Jordan

Avant-propos

Sustainable Path to Water Security Urgent Priority for Arab World

New World Bank report maps out actions needed to prevent water scarcity from impacting future growth and stability in the Middle East and North Africa

Heavy fighting in southern Syria raises concern on the fate of some 45 000 people who are stranded in Hadalat and Rukban at the border between Syria and Jordan, with very limited access to resources and health services. It is estimated that more than half of those people are children, 80% of whom are affected by diarrhea that is threatening their lives.

Highlights

• Syria: During the reporting period, IOM teams provided 43,887 beneficiaries in Al-Hassakeh, Rural Damascus, Lattakia, Homs, Tartous, and Damascus with non-food items, health assistance, and shelter support.

• Turkey: In July, IOM began a partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent to expand the opening hours of six Turkish Red Crescent community centres providing Syrian refugees with Turkish language courses during the weekday evenings and weekends.

Since 2014, UNHCR has pioneered a collaborative approach for the delivery of cash known as the Common Cash Facility (CCF). The aim of the CCF is to provide humanitarian actors with direct and equal access to a financial service provider for cash transfer arrangements, which allows for full financial control of their funds.

AMMAN, Jordan, 28 Aug 2017 – The National Aid Fund (NAF), the European Union and UNICEF launched a new partnership today aimed at strengthening the national social protection system for the well-being of the most disadvantaged children in the country.

WHAT IS THE COMMON CASH FACILITY?

The Common Cash Facility (CCF) is a platform used by UN agencies and NGOs to deliver more than 90 per cent of the cash assistance provided to the most vulnerable refugees in Jordan who live outside camps.

It is based on an innovative public-private partnership between UNHCR, the Cairo Amman Bank and the biometrics company IrisGuard.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The World Food Programme (WFP) plays a pivotal role in the food security of Syrian refugees within the Syria +5 region. WFP periodically reviews its operational approach, so it is timely to consider what the best modality for the next phase of the response might be, including the pros and cons of delivering assistance through unrestricted cash as opposed to food-restricted value vouchers electronically redeemed at designated WFP-contracted retailers.

During 2017, food sector partners have reached approximately 2.67 million individuals with food assistance through cash, voucher or in kind modality. 3,300 have individuals received food and agricultural livelihoods support while 8,700 individuals have been supported for improved nutritional practices.

These dashboards reflect selected regional sectoral indicators on the humanitarian and resilience responses of more than 240 partners involved in the 3RP Inter-Agency Appeal in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Achievements are regionally aggregated and cumulative from the start of 2017 and targets are based on full funding of the 3RP 2017 and an expected population of 4.7 million refugees by end-2017.

As the Syria crisis entered its seventh year in March, the number of Syrian refugees in the region passed the five million mark. There are now almost 3 million Syrian refugees registered refugees in Turkey, over 1 million in Lebanon, some 661,000 in Jordan, almost 237,000 in Iraq and above 120,000 in Egypt, indicating the generosity of countries across the region.

As at the end of June, some 901,450 Syrian children across the region are enrolled in formal education in schools located in camps and host communities. Additionally, around 51,343 Syrian children are enrolled in informal education.

By the end of June 2017, over 1.2 million primary health care consultations were provided, representing over 33 per cent of the 2017 overall target, and over 88,000 were referred to secondary or tertiary health care. Furthermore, 496,000 children have been immunized and 26,000 health care staff have been trained.

3RP partners’ priority regarding the Shelter Sector continues to be the provision of adequate, affordable and sustainable housing options for refugees living in host communities. For refugees in camps, 3RP partners focus on rehabilitation efforts to improve the infrastructure of the camp and upgrade shelters in order to contribute to sustainable living. During 2017, 12,444 households in camps have received assistance for shelter and shelter upgrades, while outside of camps 17,552 households received assistance for shelter and shelter upgrades.

So far in 2017, over 996,300 individuals have benefited from access to adequate quantity of safe water through improved longerterm water systems. Approximately 327,400 people have gained access to appropriate sanitation facilities and services, and over 505,300 people have access to adequate quantity of safe water through temporary provision.

Since the start of 2017, Livelihoods Partners assisted 16,133 refugees and host community members with short-term and/or long-term employment opportunities and 54,975 youth and adults in increasing their employability through job training, internships, job placement and language courses. In addition, 19,144 host community members and the refugees have participated in community based activities to promote social cohesion.

The basic needs sector aims to strengthen the capacities and resilience of local governance through development of simplified service delivery standards, provision of required equipment and skills development. Until June 2017, 185,000 households have received core relief items in kind, which is just over 83 per cent of the targeted population. Approximately 319,000 households have received unconditional, sector specific or emergency cash assistance and over 203,600 households received seasonal support through cash or in kind assistance.

AMMAN, Jordan, 22 Aug 2017 – “While she sleeps beside me, I can’t stop gazing and admiring her beautiful innocent face,” said Amra (name changed). “I can’t believe I have a baby now!” Like any new mother, she is besotted with her baby girl. But unlike most mothers, Amra did not give birth to her child. She met her 13 month old daughter Ruba (name changed) through the foster care programme in Jordan.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH DURING July 2017

Many new health facilities established in northern Syria. Child marriage campaign launched in Lebanon.

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC (FROM ALL CHANNELS)
379,395 reproductive health services delivered to Syrians
8,955 deliveries supported, including 3,409 C-section deliveries
49,422 family planning services
11,679 gender-based violence response services provided to Syrians
17,619 women accessed women safe spaces

Highlights

• About 20,000 to 50,000 people in Syria’s Raqqa city continue to live under dire humanitarian conditions and fear for their lives and protection as military operations intensify. Water and electricity has been reportedly cut-off for more than a month. People are forced to collect unsafe water, exposing them to the risk of waterborne diseases. Unexploded ordnances and landmines continues to be a serious safety concern.