Mahmoud, 53, from Syria, has been taking care of his seven children since his wife passed away 2020. UNHCR’s monthly cash assistance helps him pay the rent. © UNHCR/ Lilly Carlisle
Due to regional and global economic factors, the socio-economic situation of refugees in Jordan further deteriorated in 2022. This made more families resort to coping strategies such as eating fewer meals. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with partners and authorities, donors and other UN agencies, was able to provide some relief with ten things we delivered in 2022.
1 | REGISTRATION & DOCUMENTATION
Keeping its protection mandate at the core of activities, UNHCR worked to ensure all refugees and asylum-seekers in Jordan have valid documentation and identity documents to access services. Over 490,000 refugees of all nationalities had their UNHCR-issued documentation renewed by end-2022. UNHCR also supported Jordan’s Civil Status Department with the birth registration of over 20,000 girls and boys.
2 | LEGAL SUPPORT
UNHCR and its legal partner provided legal assistance to over 27,000 non-Syrian refugees and to almost 45,000 Syrians.
3 | INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING
To further build the capacity of relevant stakeholders in Jordan regarding refugee protection, UNHCR trained some 1,800 people from ministries, government agencies, academia, civil society and the private sector in trainings and activities organised directly by UNHCR or through partners.
4 | CASH ASSISTANCE
As a main component of UNHCR’s protection strategy, UNHCR continued its cash assistance and reached about a quarter of a million of the most vulnerable refugee women, men and children. In addition, to helping them meet their basic needs, UNHCR also supported refugees in need with cash support for education, protection, health and other needs, and thus channelled some US$ 82 million to refugees across the country.
5 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION
UNHCR made great progress in transitioning recipients of regular cash for basic needs to mobile wallets: Over 40 per cent of beneficiaries in host communities and 98 per cent in camps now use mobile wallets. This reduces time and transportation cost refugees needed to invest to receive cash and allows them to make transactions with other mobile wallet users, which offers livelihood opportunities and improves their financial inclusion.
Refugee and Jordanian women participated in a six-week sewing course at the Nuzha Community Centre in East Amman. © UNHCR/ Lilly Carlisle
6 | ELECTRICITY SUBSIDY
After a government reform of electricity tariffs, UNHCR identified 35,000 Syrian refugees to receive the government’s electricity subsidy for six months.
7 | LIVELIHOODS
Despite the economic hardship in 2022, refugees in Jordan found livelihood opportunities. Among other programmes, UNHCR, together with partners, supported the licensing and establishing of over 150 refugee- and Jordanian-owned home-based businesses.
8 | SOLUTIONS
Over 6,400 refugees left Jordan on resettlement – the highest departure rate since 2017, up 47 per cent from 2021. UNHCR data also shows that over 200 refugees exited Jordan on family, education and employment complementary pathways.
9 | ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
To protect the environment, UNHCR increased the number of its electric cars from two to nine in 2022, but also boosted the efficiency of air-conditioning systems.
10 | REFUGEE RESPONSE COORDINATION
As refugee coordinator, UNHCR initiated efforts to revamp and strengthen the interagency architecture in Jordan. Aligned with the national development agenda and the Global Compact for Refugees, the revamping aims to enable stakeholders in the refugee response to better support vulnerable people including through enhanced national systems.
OUTLOOK The gap between refugee needs and available resources is expected to widen even further increasing the challenges in the refugee response. 2023 will continue to see the need for both, self-reliance support and humanitarian assistance, to keep the situation of refugees stable.
UNHCR remains grateful to its donors for their strong partnership and joint pursuit for solutions.
Thanks to the donors of earmarked, softly earmarked, and unearmarked contributions in 2022
Australia | Austria | Belgium | Canada | Denmark | Eid Charity | European Union | Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (UNIQLO) | Finland | France | Germany | Helping Hand for Relief and Development | Ireland | Italy | Japan | Kuwait | Luxembourg | Netherlands | Norway | Private donors | Qatar | Refugee Zakat fund | Republic of Korea | Royal Humanitarian Foundation Bahrain | Said Foundation | Shefa Fund | Sheikh Abdullah Al Nouri Charity Society | Sweden | Switzerland | The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives | United Kingdom | United States
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