According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Jordan is the third largest host country for Syrian refugees, after Turkey and Lebanon. Of the 760,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered by UNHCR in Jordan, approximately 660,000 are from Syria. With an unemployment rate of 23% in Jordan, many refugees, despite having a work permit, face difficulties in finding a job and supporting their families. The incidence of poverty is higher among all refugee populations but is above 75% for Syrians. These difficulties are accentuated for women, who constitute more than half of the refugee population and who often suffer gender-based discrimination and violence.

Despite the fact that non-nationals are not officially included in the National Social Protection Strategy implemented by Ministry of Social Development of Jordan, in the field, Local Community Development Centres (which come under the supervision of the Ministry), have developed a pragmatic approach for the provision of social services, based on the needs of local populations, national as well as non-national.

Expertise France (EF), with the financial support of the French Development Agency (AFD), is seeking to support the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) in reducing inequalities, including between women and men regarding access to social services for vulnerable populations (national and non- nationals, through Local Community Development Centres (LCDC) and their partners.

Over the past four years, EF implemented the “Stronger Together” project, one of the three components of the European Union funded programme to support Social Protection in Jordan. This engagement, which came to an end in March 2023, is a useful source of inspiration for the new Project.

The main objective of the new Project (Gender Equality and Social Cohesion) is to improve gender equality and social cohesion, involving women and men, national and non-national, by strengthening the coordination between MoSD’s and Local Community Development Centres (LCDCs) in order to improve the structures and services provided by the LCDC network. It is proposed that the Project should focus on the Karak and Jerash Governorates and Amman pilot areas. 

More specifically, the Project aims to:

(1) Develop sustainable, inclusive and appropriate social services in the LCDCs, in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including Community Based Organisations (CBOs), in order to strengthen social cohesion and gender equality;

(2) Strengthen the network of LCDCs by ensuring that their premises are functional and sufficiently equipped to meet the social service delivery needs and that their teams and partners have the appropriate skills and tools to carry out inclusive activities;

(3) Support the MoSD at the central level and in the field in its role of stewardship, coordination and monitoring/evaluation of the LCDCs, notably with indicators to enhance social cohesion and equality between women and men.

Foreseen activities of the Project include:

Component 1: creating intersectional and multisectoral Steering Committees at the LCDCs; mapping of the local social services; funding, including grant funding and capacity building for CSOs; promoting women’s participation and leadership; gender analysis and planning for GBV prevention and response at the LCDC level; implementation of protocol for responding to GBV first-line support/disclosure; support plan on sexual and reproductive rights; trainings for preventing over-indebtedness and special loans for women in vulnerable situations; entrepreneurship support paths for loan beneficiaries; ensuring all LCDCs are able to provide childcare options; launching awareness and advocacy campaigns on the redistribution of care tasks between women and men; creating networks of family caregivers.

Component 2: strengthening the capacities of the LCDCs on gender and multiculturalism; creating a one-stop-shop system; creation of “social mediators”; mobile units; infrastructure renovation (after a safety audit); improving accessibility and mobility for users: car driving lessons for women.

Component 3: creation of a national network of LCDCs; strengthening capacities of the MoSD on MEAL and coordination; improving data collection; coordinating the participation of the LCDCs in policy development; drafting of protocols related to GBV (for drafting and standardisation); supporting the participation of CSOs, including CBOs, in the second edition of the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS).