The Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS): Advocacy Campaign Improving Safety Conditions in Jordan

Along the King’s Highway, stretching from northern to southern Jordan, is the Governorate of Tafilah, a mostly rural governorate 180 kilometers south-west of Amman, which has suffered from a lack of road infrastructure money for its repair. This portion of the King’s Highway is notorious for its absence of lighting, road signs, and reflective road paint, which have heightened danger during poor visibility conditions and caused a high frequency of accidents. In order to address this problem, participants of CEPPS/NDI’s Mujtama3i+ program introduced an advocacy campaign titled “Here is Tafilah,” which advocates for proper lighting, signage, and repair of the governorate’s roads, especially King’s Highway.

Advocating for the enforcement of Article 3 and 4/C of Jordan’s Roads Law No. 24 (1986), “Here is Tafilah” calls for the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to repair and maintain Tafliah’s roads. Through tools and strategies learned by participating in the Mujtama3i+ program, campaign members launched social media campaigns, documented road conditions, met with numerous local and national government officials, conducted opinion polls, and gathered petitions, among other activities, to bring attention to Tafilah’s lack of road infrastructure.

As a result of their efforts, the “Here is Tafilah” campaign was met with great success. On March 10, 2024, the governor of Tafilah forwarded the campaign’s asks to Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khaswaneh, who allocated three million Jordanian Dinar from the Ministry of Finance’s budget to light Tafilah’s 29 kilometer stretch of the King’s Highway. In turn, the Tafilah Governorate’s Director of Public Works installed necessary signage along the road to create improved safety conditions for drivers. CEPPS/NDI will continue to provide technical assistance to members of the “Here is Tafilah” campaign as they continue to advocate for safety and infrastructure across the governorate.