Jordan People-Centric Digital Government Program for Results

About the project

The government program supported by the Program is delineated by the intersection of the EMV, the Public Sector Modernization Roadmap, and the National Digital Transformation Strategy and Implementation Plan for 2021-2025. The EMV for 2033, approved by the GOJ in August 2022, is the overarching government agenda. It is underpinned by the Public Sector Modernization Roadmap, approved in August 2022, and the National Digital Transformation Strategy and Implementation Plan for 2021-2025, which are both expected to be extended beyond their initial timeline, upon review. Those programs of reforms target cross-cutting objectives—such as ease of access to and quality of government services, government effectiveness, and transparency and accountability—as well as sector-specific ones, such as education and health. In education, the government program aims to integrate the various tiers of education to better align education outcomes to the market demand for skills. In the health sector, the focus is on improving the oversight of the health sector and the management of health services.

The government program is also expected to benefit refugees and contribute to the implementation of the Jordan Response Plan for the Syrian Crisis (JRP). The 2024-2026 JRP is under preparation, with an emphasis on the importance of continued provision of basic services, notably education and health care. It also emphasizes the importance of fostering inclusion and promoting livelihoods. The Program supports the JRP through the following mechanisms: (1) facilitating refugee access to basic services through digital identification, through which refugees can also open e-wallets; (2) incentivizing the improvement of health services (including through the rollout of electronic medical records (EMRs)) in areas populated by refugees; and (3) expanding refugee access to the general secondary education examination (the Tawjihi) by rolling out digital examination centers in camps and urban areas with a high concentration of refugees. During implementation, the Program will coordinate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on its efforts in providing TA to support registration and the issuance of identification for refugees by incentivizing a more streamlined, digitalized process. On the provision of education services to refugees, the Program will coordinate with KfW on the establishment of examination centers and equipping schools with digital laboratories, and with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on the development of an item bank with competency-based questions aligned with the new Tawjihi curriculum. On the provision of health services to refugees, it will coordinate efforts with the European Union on supporting Hakeem systems in governorates with high concentrations of refugees, and with UNICEF, USAID, and the World Health Organization (WHO) on shared health records.

Project Development Objective (PDO)

To improve people-centric service delivery, government effectiveness, and transparency and accountability through digitalization.

Project Implementation Status

The three prior results have been achieved, pending approval: DLR 8.1 on the submission to Parliament of amendments
to the 2007 Access to information act, DLR 5.0 (a) on the adoption and issuance of the Public Services Administration and
Governance by-law, and DLR 9.0 on the approval and tabling to Parliament by Cabinet of the National Statistics bill. The
first result should help improve access to information, the second facilitate civil service reforms, and the third should
strengthen the role of DOS as a repository for government data and promote access to micro-data for analytical
purposes

It is expected that a wide range of results should be achieved by end of FY25 entailing sizeable disbursements (for an estimated amount of US$ 50 M).

Regarding the refugee specific DLRs:
DLI 1: Refugees accessing digitalized public- and private-sector services using trusted, people-centric DPI

• Commitment by UNHCR to work with MODEE to include issuance of refugee registration ids as part of digital service center to create a ‘one stop shop’

DLI 7 on digital student assessment

• Identification of two digital assessment centers/rooms to be established in camps and 50 in districts with high concentration of refugees
• Preparation of phone-survey to monitor progress in educational attainment among refugees

DLI 9 on expanding access to user-friendly and interactive statistical data

• Beta version of National Data Center ready, included disaggregated labor force statistics, scheduled to be launched in
  Spring 2025

Relevant Documents:

• Project Appraisal Document (PAD)
• World Bank Project Information Page