CSOs in Jordan have to learn how to write

Only a fraction of the thousands of civil society organizations working in Jordan are capable of writing accurate and professional funding proposals. As a consequence the biggest organizations get most of the international funding.

By Niels-Peter Granzow Busch, MS Jordan

09. August 2009

Unclear, unfocused and unprofessional. According to the Jordanian minister of Political Development, Civil society organizations (CSO) operating in Jordan are so bad at writing funding proposals for foreign donors that only a fraction of them have a chance of getting any international funding.

Ten CSOs get almost all the funding

There are some 2500 CSOs working in Jordan at the present, but only 10 of these can write accurate and professional proposals for donors willing to fund projects at a national level, says Nidal Mansour, director of the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists, to Jordan Times.

These 10 organizations therefore get the largest share of international donor money, while the small CSOs have to cope with small grants. According to Nidal Mansour most of the CSOs can't even compete with the big organizations when it comes to projects with a regional scope.

Major donors are concerned

A number of major donors, including the EU and the US, have – according to Jordan Times - expressed concerns about the inefficiency, the lack of professionalism and the poor writing skills shown by many Jordanian CSOs.

Recently, the Political Development Ministry of Jordan conducted a training course for a number of CSOs to enhance their skills in writing accurately and clear. Some of the larger CSOs in Jordan have proposed that these courses are made permanent.