Jordan Needs Assessment Review 2014 Resilience Needs Analysis Key Findings Presented by: UNDP on behalf of the UN Agencies Needs Assessment Workshop 2 October 2014
Background NAR 2013 NRP 2014 NAR 2014 Refugee Needs Analysis Resilience Needs Analysis JRP 2015 Refugee Chapter Resilience Chapter The NAR 2014 builds upon earlier work conducted on the NRP 2014 and NAR This presentation focuses on the resilience component.
Overview and Macroeconomic Analysis The Syria crisis continues to exercise pressure on all branches of the Jordanian economy. Growth remains sluggish. Unemployment is stagnant and high.
Overview and Macroeconomic Analysis Public debt: increasing and approaching unsustainable levels. Public deficits are high and increasing.
Livelihoods & Food Security Needs: Unemployment rates in the most affect governorates remain above national average. There is a crowding out of Jordanians from selected sectors. Food security is deteriorating with both Food Consumption Score and dietary diversity reduced. Priorities: Short-term: immediate livelihoods stabilization for rapid improvement of community infrastructure through micro-grants and short-cycle vocational skills training. Long-term: localized strategy to secure value-chain development, increased access to financial services and pursuit of climate- smart crop diversification and intensification activities.
Social Protection Needs: Domestic violence is on the rise and affects some of the most vulnerable groups like females and children the most. Juvenile services are insufficiently staffed and capacitated to address increasingly heterogeneous needs. National capacities for cash assistance and social security contribution schemes are insufficient to stabilize living standards. Priorities: Increase reach: more centers, additional and better trained staff and strengthened foster care system. Increase resources: expand current cash assistance programmes to ensure accurate targeting, transparency and accountability.
Justice Needs: Rising demand for the adjudication of an increasing heterogeneous set of cases puts additional pressures on the Jordanian judicial system to expand personnel, build space and develop expertise. Deteriorating standards of living make it ever harder for refugees and Jordanians to afford legal assistance, the cost of which currently stands at JD Priorities: Extend immediate support to MoJ to develop standards and institutional frameworks for insuring access to justice. Establish legal clinics in host communities and support the capacities of courts in host communities to address the influx in cases. Support PSD community policing in host communities to minimize the number of cases referred to courts.
Health Needs: Jordan’s health sector struggles to deliver adequate preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services at the primary, secondary and tertiary level. Demand is further increasing on community, governorate and national levels due to continued refugee influx. Efficiency standard of MOH and implementing partners require enhancement. Priorities : Increase of the MOH budget by at least 20% annually and enhance staff retention. Build capacities in disease surveillance, early warning alert systems and pharmaceuticals, contraceptives and vaccines supply management.
Education Needs: At the end of the 2013/2014 school year, just about half of refugee children eligible for enrollment in formal education have been granted access to schools. Future employment prospects for an increasing number of insufficiently educated children are deteriorating. The education system is facing 3 interconnected areas of challenges: school over-crowding, deterioration of pupil-to-teacher ratios and insufficient expertise of staff Priorities: Existing capacities need to be expanded to keep pace with the growing number of refugees. Better information management and identification of effective response options is required.
Water & Sanitation Needs: The frequency of water delivery to the households the water supply is insufficient and decreasing in quality. Limited sewage system and communal waste facilities, insufficient for pre-crisis demand, are further stretched. More households are increasingly dependent on septic tanks Priorities: Increase distribution efficiency through reduction in Non-Revenue water Extend water supply and sanitation coverage through expansion, rehabilitation and repair in the network systems Promote water conservation, water reuse and capacity building of the service providers in key areas.
Municipal Services Needs: Integrated Solid Waste Management (SMW), maintained social cohesion, local economic development, and housing require further attention. The financial resources of impacted municipalities have not kept pace with the growing Syrian refugee population. Concerns about the quality in basic services such as water supply, diminishing economic opportunities and worsening housing situations are growing. Priorities: Targeted immediate and long-term investment and capacity building interventions in SWM and urban management. Financial and human resources in the most affected municipalities through national development planning and funding mechanisms need to be expanded.
Shelter Needs: The concentration of Syrian refugees in the urban areas especially in Mafraq and Irbid has led to a surge in need for housing. There is a noticeable increase in temporary and sub-standard shelter solutions and growth of informal settlements. Social cohesion is undermined as the number of evictions of both Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian families increase. Priorities: Provision of affordable housing to vulnerable populations in host communities needs expansion. Increase the capacity of the government for urban planning at both municipal and national levels.
Transport Needs: There is severe underfunding of road development and maintenance especially against the background of the use of heavy vehicles. Under-designed road networks limit the capacity to organize ever increasing traffic resulting in congestion in urban centers. Inaccessibility of traditional trade routes through Syria have contributed to a deterioration of economic competitiveness. Priorities: Support funding mechanism that prioritize the transport sector in the allocation of funds. Strengthen planning, data analysis and data collection tools to inform the national transport strategy.
Environment Needs: The availability of cheap labor rapidly increased agricultural activities and pressure on ecosystems. In the context of air quality, the increase of the number of vehicles result in an increase in the pollutants emitted. Increasing medical waste has put pressure on the limited medical waste management capacity. Priorities: Enhance the enforcement of wild life protection-related legal framework. Strengthen the capacities of environmental impact assessment and monitoring. Increase the capacities of collection, transport and disposal of hazardous waste.
Energy Needs: Jordan is one of the world’s most energy insecure countries, importing about 97% of its energy needs. Rising energy costs place serious fiscal constraints on the government’s budget and impede development investments. There is an insufficient focus on sustainable energy sources. Priorities: Accelerate and scale-up energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. Establish new renewable energy power supply capacities. Promote energy conversation awareness and practices.