Issue the Requisite Regulations and Instructions to Implement the Decentralization Law and Hold Governorate Council Elections in 2017 (JO0051)

Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment: Currently, the central government institutions develop plans for the various provinces or governorates from the outside in a manner that does not correspond with the principle of enabling the citizens of these governorates to make decisions related to their daily lives. This commitment, interpreted through the reinforcement of decentralization in government performance, shall enable the citizen in the governorate to become the decision-maker in determining expenditures related to industry, education, vocational training or other areas. Main objective: Enable citizens to participate in the planning for their future and defining their priorities. Brief description of commitment: Issue the regulation related to the governorate council elections and conduct the elections in 2017. OGP challenge addressed by the commitment: Achieve citizen public participation in making the decisions affecting their daily lives including those related to the services they receive. Allow citizens to practice a direct and local monitoring on the decision making process. Relevance: This commitment corresponds with the establishment of the public participation principle by fostering a decentralized planning process that allows for the planning to start from the base in the governorates and ascend up to the decision-making center, which makes the debates and responsiveness at the central decision-making a response to the citizens’ priorities. Ambition: By involving public participation in economic and development decisions, the Government’s aim is for the decentralization path, and the practical encouragement it entails, to constitute a direct input in improving the government’s performance and its proximity to the public which will allow the public to effectively and more transparently monitor government performance.