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Understanding Social Cohesion and Resilience in Jordanian Host Communities, Assessment Report June 2014

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INTRODUCTION

The Syrian crisis, now in its fourth year, has led to the displacement of 9.3 million people.1 Although most of these people are currently considered internally displaced within Syria, nearly 3 million registered refugees have crossed borders into neighbouring countries in the region.2 This regionalisation of the Syrian crisis has had particularly significant impacts on Jordan which has received a considerable proportion of these refugees. Jordan is currently hosting 588,979 registered refugees,3 of which an estimated 80% live in host communities. Most refugees that settle in Jordanian host communities do so in Amman, Irbid or Mafraq governorates. The large influx of Syrian refugees has led to an overstretching of the absorptive capacity of host communities, and as the population grows, service delivery deteriorates and the competition for resources intensifies, particularly in northern Jordan. With an estimated 200,000 refugees expected to cross into Jordan in 2014, the pressure on local administration and Jordanian host communities is mounting; 4 Moreover, understanding which sectors are particularly affected from a local administrative perspective becomes integral to strengthening host community resilience and social cohesion.

The response by the Government of Jordan (GoJ) in coordination with the United Nations and international organisations has been to establish the Host Community Support Platform (HCSP) for improving access to services, strengthening social cohesion and building resilience, as well as to develop a National Resilience Plan (NRP) for the period 2014-2016. The plan aims to coordinate the development response and is broken up into the various social services and economic characteristics that are often referred to by GoJ, humanitarian and development agencies as key sectors: water, employment and livelihoods, health, education, and municipal support. The analysis within this report is also disaggregated into these sectors – including access to shelter and affordable housing that has emerged as a key challenge on community level.

The HCSP identifies the dual nature of challenges to buidling resilience and strengthening social cohesion. On the one hand, community tensions arise as host community and refugee populations compete for limited social services and resources. On the other hand, the HCSP points to a decreasing level of capacity by local governance structures and public service providers, as these institutions are unable to deliver services to the population5 , contributing to a growing gap between local institutions and citizens in host communities.6 Both of these challenges create an environment where social cohesion and resilience building should be prioritised to strengthen the social bonds within communities and between citizens and local government.

With support from the British Embassy in Amman, REACH has undertaken an assessment in Jordanian host communities with the aim to shed light on the challenges to social cohesion and resilience. The purpose of this assessment was to create a better understanding of the key dynamics that have emerged in Jordanian host communities as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis, and to support an evidence-based approach to prioritising interventions within and between communities. As the Syrian refugee population in Jordan grows – and as Jordanians become increasingly frustrated with the perceived deterioration of their communities – understanding how these dynamics and challenges come about and interact is imperative. An increased understanding in this area is expected to help inform the humanitarian and development response by improving the targeting and prioritisation of programmes, while furthermore mainstreaming improved social cohesion and resilience principles in the host communities. Integrating social cohesion and resilience building is expected to facilitate the convergence and stabilisation of communities to support long-term development.