ReliefWeb

In this issue

1. Humanitarian Overview

2. Partners activities

3. Mental health

4. Winterization

   • Non Syrian refugees

5. Juvenile justice

6. Host community

7. Voices from Jordan

8. Youth recreational activity

9. Women protection empowerment

10. Advocacy

11. 16 days of Activism

12. Universal Children’s Day

Editorial

At the beginning of 2018, JIF would like to take this opportunity to wish all its readers a happy and peaceful new year.

In 2017, JIF continued to grow and now includes 59 humanitarian and development organisations which together provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Jordanians and refugees.

Despite our best efforts, too many vulnerable Syrian, Palestine, and Iraqi refugees and poor Jordanians continue to live in dire conditions and require our sustained support. In 2018, our newsletters will move from a quarterly to a bimonthly publication and will continue to showcase our efforts to meet the needs of all people in need in Jordan. Our website www.jordaningoforum.org will also feature more in-depth articles from our members highlighting the impact of their projects. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to continuing advocating for the needs of Jordanians and refugees living in Jordan.

Humanitarian Overview

Berm Update

On 8 January, the UN managed to resume the delivery of food and non-food items through a crane to approximately 10,000 families stranded at the northeastern border between Jordan and Syria in Rukban at the berm. This is the first time a delivery takes place since 15 June 2017.

This distribution comes after the Government of Jordan announced in November 2017, that any future assistance would need to be delivered from inside Syria. Between October and December, UN assessments reported low levels of severe acute malnutrition in the camp, although it also noted that many Syrians could not afford current food prices: 89 per cent of households could not include a source of protein in their standard meals.

Despite the recent positive developments with regards to a one-off resumption of aid at the berm, a long-term solution is yet to be found.

Azraq Update

According to UNHCR, the active camp population of Azraq camp stood at 36,041 Syrian refugees at the end of December. As of 31 December 2017, UNHCR recorded 8,580 Syrian refugees still registered within V-5. Over these past three months, SRAD reportedly screened 968 individuals who were relocated to the unfenced area of Azraq Camp, although no movements took place in December. Overall in 2017, 3,187 to 3,576 individuals were screened out from V-5, according to different sources. However, in the meantime, 734 refugees have been involuntarily relocated to V-5 in 2017 from Zaatari camp8 and the host communities, raising increasing concerns of the area’s use as a detention facility. During this reporting period, 1,233 work permits were issued, however, V-5 residents are not allowed to apply for a work permit and former V-5 residents are expressing concerns over equal opportunity to access these work permits. Azraq partners also agreed to increase the rotation period for the semi-skilled incentives based volunteers to two months instead of one.