Attachments
Jordan hosts around 675,000 refugees registered with UNHCR, of which 550,000 live in communities and 125,000 in camps. The Kingdom has generously allowed refugees access to education and public health services.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, continues to ensure refugees are protected through registration, legal documentation, counselling and more.
UNHCR also provides cash assistance to over 300,000 refugees, valued at more than US$ 61.5 million in 2024. This helps refugees meet their basic needs.
Main Activities
Registration
In Jordan, UNHCR registers refugees and issues legal documents that prevent statelessness and enable refugees and asylum-seekers to access services and humanitarian assistance. These documents are valid for one year, after which refugees need to be in touch with UNHCR for renewal. In 2024, more than 488,000 refugees renewed their UNHCR-issued documents. UNHCR also assisted Jordan's Civil Status Department in registering over 15,000 girls and boys at birth.
UNHCR in Jordan was among the first UNHCR operations worldwide to introduce iris-scanning biometrics technology for its refugee registration in 2013. Today, biometrics are used both for registration and identity management. By scanning their irises, refugees registered with UNHCR ‘validate’ their identities. Through this scanning, they receive partner services, withdraw cash, buy groceries at the supermarket, and more. In 2024, UNHCR continued to work on shifting its registration database from existing servers to the cloud to enhance data security and maximise performance. UNHCR Registration Centres receive refugees for different services, including renewal of documentation and counselling.
Protection
Together with partners, UNHCR continues to provide counselling and support to refugees and asylum-seekers on legal matters, psychosocial support, mental health, child protection, and more. Gender-based violence (GBV) survivors may receive psychosocial support through UNHCR, complemented by the partnership with local NGOs who provide specialised assistance in safe spaces across Jordan. Survivors are referred to health, legal, safe shelter and other services. UNHCR also supports women’s empowerment workshops, self-defence classes led by refugee women and various gender-based violence awareness activities within communities.
UNHCR offers a variety of ways for refugees to contact the organisation with pressing protection matters. The UNHCR Helpline manages over 200,000 calls a month through the Integrated Voice Recognition system and ten dedicated staff. In addition, there are dedicated telephone hotlines, including for detention and legal matters. Also, refugees can raise urgent protection matters with the Amaali services app, which is a mobile application that will enable refugees to speak with service providers through the Chat with Operator feature.