Signing of NATO Trust Fund with Jordan

On 3 December 2007 NATO launched the first ever Mediterranean Dialogue Trust Fund with Jordan to assist this country with the elimination of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), through the funding of a survey and by delivering ERW location and search equipment to the Jordanian Armed Forces.

The location and destruction of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and other explosive remnants of war will increase the safety and security of affected communities, improving land use in the affected areas.

The Trust Fund will also improve the capability of the Jordan Armed Forces to identify and destroy old, unserviceable and obsolete ammunition stockpiles, which will increase the safety and security aspects of local workers, service men as well as population leaving close to ammunition depots.

Representatives of Norway, Spain and Switzerland, the lead nations on the project, signed two agreements with the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) and the Office of Financial Controller, during a ceremony at NATO Headquarters hosted by the NATO Deputy Secretary General, in the presence of the Ambassador of Jordan to the Kingdom of Belgium. Representatives of Belgium,  Finland and Italy, the other contributing nations also attended the ceremony.

The conclusion of these two agreements follows the signing on 25 April 2007 of the  Memorandum of Understanding between the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) and the Jordanian Authorities.

During the signing ceremony the Deputy Secretary General Amb. Claudio Bisogniero said that this event: "will effectively launch the first ever Trust Fund project with one of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue partners, and hopefully serve as an example for other Mediterranean partners to follow. Second, it will mark the start of a new, innovative kind of cooperation, where civilian and military expertise is combined in the destruction of redundant ammunition stockpiles and unexploded ordnance".

"And third the Trust Fund project should help to build confidence between us and demonstrate to the Jordanian public the merits of working together with the Alliance in the context of our Mediterranean Dialogue."

The Trust Fund project with Jordan will contribute to the enhancement of NATO cooperation with Mediterranean Dialogue countries.

The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 3,4 millions over a period of 24 months.