Syrian Refugee Crisis - Lebanon and Jordan

The Syria conflict remains one of the largest humanitarian, peace and security crises facing the world today. The UN estimates 11.1 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance, including approximately 6 million who are internally displaced and 1 million living in hard-to-reach areas. A further 5.6 million people fled the violence in Syria to neighbouring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. In Lebanon, almost 930,000 registered Syrian refugees make up one-quarter of the population — the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world. Over 90 percent of refugees in the region are residing in host communities, which places strain on local resources, infrastructure and services. Jordan is host to more than 660,000 Syrian refugees. Four in every five Syrian refugees in Jordan live in poverty in urban areas. An estimated 465,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting and over one million have been injured. 

In 2016, the Australian Government announced an AUD 220 million, three-year humanitarian package in response to the Syria crisis. This included humanitarian assistance for Syria and its neighbours, as well as longer-term resilience support for Jordan and Lebanon focused on improving education and livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities. 

In 2017, DFAT directed AUD 6 million of its Syria humanitarian package to be delivered through the AHP. 

The AHP Response

Jordan

Above: Oxfam’s recycling project was the first of its kind in Jordan and created jobs and provided refugees with skills development opportunities. Image: Oxfam.

In Jordan, Caritas Australia and Oxfam Australia have supported refugee communities with education and livelihood projects in refugee camps and host communities. Caritas Australia has focused on education and has assisted almost 4,800 children (1,886 assisted as a direct result of Australian funding) through educational activities, school refurbishments and upgrades to improve access for disabled children. Working in refugee host communities in the Fuheis, Madaba and Zarqa governorates, Caritas provided four and five-year old kindergarten classes and classes for six to 15-year old students. Learning packs were provided to students and teachers, and support to encourage refugee children to return to school was a critical element of the response. 

Oxfam Australia worked in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, home to more than 80,000 Syrians, the majority of whom (more than 60%) were under 24 years. 

Oxfam supported over 565 people through innovative livelihoods activities that sought to engage and empower women while protecting the camp environment. Oxfam’s household-level recycling project was the first of its kind in Jordan. With two recycling sites, the project covered household sorting and waste collection across the camp’s 12 districts. Refugee communities were able to generate income through the sale of waste, and the project saw a 21% reduction in waste at local landfill sites. The project created more than 230 jobs and provided skills training to refugees. The Oxfam project also trained women in the planting, growing and harvesting of organic vegetables in camp greenhouses, offered training in the making of recycled tote bags using old camp tents, and piloted a carpet-making project. 

Lebanon

In Lebanon, Oxfam and CARE delivered a livelihoods program that focused on the demand and supply side of the economy, supporting both micro and small businesses and jobseekers and better connecting the two. 

In 2019, the Plan International and Caritas Australia/ CAN DO Lebanon projects were extended by a further 12 months with an additional AUD 1 million in funding for each. Plan International Australia worked with partner International Medical Corps to prevent gender-based violence and improve response services for refugee and host communities in Lebanon. The project has provided individual case management consultation for almost 2,000 gender-based violence survivors and has raised awareness of gender-based violence to more than 8,200 vulnerable women, girls, men, and boys. 

For many Syrian refugee children their safe place is their school classroom. Plan International provide anti-gender violence and protection activities through schools projects in Lebanon © Plan International Australia

The project targets men, boys, women and girls within host and refugee communities at high risk of violence by providing an integrated package of protection services that includes gender-based violence case management, psychosocial support, and community-based activities and referrals. 

Social workers are integrated into community medical centres and women’s community centres to build trust with vulnerable women and girls, while outreach volunteers lead awareness campaigns in refugee and host communities. The project also works with men and boys to assist the transition from negative gender views and violent behaviour into healthy and respectful relations. The resulting community support networks help refugee and host communities to work together on protection concerns. 

Caritas Australia, through its in-country partner, Catholic Relief Service, worked through two established shelters in the Mt Lebanon governorate to support Syrian refugees with urgent protection services, life skills and livelihood training, as well as educational support for children. The project has supported more than 580 violence-affected women, children and men through the dedicated shelter. 

Response Highlights

• Oxfam’s recycling project in Jordan was the only initiative in the country that collected solid waste materials at the household level. The project significantly reduced the quantity of landfill waste from Za’atari Camp, with an estimated 21% reduction. Key to this was the introduction of a household trolley collection method that separated dry and wet waste at the source. Every household in Za’atari camp benefited indirectly from the initiative, through collection of dry waste at the household level, leading to an improved living environment. The project received Oxfam’s 2018 Institutional Award for Innovation. 

• The Caritas Education Program in Jordan assisted almost 1,000 Syrian refugee children to join the formal Jordan education system and helped reduce inherent discrimination against Syrian children in the mainstream system. The program offered students a chance to catch up on lessons, review difficult topics and receive individualised support to complete assignments and prepare for tests. These interventions helped students succeed in exams and enabled them to continue in their education. 

• In Lebanon, accountability to beneficiaries was markedly improved after Catholic Relief Services conducted one-on-one interviews with shelter residents to ensure all needs were being met. The interview process resulted in several key changes and improvements including: the provision of more structured legal support; better information sharing mechanisms for residents; a review of referral procedures; increased support for cases of potential self-harm, and; increased opportunities for time outside the shelter such as collective field visits to prepare residents for life outside the shelter. 

• As part of its Lebanon project, Plan partner International Medical Corps introduced a 10-week Youth Empowerment Program which allowed young people (13-18 years old) to meet in same-sex groups to follow a structured program of life skill activities. The key objectives of the program were to develop social and leadership skills, increase confidence and self-esteem, develop healthy peer and family relationships, increase motivation and decrease negative feelings (boredom, hopelessness, isolation and anxiety). Post-training monitoring indicated this was the first time participants had learnt how to better cope with problems and troubles. 

• In Lebanon, Oxfam and CARE and consortium partners placed 367 individuals (26% women) in apprenticeships (the target was 300) with 21% of those placed retained by their employers.