Promoting social cohesion
Period: 1 August 2015-31 July 2016
Donor: Government of Japan
Budget: $1,760,000
Project Goal: To promote social cohesion and resilience through economic empowerment initiatives and increased access to services, targeting vulnerable women in refugee hosting communities.
As host to more than 630,000 Syrian refugees, Jordan has been severely impacted by the Syrian crisis. With more than 500,000 Syrian refugees residing outside camps, social and economic pressures as well as pressures on local government infrastructure and services has intensified, placing a significant burden on the Government of Jordan and host communities. Many of these communities were already numbered among Jordan’s “poverty pockets”.
In response to this, UN Women is implementing a project to provide support and services to Syrian refugees and Jordanians in two of Jordan’s refugee hosting communities, Irbid and Zarqa. The aim is to ease financial pressures and address growing social tensions, with a specific focus on promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. In order to achieve this, the project:
- Links women to income generation and employment opportunities, while building their skills and linking them to decision-making structures.
- Provides safe spaces and life skills to poor and vulnerable Jordanian and Syrian women.
- Supports vulnerable women to access basic social services equitably and safely, while bringing communities together and building stronger dialogue chains between citizens and local officials.
- Provides support to local government structures and service providers.