NEF is registered as an international NGO with the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development. It has a staff of eight in its Amman office.

1) Urban Newcomers: NEF is assisting poor families recently arriving in Zarqa, Jordan's second largest city, including many Iraqis fleeing the war. With $1.2 million in funding from the International Rescue Committee, NEF's two-year project has selected six community-based organizations in Zarqa and is training and equipping them to provide neediest newcomers with psycho-social support, training in job skills and income generating activities and access to social services and community participation.

2) Local Development Program: NEF is managing a $4.23 million project to stimulate economic development in six of the poorest regions of Jordan, including training local community organizations in business activities and assisting them in identifying and starting at least one new business in each region. The project also will support development of social and physical infrastructure that the communities identify and provide lending facilities for entrepreneurs in the regions. NEF is working in partnership with JOHUD, one of Jordan's royal foundations, with a grant from the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

3) Fish Farming: NEF continues to promote fish farming in Jordan, an initiative that it began in 1986. NEF currently work with the extension agents from the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture in coaching and supervising more than thirty fish farms in the Jordan Valley and eastern Jordan. Fish represent an additional source of protein for farm families and contribute on average an additional 10% to annual family income.

NEF's History in Jordan: NEF has worked in Jordan since 1937, concentrating initially on vocational training, literacy, agriculture and rural development. In 1971, the late King Hussein awarded the Near East Foundation the prestigious Star of the Second Order for its contributions to Jordan in the fields of economic and social development. In the 1980s, NEF introduced fish farming technologies in rural areas and worked with organizations providing services in urban communities.

From 2004 to 2006, NEF led the highly successful Qudorat project which combined technical assistance, micro-finance and small grant making to assist 43 community-based organizations in six governorates to create 33 new businesses employing 243 people, with a budget of $2.8 million provided by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. Businesses included food processing, waste recycling and light industry, and many employed and were led by women.