Overview

Jordan submitted its third Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2026, marking its third engagement with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) review mechanism. Building on the 2017 and 2022 VNRs, the 2026 VNR assesses national progress from 2015 to 2026, identifies remaining gaps, and outlines priority actions for the period leading to 2030. Guided by the HLPF 2026 theme, “Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs for a sustainable future for all,” the review focuses on the in-depth assessment of SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17, while providing an integrated analysis of all 17 SDGs through five thematic pillars: Human Capital, Inclusion and Social Protection; Natural Resources, Resilience and Climate Action; Economic Modernisation, Productivity and Jobs; Governance, Digital Transformation and Enabling Systems; and Infrastructure, Connectivity and Spatial Development. The VNR is coordinated by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) and incorporates a multi-stakeholder approach, including the Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) of Amman and Irbid (United Nations, 2026a; United Nations, 2026b).

Recommendations

Continue strengthening inclusive economic growth to expand employment opportunities, particularly for women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Increase domestic and international climate and biodiversity finance to accelerate implementation of environmental commitments.
Expand circular economy initiatives, including waste segregation, recycling, industrial symbiosis and sustainable production.
Accelerate implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution and methane reduction commitments through enhanced climate investment.
Strengthen marine and terrestrial ecosystem conservation by expanding protected areas and improving long-term environmental monitoring.
Continue improving legal aid, access to justice, anti-corruption measures and institutional accountability.
Enhance national statistical systems, indicator disaggregation and integrated monitoring to support evidence-based policymaking.
Deepen digital transformation and cybersecurity while expanding inclusive access to digital public services.
Strengthen SDG localisation through greater engagement of local governments, civil society, academia and the private sector.
Continue leveraging international partnerships, innovative financing and multi-stakeholder cooperation to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda.

Conclusion

Jordan’s 2026 VNR concludes that the country has continued to advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda despite significant regional and global challenges. Building on the foundations established in the 2017 and 2022 VNRs, the review demonstrates strengthened institutional coordination, evidence-based policymaking, digital transformation and integrated planning across all 17 SDGs. The VNR highlights progress through five thematic pillars while placing particular emphasis on SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17, which were selected for in-depth review by the HLPF 2026. Looking towards 2030, Jordan reaffirms its commitment to accelerating implementation through strengthened partnerships, enhanced national data and statistical systems, inclusive governance, innovative financing and coordinated policy action, with the overarching objective of ensuring that no one is left behind.

References

United Nations (2026a): Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2026. Available at: https://hlpf.un.org/2026
United Nations (2026b): Jordan Voluntary National Reviews 2026. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Available at:https://hlpf.un.org/countries/jordan/voluntary-national-reviews-2026

Location

Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Amman, Jordan

Get Directions

Region

MENA
Jordan

SDGs Progress Tracker

United Nations Voluntary National Reports

Country Focal Point

Ms Rasha Ahmad Dabbouri
Head of Sustainable Development Unit
Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation
Amman, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

SDG 1 (No Poverty) Score: 3 Moderately Off-Track

Justification	Jordan strengthened its social protection system during the VNR period to support vulnerable groups through an integrated approach combining targeted cash assistance, health insurance expansion and economic empowerment. The National Strategy for Social Protection 2019–2025 and the National Social Protection Strategy 2025–2033 provide the policy framework for reducing poverty and promoting sustainable livelihoods.
Challenges	Jordan continues to face growing social and economic pressures that require stronger protection for vulnerable households. The Government also recognises the need to improve integrated social services, strengthen shock-responsive mechanisms, enhance sustainable financing, and build institutional capacity to respond to economic and climate-related disruptions.
Progress/Solution	Jordan expanded social protection through the National Aid Fund (NAF) and the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), supporting 324,651 households with JOD 1,066 million in cumulative cash transfers between 2022 and 2026. The Social Security Corporation expanded formal-sector protection through the Estidama++ programme and complementary schemes, increasing private-sector insurance coverage to 52.42% by 2025, with 31,160 unemployment insurance beneficiaries and 11,983 women benefiting from maternity protection. National health insurance coverage was extended to uninsured individuals and (NAF) beneficiaries. The Women and Girls Oasis programme expanded to 18 community centres across 11 governorates, while e-wallet systems improved the efficiency and transparency of social assistance delivery. Jordan also expanded financing for micro and small enterprises to support economic empowerment.
Unsolved Challenges	The National Social Protection Strategy 2025–2033 identifies continuing priorities to expand targeted cash transfers, strengthen links between social assistance and employment, entrepreneurship and skills development, improve integrated health, education and childcare services, enhance shock-responsive systems and early warning mechanisms, adopt technology for data-driven targeting, strengthen institutional capacity, and deepen partnerships with the private sector and civil society. The Strategy also aims to increase NAF coverage from 94% of eligible households in 2025 to 98% by 2028 through a unified cash support programme based on a 57-indicator electronic targeting algorithm.

