Monthly cash assistance was distributed to 134,262 persons in April of which 126,575 were Syrians refugees, 5,358 were Iraqi refugees and 2,329 were of other nationalities’ refugees.
As of 21 May, UNHCR Jordan’s operation is only 20% funded out of USD 371.8 million - overall financial requirements for refugee assistance and protection in 2019.
5,420 work permits in Azraq camp and 12,363 work permits in Zaatari camp were registered for Syrian refugees through the Employment Offices in each refugee camp.
PROTECTION
As part of community outreach, UNHCR runs 40 mobile helpdesks across the country where refugees are able to approach UNHCR with any legal or protection issues they may have – they can also approach our registration centre in Amman. During April, a total of 1131 families were assisted with issues ranging from lack of cash assistance, gender-based violence, regularization of status and resettlement.
UNHCR Jordan has one of the largest refugee helplines in the world. In April, the Helpline answered over 290,000 calls. Since its inception in 2008, UNHCR staff on the helpline have responded to over 3 million calls, giving support and advice on a range of issues to refugees across the Kingdom. Calls mainly regarded the following issues: Basic Needs Assistance, including Cash Assistance, Registration, Resettlement and other issues. The system uses Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology, where automated information is delivered on key topics, while 14 dedicated staff are available for emergency calls.
In April 2019, UNHCR provided counselling to 438 beneficiaries at UNHCR’s registration centre in Amman. UNHCR also assessed 53 vulnerable cases of various nationalities (Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni,
Sudanese, and Somali etc.) concerning their eligibility for Urgent Cash Assistance (UCA). 36 cases for the UCA were approved.Similarly to last year, the new batch of 600 refugees set to be resettled from Jordan to Sweden was received by the Swedish Ambassador on 13 May. In the welcoming ceremony, H.E. Erik Ullenhag congratulated the selected refugees and encouraged them to learn the Swedish language as a key tool for their integration in their new country.