Khaberni - The World Bank confirmed that the "Youth, Technology, and Jobs" project in Jordan, funded with approximately $200 million, continues to support the digital economy and enhance income opportunities that are digitally supported for the youth and expand digital government services.
According to an evaluative report of the project, it has contributed to the launch and enhancement of about 200 digital government services, resulting in 52.9 million electronic transactions by the end of the year 2025, significantly exceeding the target of 5 million transactions.
The percentage of digital government payment services rose to 30% compared to 5% at the baseline, while private sector investments in digital services reached about $15.95 million.
In the skills development focus area, the report pointed out that 10,591 youths were trained on digital skills related to the job market, including 6,172 females and 110 Syrian refugees, within programs targeting the age group 18-35 years.
Digital skills curricula were also integrated into schools, benefiting 402,757 students in grades seven to twelve, including 189,068 female students and 31,578 Syrian students.
The report indicated that 4,938 beneficiaries of the training programs reported gaining digital income opportunities, including employment, freelance work, or starting businesses, of whom 2,366 were females and 112 were Syrians.
In the digital sector support aspect, 3,091 individuals benefited from technology companies and outsourcing services (ITO/BPO), while support was provided to 47 companies for expansion, in addition to 102 start-ups through market linkage programs.
Moreover, 1,621 individuals were trained to work via digital platforms, including 826 females and 138 Syrians.
The report showed the digitization of 178 new government services, of which 78 services were provided through private sector companies, in addition to improving 20 existing services and digitizing 803 government payment services.
Regarding financing, a total of about $85.82 million was disbursed from the total funding of $200 million, which is approximately 42.9%, distributed between a World Bank loan and a trust fund grant.
Despite these results, the World Bank downgraded the progress assessment in achieving the project goals and the progress of implementation to "relatively unsatisfactory" in the current period,
The execution of the project continues until February 2027, with expectations of continuing work on expanding the digital economy and enhancing employment opportunities for youth in Jordan.
