Attachments
SUMMARY
As the Syrian crisis enters its fourth year and shows no signs of abating, the ever-increasing number of Syrians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries has consistently outpaced the mobilisation of humanitarian support. In Jordan alone, the total number refugees is 607,5001 between December 2013 and July 2014. For Syrian refugees who are unable or unwilling to reside in formally established refugee camps and are unable to afford regular housing solutions within host communities, Informal Tented Settlements (ITS) have become the default option, notably for the most vulnerable and impoverished displaced Syrian households.
The informal nature of these settlements means that access to shelter, food, water, sanitation, health, education, and other essential services is not officially established and often intermittent. Falling outside the relief response currently targeting refugees staying in managed camps and within host communities, displaced Syrian households living in ITS face serious difficulties in accessing protection and assistance. Due to recent ITS evictions in late June 2014, these protection concerns have heightened.
In June 2014, REACH conducted a third multi-sector assessment of Syrian refugees in ITS commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In December 2013 and May 2014, REACH conducted prior ITS assessments, also in partnership with UNICEF, 3 spanning the sectors of livelihoods, shelter, food security, health, education, and water and sanitation. The findings from this third assessment provide an updated overview of the main vulnerabilities, needs and coping mechanisms of Syrian refugees residing in ITS across the governorates of Al Aqaba, Al Mafraq, Amman, Irbid, Maan and Zarqa.
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Between December 2013 and July 2014, REACH identified an increased ITS population (320.8%), partly due to increased geographical coverage compared to past assessments, as well as evidence pointing to an increase in ITS settlements overall in Jordan. Overall, this assessment covered a total of 125 informal settlements representing a four-fold increase in the number of settlements identified to date.
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The vast majority (78%) of Syrian refugees in ITS were minors (8,219 individuals below 18 years old) and a third (32.4%) were children under the age of 12 (3,414 individuals).
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REACH calculated an average dependency ratio of 1.5, a 0.9 point increase from May 2014 (0.6), indicating an exponential growth in the number of dependents in assessed ITS. This may be attributable to the influx of new arrivals who are comprised primarily of minors. It is probable that new households which previously resided in host communities had comparatively higher dependency ratios, were more vulnerable, had depleted already scarce resources and were compelled to move into ITS.
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Only 3.5% of the school-aged ITS population was reported as attending school at the time of the assessment,. The primary barrier to access education was lack of funds (39.8%), despite the fact that schooling is subsidised for Syrian refugees in Jordan. 41.4% of all school-aged children residing in ITS had never been enrolled in formal education either in Jordan or in Syria, indicating a high rate of ineligibility for formal education especially for children over 12. A total of 1,490 children (759 males and 731 females aged 12-17) are ineligible, whilst fewer are likely to be ineligible under this age threshold.
Another key finding which impacts education is that 21.3% of all school-aged children were reported as working. -
A quarter (25%) of at-risk minors aged 0-59 months were reported by heads of households as not vaccinated against polio by heads of households7 . This is a critical health risk for Syrian refugee children, given the recent reports of polio outbreaks within Syria8 , despite the regional polio vaccination campaign subsequently carried out.
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Water and sanitation infrastructure and service provision was found to be severely inadequate across all assessed settlements. A total of 23 ITS hosting a total of 784 people had no access to either private or communal latrine infrastructure within the settlement. The vast majority (70.6%) of assessed households reported no access to either communal or private sanitation systems. In regards to access to water, over half (56.6%) reported private vendors as their primary source of cooking, drinking and washing water.
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Food insecurity remains widespread across all ITS. A high proportion (78.2%) of assessed households identified WFP assistance as the primary source of food. Findings indicate that 22.7% of households had a borderline Food Consumption Score (FCS)10 , and an additional 10% had a poor FCS. This represents a 53.1% decrease in the proportion of households who fell below the acceptable threshold. Over a third (38.7%) of households were identified as vulnerable to food insecurity, whilst a fifth (20.3%) were food insecure.
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Livelihoods have substantially improved among ITS populations, most likely due to the on-going harvest in northern Jordan and the associated increase in incomes. On average, earned income was 112 JOD per household in the 30 days prior to the survey, whilst the average debt-to-income ratio was 5.5:1, with substantial variation by governorate. This is a 42 JOD/month increase in average household incomes and a 2.5 point decrease in the debt-income ratio from May 2014. Agricultural waged labour was the reported primary source of income.
Despite improvements in some sectors, Syrian refugees living in ITS in Jordan continue to be one of the most vulnerable group among refugee populations affected by the Syria crisis. Based on the assessment findings, REACH developed the following recommended priority interventions:
Overall, this assessment has enabled REACH to compile a comprehensive dataset on the vulnerabilities, needs and service gaps faced by Syrian populations currently living in ITS with the aim to inform settlement-level targeted planning of assistance. Sector-based needs of refugee populations remain highly context and settlement-specific and should evictions continue, protection concerns are likely to become heightened.