This report provides an overview of the current services available for Syrian refugee youth and children in Jordan, with a focus on the following sectors: education, cash assistance, nutrition, health, livelihoods, water and sanitation, shelter, and protection. Using a multi-method strategy, we describe the governance structure of the current Syrian refugee assistance program in Jordan and describe the policies central to our sectors of interest. Based on key informant interviews, we identify persistent barriers to services for Syrian young people. The report concludes with a discussion of overall governance constraints.

ConVERGE (Connecting Vital Event Registration and Gender Equality) is a partnership between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems at International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to ensure the strengthening of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in an equitable and gender responsive context. The partnership combines UNFPA’s global reach, technical expertise in population data, and track record in women’s empowerment with the Centre of Excellence’s role as a leader in the CRVS systems field with the mandate and capacity to support cutting-edge research to inform innovative, evidence-based solutions. In its first year, the programme deployed eight population data fellows in eight countries around the world, including Jordan, with the objectives of: (1) increasing awareness on the importance of CRVS systems in sustainable development; (2) preliminary assessment of CRVS systems in the select participating countries; and (3) proposition of potential future activities to advance civil registration and vital statistics in the concerned countries. CRVS is important at both the individual and communal level. At the individual level, registering vital events—birth, marriage and death—recognizes an individual’s personhood and secures one’s legal identity; which is in turn indispensable for fulfilling basic rights, proving place and date of birth and family ties, entering in a relationship with the state, claiming legal entitlements, and contributing to society by realizing the duties and obligations of a citizen. At the communal and governance level, registration data is one of the most important sources on population data, especially when it fulfills the requirements of being universal, continuous, compulsory and permanent. Such data is of unmatched importance in planning and development, public health, population development, municipal and communal planning, education, among other areas. It is estimated for Jordan that registration completeness rates is 97% for births and 73% for deaths. As for marriages and divorces, it is estimated that about 70% only of marriages and divorces that are registered at religious courts are registered timely at the Civil Status Department. No current data is available on the completeness of the marriages and divorces registration at the religious courts; noting that by law, all marriage and divorce contracts have to be registered first at religious courts [i.e. no direct civil registration].

Economic exclusion, as the lack of participation to the production and consumption processes as well as of income distribution processes, is a central component of multidimensional social exclusion, the complex combination of processes depriving individuals and groups of access to a proper life style affecting their relation capacities. Economic inclusion has become one of the main topics of the international debate on strategies addressing refugee crisis, often confusing inclusion with integration. The implicit assumption of inclusion paradigm is that the refugees represent a weaker group of the population. Nonetheless, the approach to address their needs should not be restricted to the integration, as a crucial dimension of citizenship is diversity and autonomy, whenever refugees, with their individuality and their particular competences and restrictions are accepted as diversity and an enhancement to society. The approach proposed by Alexandre Betts and Paul Colliers, aimed at considering the possible integration of refugees in host economies as an alternative to humanitarian assistance, has further stimulated both scholars discussions and pivotal donor policies such as the Jordan Compact, approved during the London conference on Syrian refugees of 2016. Economic integration indicators are complex and interconnecting and comprehend capacity to enter the labour market, scaling up the discrimination constraints in wages and career opportunities, setting up and legalisation of self-employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Financial integration is together a further indicator and a stronger accelerator of economic integration (and inclusion) processes. Socio-economic integration (and inclusion) steps can be schematically associated with different financial needs and capacities and more and more efficient strategies. Similarities and differences can be envisaged in the cases of refugees and other migrants who have been leaving their home countries because of environmental disasters, lack of resources but also of job opportunities. From a policy perspective, the stages correspond to different strategic frameworks and different roles that institutions can play in strengthening and supporting integration (or inclusion) processes. Knowing and recognizing the profiles of migrants assumes a decisive relevance for the identification and adoption of effective policies and strategies to support their economic and social inclusion. In the case of the Syrian crisis, the challenge appears to be particularly difficult, both for the proportion of the migratory phenomenon and for the impact that the mass of refugees produces on the economic and social systems of the neighbouring countries that share the small demographic and economic dimension and diversified conditions of fragility. The study intends to add a piece to the mosaic of knowledge necessary to face thischallenge. The report examines, on the one hand, the theme of economic integration of migrants (and inclusion, in case it is important, such as the economic internationalization process) based on the observation of the Italian case and, on the other, the dynamics highlighted by the case of Syrians in Jordan. The study of the Italian case is based on the analysis of the data obtained from a recent investigation conducted on a large sample of migrants that has deepened the themes of economic integration and inclusion. The analysis of the Jordanian case is based both on the review of the existing inherent literature and on a qualitative surveys centred on interviews with experts and key observers. The distinction between forced and voluntary migration is much fuzzier than people think. IOM and UNHCR adopted the term “mixed migration” to describe new complex population movements, including both refugees and asylum seekers (forced migrants) as well as economic migrants (voluntary migrants). The Jordanian and Italian migratory events have macroscopic differences that the Syrian crisis has greatly increased. However, the raising of the share of refugees among the whole immigrant community is an element that brings the Jordanian context closer to the European and Italian one, in particular where the influx of asylum seekers represents an increasing portion of the inflows. On the other side, Italy is an example of a country in which integration policies are mostly concentrated on economic integration, whereas social and cultural policies remain marginal, with the basic idea of functional integration of immigrants rather than inclusion of their diversity. The model of integration experienced in Italy addressing some selected categories of substitutes for low skilled native workers and low-paid jobs provides some insights on the functioning of financial integration (or inclusion) system that are of interest to countries hosting many refugees for a long-term, as in the case of Jordan. In the Jordanian case, the share of refugees is one of the central determinants that draw the type of impact on the economic system and the integration patterns of the new arrivals. Syrians account for almost half of all foreigners in the country and over 13% of the entire population. Moreover, the speed of growth of their presence has strongly influenced the level of integration. Despite the efforts of the national institutions and the remarkable attitude to the reception and acceptance of migrants shown by the Jordanian society, the risk of marginalization of Syrian refugees is very high. The absorption capacity of the Jordanian economy is limited, with a high unemployment rate of up to 15% among Jordanians themselves. The capacity of refugees to generate income is reduced and there has been a consistent trend towards increasing household debt that lowers their resilience and contributes to raising the share of households in poverty. The economic difficulties in the country produce growing concern in the population, especially in consideration of the low occupation levels. In addition to competition on the labour market and the housing market, it is the pressure on resources and availability of the public services that above all worries the population. In this framework and considering the current lack of realistic prospects for repatriation in a short time, the issue of exploring differentiated paths for the integration of Syrian refugees is increasingly crucial. Integration into the economic system is evidently not the only solution, but it surely need to become one of the strategic pillars of a holistic and multidimensional approach considering that the spreading of poverty among the Syrians in Jordan is manifestly a central component of the growing suffering and marginalization of refugees. This process further inhibit their potentials and ability to become an active part of the hosting society that could in turn generate opportunities for employment and for the productive exploitation and renewal of the resources. The same is true if we focus on the recognition of difference as an enriching ingredient for a transformative society and on the specific agency of each and every person and group rather than on normalizing it though integration. Please refer to the report to see the whole Executive summary.....

