Jordan and the Syria crisis
The Syria conflict is now in its fourth year and World Vision has been helping those Syrian children and their families who have fled to Jordan. Our work in Jordan to support the refugees includes water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure for the first 31,000 residents of the Azraq refugee camp, distributing personal and household supplies and Child Friendly Spaces – safe areas where children can play and recover from emotional scars.
Geography & people
Located in the Middle East, Jordan borders Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The highlands cover land in the west, while deserts featuring in the east. The Dead Sea, the lowest elevation on earth, lies along Jordan’s western border.
The deserts are very dry with little rainfall. The west experiences rain during the winter months. Few natural resources are found here.
Except for a few small communities of Circassians and Armenians, Jordanians are mainly of Arab descent. Arabic is the national language, but English is often used by middle and upper class Jordanians.
Fast facts
- Jordan hosts large numbers of refugees, including around 1.8 million Palestine refugees and more recently around 500,000 refugees from Syria.
- Jordan has one of the smallest economies in the Middle East, mainly because the country’s resources are limited.
- Almost 13% of Jordanians are unemployed. More than 14% live below the poverty line.
Our focus in Jordan
After the Iraqi refugee crisis in 2003, World Vision began supporting Iraqi refugees who fled to Jordan in large numbers. Since 2011, more than 500,000 Syrian refugees fled to Jordan in fear of their lives.
We began responding to the escalating needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan in March 2013, focusing on providing emergency relief and looking to build a hopeful future for refugee children and their families.
Our work is focusing on the refugee camps Azraq and Zaatari and the refugee and host communities in the country.
Our achievements in Jordan
With support from our partners, we have helped children and their families live free from the fear of hunger, illness and lack of opportunities. Highlights include:
Food
- We have reached 20,000 refugees with critical food parcel distributions.
Personal and household supplies
- With funding from DEC we provided diapers and wipes to more than 9,000 infants between 0 and 2 years in Zaatari camp. Winter coats have been distributed to 8,000 children to help them stay warm during the cold winter months.
Health
- With DEC funding World Vision has planned, prepared and installed water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure for up to 31,000 people in Azraq camp. The camp will open at the end of April.
- More than 9,000 children have received diapers and 2,000 bars of soap have been distributed to Syrian refugees.
Child protection
- We have built safe places for children to play and learn informally. 7 Child Friendly Spaces have been opened recently. These are safe areas where children can learn, engage in fun activities, and receive help to recover from emotional scars.
Education
- We are providing educational support and helping children join mainstream Jordanian education, helping to prevent Syrian child refugees becoming a lost generation.
Livelihoods
- We are offering vocational training to refugees to help them find work and earn an income.