APPENDIX IV
The Queen Alia Fund for Social Development

   The Queen Alia Fund for Social Development (QAF) was established in 1977 as a Non Government Organisation and a non-profit organisation. Today it is recognised as one of Jordan’s leading national advocates in the field of integrated social development. A Board of Trustees heads the Executive body of the Queen Alia Fund. The Board is chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal.

Mission Statement

    Drawing on the positive values of Jordanian culture and heritage, Our mission is to improve the quality of people’s lives by providing professional assistance and training to enhance community participation, and the self-reliance of individuals and groups within a dynamic sustainable development process.

    The Queen Alia Fund’s community based outreach approach is implemented through its network of 48 community development centres located in the 12 governorates throughout the country, mainly in the remote and rural areas. It is the only network of its kind in Jordan, which is run in partnership with local organisations, societies and councils. Over time, and through an ongoing process of decentralisation, the QAF is building up the management and leadership skills of its partners in development. This structural approach was designed with a clear vision that empowerment of local communities is a key element in the alleviation of human suffering caused by poverty.

    As a community development organisation, 80% of QAF’s staff are field workers and 20% are technical staff located at QAF’s headquarters. QAF’s filed activities are carried out by more than 6,000 volunteers, mainly women. Each centre has a women’s committee who are a group of local volunteers acting as liaison between the centre and the community. They are actively involved in assessing the needs of their communities, planning and implementation of the programmes.

    Complying with its own strategy, QAF centres provide different services in the following areas; Pre-school education and children, clubs, social, health environment and general awareness educational programmes; literacy classes, vocational and business skills training in many fields, various credit lending schemes that targets mainly low income and poor families, agricultural projects such as diary and food processing, sheep rearing and home gardening, medical dental and family planning services throughout its 12 clinics within the clinics and two mobile clinics.

    In addition, the Queen Zair Al-Sharaf Complex for Development, the training arm of Queen Alia Fund provides national and regional training in the development field with a focus on training for trainers. Some of the programmes include capacity building for non-governmental organisations in community development and management, participatory rural appraisal; Pre-school education and income generating activities. While the Princess Basma’s Women’s Resource Centre, which is part of the complex, is specialised in research and providing gender training.

    Queen Alia Fund hosts two main national organisations, The National Population Commission, which is the national focal point for population-related research and the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW), the highest policy-making forum in Jordan on women’s issues at the non-government and government levels.