Program for Results - Economic Opportunities for Jordanians and Syrian Refugees Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA), 1 August 2016

...The PforR seeks to provide economic opportunities for both Jordanians and Syrians by:

i) Reforming Jordan’s labor market regulations to grant access to Syrian refugee workers to the formal labor market and allowing them to legally contribute to Jordan’s economic activity;  

ii) Improving Jordan’s investment climate through improving predictability of regulations, and reducing red tape, supporting small businesses, and trade facilitation; and

iii) Attracting and retaining investments—both domestic and foreign, especially in manufacturing, in Special Economic Zones that will benefit from preferential access to the EU. The foreign investments would most likely come from: i) the Syrian business diaspora; ii) regional investors and iii) investors targeting the EU market...

...to bolster the social and environment measures in the program and demonstrate the government’s commitment to doing good, the following social and environmental DLI will be introduced: Public disclosure of Better Work Jordan ratings and publish disclosure of major labor and environmental violations. While the Program will utilize existing infrastructure of the SEZs and is providing specific guidance on labor and safety related issues in the PAP, it is paramount that the government demonstrate commitment to making efforts to curb low compliance. Global experience has demonstrated that pressure created by “shaming” through transparency of information has positively influenced increased compliance...