SDGs World Progress: Achieved

SDG17

SDGs World Progress: On-Track

SDG4
SDG9

SDGs World Progress: Moderately Off-Track

Country Challenges

Managing the continued pressure of hosting one of the largest displaced populations per capita in the world, placing significant demands on health, education, water, social protection and urban services.
Advancing job-rich and inclusive economic growth to expand employment opportunities, particularly for women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Addressing severe climate vulnerability arising from an arid environment, extreme water scarcity, limited natural resources, rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and more frequent flash floods.
Scaling up the circular economy through wider implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility framework, industrial symbiosis, source segregation and behavioural change in households and enterprises.
Achieving the remaining 7.5 percentage points of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target, with the 26% conditional component dependent on sustained international climate finance.
Managing competing land-use pressures along the Gulf of Aqaba while strengthening long-term marine monitoring and ecosystem conservation.
Expanding protected-area coverage from 5.4% to the (NBSAP) target of 10% by 2030 while reversing land degradation.
Overcoming constraints in climate finance, biodiversity finance and donor-dependent environmental programmes, alongside strengthening integrated data systems for climate, biodiversity and food loss.
Translating legislative and institutional reforms into improved access to justice through expanded legal aid, awareness and institutional capacity.
Strengthening SDG localisation, statistical capacity, data disaggregation and multi-stakeholder partnerships to close remaining implementation gaps.

World Challenges

Country Lessons Learned

Integrating the SDGs into long-term national visions and executive programmes strengthens policy coherence and implementation.
Strong legislative reform combined with institutional strengthening improves governance, transparency and inclusive development.
Digital transformation can significantly enhance public service delivery, financial inclusion, government transparency and citizen participation.
Integrated planning across water, energy, food and ecosystems through the WEFE Nexus supports sustainable resource management.
Combining climate action, biodiversity conservation and circular economy policies under a unified governance framework improves environmental outcomes.
Localising the SDGs through (VLR) and spatial planning strengthens multi-level governance and evidence-based decision-making.
Investing simultaneously in social protection, inclusion and economic empowerment improves resilience while supporting vulnerable populations.
Strong international partnerships and blended financing mechanisms enhance national capacity to implement sustainable development priorities.

World Lessons Learned

Country Contribution

Jordan advanced 23 positions in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) from 77/180 (2024) to 54/180 (2026), ranking first in the Middle East and North Africa for climate action and reductions in air pollution.
The labour share of GDP increased from 37.76% to 40.95%, while 24,148 women benefited from economic empowerment programmes and 45,516 manufacturing jobs were created for women.
National financial inclusion expanded through 3.48 million e-wallet users and JOD 26.3 billion in transactions by end-2025, with women holding more than 3 million bank accounts and e-wallets.
Jordan continued hosting 369,094 UNHCR-registered refugees, while maintaining equal access to justice, education and health services.
The Bus Rapid Transit system became operational, and Amman became the first city in the region to receive ISO 37106 certification in May 2026.
Municipal solid waste disposed of in sanitary landfills increased from 1.46 million tonnes (2015) to 3.66 million tonnes (2024), eliminating open burning at the aggregate level.
1% of municipalities adopted Disaster Risk Reduction strategies, while the National DRR Strategy achieved 90% alignment with the Sendai Framework.
Jordan committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 31% by 2030, comprising 5% unconditional and 26% conditional reductions, and joined the Global Methane Pledge targeting a 30% methane reduction by 2030.
Sustainable consumption and production national action plans increased from one (2015) to eight (2025), while food waste disposed declined by 39%.
Greenhouse gas emissions remained broadly stable at 31.0 million tonnes CO₂-equivalent (2023) compared with 30.5 million tonnes (2015) despite economic and population growth.
Protected areas reached 5.4% of national territory, while implementation of international Illegal, (IUU) fishing instruments improved from 2.0 to 4.5 out of 5 (2025).
The EU Green Growth Programme afforested 5,000 dunums across two phases and generated 570 temporary jobs.
Jordan exited the (FATF) grey list in July 2024.
The National Integrity Index compliance increased from 38.9% to 54%, while the e-Government Development Index ranking improved from 100/193 (2022) to 89/193 (2024).
The proportion of unsentenced detainees declined from 33.1% (2019) to 6.5% (2024), and birth registration reached 99.7%.
The 2024 Parliamentary Elections resulted in 27 women Members of Parliament (19.6%), the highest level in Jordan’s legislative history.
More than 2.6 million digital identities had been activated by 2026, providing access to over 500 online government services, while digital transactions reached approximately JOD 42.3 billion in 2025, an increase of JOD 11.7 billion (38.4%) over 2024.

Jordan

Overview

Location

Region

SDGs Progress Tracker

United Nations Voluntary National Reports

Country Focal Point

SDG 1 (No Poverty) Score: 3 Moderately Off-Track

SDGs World Progress: Achieved

SDGs World Progress: On-Track

SDGs World Progress: Moderately Off-Track

Country Challenges

World Challenges

Country Lessons Learned

World Lessons Learned

Country Contribution

World Contribution

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