This project is driven by the need to further reinforce Jordan’s commitment to social and economic rights, which has begun in 2008, but remains in need of concrete assistance in many areas. It is inspired by the concrete progress that has been enabled through the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP) in 2008, the regional efforts of UNDP’s Regional Center in Cairo in 2009 regarding the need for strong partnerships in the field of legal empowerment, improved knowledge exchange and documentation, and enhanced advocacy and dialogue.

The project will work to generate a coherent body of specialized knowledge and to transfer key skills to policymakers and practitioners with a view to enabling the identification of priority challenges and possible responses at the country-level, while supporting the effective engagement of Arab countries in LEP efforts. Implementation will focus on four inter-related areas of work that have been identified based on the results of national consultations.

These areas are (i) Panoramic analysis of the informal economy; (ii) a survey on the informal economy; (iii) policy workshops to share findings from the survey; and (iv) downstream interventions by sector regions. This project will adopt a participatory approach driven by the principle of “national ownership”, and knowledge sharing as fostered by Teamworks, UNDP’s web-based knowledge management and professional networking platform.

This approach will ensure a more practical, and prospectively sustainable and scalable engagement of various state institutions and non-governmental actors including businesses, civil society, and independent media, academic and research institutions. The project will also promote adherence to the principles of aid effectiveness, through a proactive and far-reaching partnership strategy that seeks to foster linkages with relevant initiatives at the country, regional and global levels.