The study discusses the effect of electoral laws on political participation and economic development in Jordan during the period (2003-2019). As the Jordanian state witnessed many legislative and executive measures that included amending the constitution and issuing many laws related to the electoral process, such as the age of the voter, the redistribution of electoral districts and the establishment of an independent body that oversees legislative, municipal elections, in response to the demands of political and development reform that have increased due to protest movements Against the negative outcomes of governments and parliament. The study also reviews the system of administrative decentralization, which was issued in the Official Gazette after being approved by all the executive and legislative authorities in 2016, which will give advisory and executive roles to the local councils through the provincial councils in the Kingdom, which directly affects the decision-making process in determining the forms of economic management and distribution. Moreover, the implementation of projects on various administrative and development sectors throughout the country in an orderly manner, taking into account economic priorities, population density and contributing to the Female projects, and meet the needs of citizens in the cities, villages and camps and the desert and remote areas, through the provision of services required, and the availability of employment opportunities, and improve the lives of citizens. The study was based on a basic hypothesis that "there is a relationship between the stability of electoral laws, the stability of the political system and societal satisfaction and the impact of this on sustainable development results." The study will use the system analysis approach, the institutional and legal approach, and the quantitative analysis method. The study reached many conclusions and recommendations, the most important of which is that the stability of electoral laws is an important indicator of political development, and therefore affects the rate of political participation and the level of sustainable development on the one hand and societal satisfaction with the political system on the other hand, therefore on the official authorities, whether the government or parliament find a law A recent election compatible with the requirements of political and social reform, with the participation of intellectual powers and political elites that are keen on public interests and not narrow interests.

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As part of the Country Programme preparation activities, a rapid assessment on child labour and education was undertaken with a specific interest in the programme implications for IPEC. This study looked at child labour and education issues, not only to understand child labour, but also to understand its implications for the design of education policies and interventions that can contribute to enhanced enrolment, retention and academic achievement of working children in the basic education system. Objectives of the Study: The main objectives of the study were: 1) to provide an in-depth understanding of the complex phenomenon of child labour and education; 2) to collect qualitative information specifically related to educational and psycho-social needs based on working children’s specific experiences, insights, and perceptions; 3) to determine the attitude and knowledge levels of educators and parents on child labour-related issues; and 4) to recommend policies and programmes aimed a...