, while also allowing the participatory budgeting funds to be appropriately and accurately applied as per the needs of the people -for people, by people that understand the real priorities of the community.

With an engaged community and an empowered foundation of CBOs, the trend of accountability and receptive governance can sustain itself without a dependence on international organizations.