Jordan

WPHF is channeling strategic and urgent financing to civil society organizations in Jordan to enhance the leadership of women and girls in humanitarian response and peacebuilding and recovery efforts.

Our Work

In Jordan, WPHF is filling critical funding gaps for local civil society organizations and women activists mobilizing to incorporate a gender approach in humanitarian planning and programming and increase women’s participation in peacebuilding and recovery.

Our Partners

WPHF has supported 12 projects implemented by 21 women-led and women’s rights civil society organizations across two main WPHF outcome areas:

Peacebuilding and Recovery

• Sisterhood is Global Institute Jordan (SIGI) on a project that raises public awareness of the inclusion of vulnerable Jordanian and refugee women and girls in the country’s economic recovery process through socio-economic training. This initiative also aims to increase their participation in peacebuilding through advocacy on UNSCR 1325.
• National Association for Family Empowerment — together with Nashmiyat Al Badia and Basmat Women’s Association — on a project that seeks to build Jordanian women and Syrian refugees ’economic resilience by strengthening their livelihoods, as well as increase their participation in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and violent extremism.
• Al Bireh Charity Association — together with Ain Al Basha, Salt Women’s Association and Nagat Women’s Association — on a project aimed at economically empower Jordanian women and female Syrian refugees who are survivors of violence, as well as increasing their role in peacebuilding and enhancing their employment opportunities through training and capacity-building.
• Arab Women Organization (AWO) — together with ANHRE and AHA — on a project seeking to empower—both economically and socially—500 women and girls in the governorates of Zarqa, Mafraq, and Ma’an through the design, production, and marketing of various local traditional products, and the development of an online network of small-scale producers and suppliers.
• Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women (JFBPW) on a project that provides vital psychosocial support and vocational training for women refugees.
• Association of Family and Childhood Protection Society of Irbid (FCPS) — together with Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants (CRHC), Try Centre, Sama al Bayadin, and JFBPW — on a project to improve the lives of young brides through empowerment and education.
• Jordan National Forum for Women (JNFW) on a project aimed at providing enhanced livelihood opportunities for women across the country.

Humanitarian & Crisis Response

• Family and Childhood Protection Society of Irbid (FCPS) — together with Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants (CRHC), Try Centre, Mayadin, and the Institute of Family Health (IFH) — on a project focusing on the prevention of early marriage through awareness raising, as well as addressing issues related to early marriage, heath care services provision, and the importance of education for social integration and empowerment.
• Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) on a project aimed at strengthening women’s social and legal protection mechanisms and developing the capacity of Syrian and Jordanian women to play an active role in conflict management and humanitarian response.
• Arab Women Organization (AWO) — together with the Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) and the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) — on a project to build the capacity of local community-based organizations (CBOs) and practitioners to improve their knowledge and understanding of the Syrian crisis, reinforce the participation of women and youth in their plans, and increase their ability to collect evidence-based, gender-sensitive data to better inform decision-makers.

WPHF COVID-19 ERW Partners: Responding to COVID-19 in Crisis Settings

• Towards a Better Tomorrow for Development and Empowerment Association (NAGAT) on a project that (i) provides gender-based violence (GBV) survivors with access to support services; (ii) responds to the COVID-19 pandemic and its gendered dimensions by providing adolescents and young women, including Syrian refugees, with access to sexual and reproductive health services; and (iii) builds the online capacity of a young female committee to support other girls and spread awareness of GBV, gender equality, and the importance of engaging men and boys.
• Athar Association for Youth Development — together with ARCI Culture Solidali APS (ARCS) — on a project that seeks to mitigate the COVID-19 economic impacts on vulnerable Jordanian women and female Syrian refugees by increasing their ability to meet their basic survival needs and follow preventive and protective practices. The project provides these groups, including young women, with cash transfers; assists women running small and home-based businesses with endowment funds; builds the latter’s financial literacy and management skills; distributes personal protective equipment kits; spreads information via local radios and hotlines on preventive COVID-19 practices and emergency services available; and offers psychosocial support.

Explore the Full List of WPHF COVID-19 Emergency Response Window Partners Around the World:

Background

Hosting over 1.6 million Syrian refugees, of whom approximatively 660,000 are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Jordan remains one of the countries most affected by the Syrian crisis in the region. The influx of refugees has stretched already limited resources, causing severe stress on Jordan’s economy, social cohesion, and public services.

Reports indicate that 89% of Syrian refugees living outside the camps live below the poverty line and are considered as extremely vulnerable. Women and girls, who constitute half of the refugee population in Jordan, carry the double burden of gender discrimination and refugee status. In and outside the camps, they are the target of gender-based violence ranging from child/forced marriage to intimate partner violence, rape, and psychosocial assault. Their lack of documentation and restricted financial capacities further hinders their access to economic opportunities, education, social services, and healthcare.

The COVID-19 pandemic has added a new layer of complexity to Jordan’s multiple and overlapping economic, social, and political challenges, which include stagnant economic growth, high unemployment rates, and poor quality of and unequal access to social services. Once again, refugees, especially women and girls, have borne the brunt of the crisis, facing increased food and economic insecurity and becoming victims of physical and psychological household violence and as a result of Jordan’s strict quarantine.

Gender disparity and violence against women also remain prevalent in the private sphere, deeply entrenched in predominant cultural attitudes that threaten women’s agency and equality—both of refugees and Jordanians. Among Syrian refugees, female-headed households face the highest level of food insecurity, as only 14% of women refugees work, compared to 65% of male refugees. Consequently, female refugees, who have fewer independent sources of income and support, are more reliant on external humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs. As aid diminishes—both due to humanitarian aid fatigue in the region and as a result of increased livelihood opportunities for refugees— Jordan’s women refugees will be disproportionately impacted.

Our Vision

In Jordan, WPHF aims to ensure the financing and coordination of local civil society organizations working to enhance the leadership of women and girls in humanitarian response and peacebuilding and recovery efforts, aiming for an enabling environment for the WPS Agenda across the country.