…to Protect and Reach the Most
Disadvantaged
Needs analysis
Total budget (2015):
USD 59,050,000
Funding Received:
USD 7,049,442
Funding Gap:
USD 52,000,558
Project title:
Protecting and
Reaching the Most
Disadvantaged
Jordanian law does not ban corporal punishment in the home, from which two-thirds of children aged 2 to 14 reportedly
suffer and nearly a third of ever-married women report experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional violence by a spouse
(Jordan Population and Family Health Survey, 2012). Further, despite a legislative ban on corporal punishment in schools
and institutions, physical and verbal violence is prevalent in schools across the Kingdom (2013-2014 Ma’an Campaign
online survey).
Target beneficiaries:
Boys, girls and
women
Results for children:
Background
A significant proportion of the 3.5 million children in Jordan report experiencing verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual
violence in homes, schools and communities. Both societal and legislative reform are needed to better protect children
through a comprehensive system of monitoring, reporting and referrals, especially for the most disadvantaged. The
Kingdom hosts over 620,000 Syrian refugees, the majority of whom are children, who are all directly affected by conflict
through the death or separation of loved ones and the loss of communities and homes. Additionally, the conflict has
exacted an immense toll on Syrian children’s education and achievement of life goals, and placed them at increased risk
of early marriage, child labour, or recruitment into armed groups.
In addition to improved protections for children and women survivors of violence, improved protections are also needed
for children in conflict with the law. Over one-quarter of juvenile cases involved children 12 to 15 years of age, 70% of
children’s offences are petty crimes, and an alarming 87% of juveniles in centres have depression (Report on
Developmental and Psychological Screen of Institutionalized Children and Youth, 2011).
Child labour also remains a key concern in Jordan – in fact, the Kingdom estimates has doubled due to the wave of Syrian
refugees entering the country over the past three years. Among child labourers, a low percentage attend schools while
many receive minimal economic returns and toil at high-risk work sites.
Early marriage rates are rising dramatically among Syrian refugees in Jordan, higher rates of early marriage among girls
from 13% in 2011 to 25% in 2013 (Early Marriage Study, UNICEF, 2014). Early forced marriage (EFM) is both a human
rights and public health problem, as pregnancy at an early age can have harmful physical effects including complications
during pregnancy, miscarriage or even death.
All children have the right to be protected from violence,
exploitation and abuse.
UNICEF strengthens national institutions and communities in Jordan
to promote effective mechanisms of prevention, protection,
monitoring and response for the most vulnerable girls and boys.
UNICEF focuses on preventing and responding to violence against
children & gender-based violence, establishing foster care, reducing
child labour, promoting best practices in justice for children,
providing psychosocial care, reducing early marriage and protecting
children affected by armed conflicts.
Summary of action
In 2014, UNICEF and partners have reached a total of 210,000 girls and boys with psychosocial support through 132
Child and Adolescent-Friendly Spaces and multi-activity centres across the country in camps and host communities.
Over 23,000 of these children, including 2,500 unaccompanied and separated children, also received multi-sectoral child
protection and gender-based violence related case management services. Eighty nine per cent of these children were
reunited. Further, the MRM for Syria in Jordan has documented some 762 grave violations against children in Syria
through the collection of testimony of Syrian refugees in Jordan. 1
Efforts with the Kingdom to reduce violence in schools has resulted in decreased reported incidence of violence in
schools, with physical violence and verbal abuse dropping by 27%. Currently some 2,721 schools (74%) are using an
online survey through which children report prevalence of violence and teacher classroom management techniques on
a monthly basis.
UNICEF helped Jordan to establish the first foster care & diversion programmes to avoid institutionalization of children,
(47 children has been placed in foster care and 30 children diverted) and is supporting the expansion of shelters available
for women subjected to domestic violence. UNICEF supported the development and advocated for the endorsement of
the new Juvenile Law represents a paradigm shift from a punitive outlook of the juvenile into a restorative one,
safeguarding the child wellbeing and ensuring his/her reintegration into society. UNICEF has also been active in the
development of Inter-Agency Standard Operating Procedures for GBV and Child Protection as well as Unaccompanied and
Separated Children.
▫Fewer boys and girls are
subjected to physical and
verbal violence
▫Protection needs of the
most vulnerable children
are met.
▫Provision of psychosocial
support services for
refugees and host
communities
▫ Vulnerable Syrian
refugee households in
host communities rely on
an unconditional child
grant to help cover needs
specific to children to
prevent from relying on
negative coping
mechanisms
Results for
communities
▫Support national
protection system
capabilities to respond
appropriately to needs of
children
▫Provide community
alternatives to
institutionalization of
children
Main partners:
Ministries of Social
Development, Education,
Health, and Awqaf &
Islamic Affairs; National
Council for Family Affairs,
Family Guidance and
Awareness Center,
Islamic Centre Charitable
Society, Jordan River
Foundation, Noor
Hussein Foundation, Save
the Children Jordan,
JOHUD, Jordan Women
Union, International
Medical Corps,
International Rescue
Committee, INTERSOS,
Save the Children
International, Terre des
Hommes, Un Ponte Per
UNICEF also provided winter clothing assistance to some 102,000 boys and girls ages 0-16 via cash assistance in
collaboration with UNHCR where possible, and through provision of winter clothing kits where it was not, to respond to Updated March 2015
vulnerable households' needs for the winter.
