Jordan Situation Report | August 2024

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Jordan continues to grapple with the challenges posed by hosting over one million Syrian refugees. Since the onset of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Jordan has been heavily impacted by the influx of Syrian refugees, facing economic, social, and security challenges as a result. The country is currently collaborating with international organizations to resettle some of these refugees in other nations.

The country continues to call for increased international support to help share responsibility and pool the resources required to provide essential services. Jordan requires nearly $2 billion to fund its 2024 Syrian crisis response plan. To date, only $133 million has been pledged, addressing just 7% of the total funding needed. This is the lowest volume of international funding for Syrian refugees in Jordan since the plan began in 2015.

The 2024 UNHCR Vulnerability Assessment conducted with 9,314 refugees in camps and 25,141 refugees in host communities across 12 governorates reveals a worsening situation for refugees in Azraq and Zaatari camps and host communities. Poverty rates have surged, especially in camps, rising from 45% to 67%. Refugees are increasingly relying on borrowing, and food security is deteriorating. Incomes are down, and debt levels are rising.

A survey of 200 Syrian refugees in northern Jordan, found high levels of mental health issues, including 66% of respondents suffering from depression, 64% with anxiety, and 61% stress. An unpublished study found that 52% of Syrian refugee children exhibited PTSD symptoms, and cultural pressures raising stress levels among Syrian women.

Jordan is facing significant economic challenges due to the ongoing war on Gaza. Tourism, a crucial sector contributing 15% of Jordan's GDP, has been hit particularly hard.

The country faces severe drought and desertification risks, with water withdrawals exceeding renewable resources, impacting environmental flows, and contributing to land degradation. Non-renewable groundwater is increasingly used, with rising salinity threatening its quality. Irrigated agriculture consumes 49% of the nation's water use despite making up less than one-tenth of agricultural land use, while household use accounts for 48% and industry 3%.

Anera's Response

Anera is set to expand its rooftop gardens initiative in East Amman and the northern governorate of Zarqa. This expansion will benefit additional families and communities by constructing 19 new modified rooftop gardens and offering technical training sessions through capacity-building initiatives. The project will also maintain 50 family gardens and one community garden from the previous year. Aimed at enhancing food security and nutrition, the project will empower families with the skills to sustain their gardens and create income opportunities, particularly for female-led households, by selling surplus produce or converting it into marketable goods.

Anera will establish rooftop gardens for at least 50 additional families in the Hitteen refugee camp in Marka, while continuing to support the 50 families already involved with additional training, compost, seedlings, and market access.

Anera has procured and delivered six types of non-communicable disease medications for residents of the Zaatari Camp, through the local medical center of the Syrian American Medical Society. These medications will allow Syrian refugees with chronic conditions like gout, heart diseases such as hypertension, and hypothyroidism to receive the medicines that they need.

International Health Partners UK also donated noncommunicable disease medicines, including hypertension medications for cardiac disease management, to Anera for distribution to patients in the Syrian refugee and local Jordanian host community populations.

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