Attachments
More than USD 5.8 Million injected into the local economy through the monetization of assistance since the beginning of 2016.
MAY HIGHLIGHTS:
• A total of 39,880 Syrian refugees received cash assistance during May.
• The Egypt Vulnerability Assessment for Refugees (EVAR) started in April. As of May, data was collected from 1,600 households across Cairo, Alexandria and Damietta.
NEEDS ANALYSIS:
The current unemployment rate in Egypt is 13.2%, with youth unemployment at 34.3%.
Unemployment is almost triple among female young people of their male counterparts.
26.3% of the overall population live below the national poverty line. Refugees settle in communities affected by these conditions, and can both add to and disproportionally suffer from limited employment, service delivery and livelihood opportunities. Preliminary results of the Vulnerability Assessment by UNHCR and WFP have indicated that 60 per cent of those assessed (61,683 Syrian refugees) are in situations of severe vulnerability as they are living on less than half of the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) of EGP 592.4 (USD 75.6) per month per refugee. Often lacking appropriate levels of or access to quality education, and often finding themselves without technical skills or the necessary networks, vulnerable refugees and Egyptian households are drawn into situations of extreme poverty. Refugees lack formal access to employment and restore to informal labour while the Egyptian private sector has generally experienced a trend towards informality. This results in often insecure conditions for wage and self-employment and related protection risks.
In order to protect vulnerable refugee households from negative coping mechanisms, unconditional cash-based interventions continue to be implemented, while access to services is improved and sustained. Simultaneously, the basic needs and livelihood sector focusses on improving self-reliance and livelihoods for refugees and vulnerable Egyptians. Some buisness clusters and value chains show high potentials for employment and will be upgraded. Also, agencies address the demand for training, business advice, job placement, and seed grants to start up micro businesses. The need for short-to-medium-term jobs for unskilled host community and refugee workers is addressed through cash for work and public works programmes. This support also improves social services and infrastructure in impacted host communities of Syrian refugees.