…to Protect and Reach the Most
Disadvantaged
UNICEF’s comparative advantage
UNICEF in 2015 marks its 63rd year of operations in Jordan. Over the course of the years, UNICEF has come a long way, being able to ensure
humanitarian operations as well as resilience and development assistance, always working closely with line Ministries. Today, UNICEF assists
the Government of Jordan in building a knowledge-based economy, fostering human development and leveraging resources for children.
UNICEF works with Government and key national and international partners to strength their human resources and institutional capacities,
offers policy advice, contribute to knowledge management, and assists ministries to model programmes based on proven successful
experiences from around the world.
UNICEF’s added value is its recognition as the technical agency on protection issues that is respected as an honest, impartial partner and
convener, who is able to bring all stakeholders to the table. In this regard, UNICEF has substantive experience in working with a range of
stakeholders at the national and community level spanning government institutions, donors, civil society, academia, and the private sector,
and has a well-established network of local and international partners in Jordan. UNICEF strives to promote the sustainability of its support
by ensuring that capacity development as well as the transfer of knowledge is institutionalized within partner institutions. As a result, UNICEF
has the capacity to provide quality technical assistance and to effectively deliver support on the ground.
Proposed UNICEF Support
UNICEF child protection strategy rests essentially on two pillars: the strengthening of national child protection systems and the promotion of
social change. Child protection systems comprise elements for which the State bears primary responsibility for action: government
commitment, legislation, service provision, monitoring, and building human capacity. Open discussion, social norms and the engagement of
children themselves require strong support from communities and civil society, and are addressed as social change. UNICEF interventions
under this programme seek to create a protective environment that prevents violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect, and responds to the
needs of vulnerable children, primarily through the following avenues: 1) Improved legal and policy framework to prevent and respond to
violence, exploitation and neglect; 2) Institutional and community based child protection systems that offer quality preventive and responsive
child protection and gender based violence services; 3) Children and families are mobilized to prevent and reduce violent and harmful
practices; and 4) Vulnerable women and children have access to and use equitable child protection, gender based violence and psychosocial
support services.
Priorities for 2015 include accelerating legislative reform on issues involving protection of children, (including domestic violence, Childhood
Act, and revisions to the penal code); bridging the gap between development and emergency with attention to host communities; investment
in system strengthening of national institutions as a long-term goal; changing social norms regarding violence & early marriage; scaling up
justice for children; and supporting child-sensitive cash assistance programmes.
Scaling-up Cash Assistance to the Most Vulnerable Children
Building on the cash assistance for winterisation, UNICEF is expanding support for an unconditional child grant to children living in vulnerable
Syrian refugee households in 2015. This will help to avoid the adoption of negative coping mechanisms (child labour, drop-out from school,
child marriage) and also contribute to covering their basic needs specific to each child (food, medical care, transportation to school etc.) The
objective is to provide a cash grant to all children (75,000) living in 30,000 of the most vulnerable households through UNHCR’s innovative
biometric platform. Community-based awareness raising and sensitization activities will emphasize to families the grant’s child-specific
purpose, and assessments will monitor the extent to which the funds actually benefit children.
Unit Costs
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USD 90,000 creates a place where 1,000 children can play and be supported in refugee camps for six months
USD 43,000 creates a place where children and their families can receive tailored support in their community for six
months
USD 1,030 provides one household with unconditional cash assistance to cover their children essential needs for one year
USD 1,500 provides foster care for children deprived of parental care
USD 1,500 supports the diversion of a juvenile into a community-based rehabilitation program
USD 850 provides temporary care to a Syrian refugee child who is separated or unaccompanied from their families
USD 70 keeps a Syrian refugee child warm for the whole winter
USD 200,000 to reach 400 schools to prevent and reduce violence in schools
UNICEF Jordan results in the field of Child Protection and Basic Needs in 2014-2015 have been made possible thanks to the generous
contribution of:
European Union
Germany/KFW
Who to contact
for further
information:
Italy
Japan
Robert Jenkins
Representative,
UNICEF, Jordan
Tel: +962 65 502 402
Email: [email protected]
Kuwait
Netherlands Switzerland UK Aid US/PRM & USAID
Silene Martino Almeras
Public and Private Partnerships,
UNICEF, Jordan
Tel: +962 795 663 074
Email: [email protected]
Updated March 2015