How would you conduct economic development with limited natural and financial resources and a dramatic increase in population?

Imagine this.  You are the mayor or city manager of a community of 15,000, with limited water and natural resources and high unemployment, and you have just started welcoming refugees (up to 50,000), which is more than triple the population of your town.  No – this is not an emergency management exercise – this is reality.  The town is Azraq, Jordan, near the border with Iraq, a small town where Lawrence of Arabia stayed and where the government is working to restore wetlands and an historic oasis that was decimated decades ago.  What would you do?

I was in Jordan where I was working on a new project for ICMA, the Local Enterprise Support (LENS) project, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program that was launched in January 2014. ICMA is a subcontractor to FHI 360 on this 5-year project that will assist micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to grow their businesses and create job opportunities, while developing an inclusive enabling environment for economic development in selected municipalities. ICMA will be leading efforts on the local economic development (LED) initiatives, including:

• Increase clarity in the institutional, legal, and financial aspects of municipal governance.
• Improve municipal government capacity to promote economic growth.
• Enable municipal leadership to effectively pursue development plans.
• Create city-to-city partnerships with Jordanian municipalities that focus on local economic development. Click here if you would like to learn more.

The LENS project team was conducting a workplan retreat earlier this year in Azraq. We stayed at Azraq Lodge, which was a former British Army hospital from the 1940s. As part of our meetings to map out the economic development activities for LENS, we invited the mayor and regional leadership to speak with us. 

Our team knows about the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan – but when you hear first-hand about the impact on local government – it becomes very real.  Most of the streets in Azraq are two lanes (not all paved) with limited services available.  So imagine the additional number of trucks that are traveling through, bringing needed supplies to the refugees but also impacting the community. 

This makes ICMA’s work there very critical. I am excited about this project and our opportunity to make an impact in Jordan and in areas like Azraq.  I lived and worked in Jordan from 2008-2009 as a business volunteer for USAID’s Emerging Marketing Development Advisors Program and I served as the Business Development Officer for the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association.  I have been back to Jordan on several trips since then but this most recent trip was eye-opening.

As part of our work, we will be setting up city-to-city partnerships with Jordanian municipalities that focus on local economic development.  If you are interested in learning more, please visit the international team website, the project page  or read the article announcing the city-to-city partnerships.  Please contact me if you are interested or have questions, lhagg@icma.org.  

Entrance to Azraq Wetland Reserve, which has a small meeting room.

The historic oasis at the Azraq Reserve being restored gradually.