Integrated Community Development

The Quality of Life Project was initiated in 1989 in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health to develop a pioneering model for comprehensive national and regional development by integrating labor-intensive and self-employment schemes with health, education, environmental awareness and community participation with self-employment and career development.

Queen Noor during one of her regular visits to Sweimeh Village, the site of the first Noor Al Hussein Foundation’s Quality of Life Project.

The project provides training and support for grassroots community participation in the planning, management and evaluation of social and economic development schemes. Grassroots development councils, development funds and technical support committees are established for each beneficiary area to identify needs, allocate resources and implement projects accordingly. Special emphasis is given to training women and supporting them to become actively involved in their own development process.

Income-generating projects in the field of agriculture are one of the components of the Quality of Life Project’s labor-intensive and self-employment schemes.

Economic schemes focus primarily on agriculture, nutrition, cottage industries and handicrafts. They include home gardens, fruit orchards, goat, cow and poultry raising, fish ponds, bee-keeping, broom and basket making, tricot knitting and sewing, textile and carpet weaving. The project initiated small-scale industries to alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment and promote self-reliance. Initial funding through loans for the income-generating schemes is provided by the NHF, whose seed money is invested in the "Village Development Fund" to support local entrepreneurs.

Fish-farming, one of the diverse economic schemes established by the Quality of Life Project to alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment and promote self-reliance.

The Quality of Project has been implemented in 16 villages throughout the country. By 1995 more than 55 per cent of the villages’ inhabitants were benefiting directly from the Project, which also serves indirectly over 50,000 people living in those villages and the neighboring areas. As a result of the Quality of Life Project, family incomes have risen; female school enrollment rates have increased and dropout rates have declined; migration to the cities has slowed; and, fertility rates have declined.

Mothers Clubs are established to ensure that rural women are trained and supported to take an active role in the development and well-being of themselves, their families and communities.

WHO and the Quality of Life Project are working on a 3 year project to establish a regional advocacy, training and coordination center in Amman. The Project has already trained teams from Iran, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Yemen, Oman and Bahrain and has implemented the Quality of Life model in 3 villages in Yemen.

The Wadi Seer Community Development Project:

The Wadi Seer Community Development Project was initiated in 1994 through a grant from the government of Switzerland to accelerate comprehensive socio-economic development in five villages in the Wadi Seer area.

Iraq Al Amir is one of the five villages in the Wadi Seer area benefiting from NHF’s comprehensive socio-economic development project.

By implementing a market-oriented business approach that encourages individual initiative, the project seeks to revive traditional Jordanian crafts to meet market demand.

Queen Noor chats with weavers at Iraq Al Amir’s Weaving Center, which was established in 1993 to improve and develop the existing production technique of hand-woven cloth.

In its comprehensive approach towards development, the project is providing health services, supplying sanitation facilities, ensuring an equitable and efficient water distribution system for agriculture, and generating long-term employment, particularly for poor women.

Family members in Wadi Seer tend their home "medicinal herbs" garden. Thyme and sage are planted in unexploited plots of land or between rows of olive trees in orchards.

The Foundation has also renovated 10 old farmhouses, which overlook the 2^nd century B.C. palace of Hyrcanus the Tobiad. The farmhouses have been transformed into an handicrafts village that will help preserve the cultural heritage of the region and would be linked to the archaeological site thus enhancing its touristic appeal and increasing benefits to the community.

One of the 10 renovated farm-houses in the handicrafts village of Iraq Al-Amir.

The handicrafts village comprises income-generating projects that include a Weaving Center and a Ceramic Production & Training Center. There is also a Paper-Making Project that produces handmade paper from indigenous palm leaves, banana and okra stems, and a model agricultural nursery for fruit trees, medicinal herbs and vegetables.

The Ceramic Production Center is housed in one of the renovated farmhouses of the Iraq Al Amir village. Training includes mold preparation and production, clay preparation and composite, firing techniques and pottery design.

In 1995, Queen Noor inaugurated a food processing training program for women that aims to improve household nutrition, generate income and maximize the use of agricultural resources. Management of the programs will be turned over to local community leaders, thus ensuring self-reliance and long-term sustainability.

Queen Noor chats with women at the Iraq Al Amir center for food processing and preservation techniques.

INTEGRATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The Quality of Life Project

The Wadi Seer Community Development Project: