Understanding alternatives to cash assistance

As the crisis in Syria extends into its 7th year, over 654,000 Syrian refugees remain registered in Jordan of which 82 percent live below the poverty line. While the Jordan Compact launched in February 2016 provided new entry points for refugees to formally enter the labor market, a combination of structural challenges pre-dating the Syrian crisis as well as a strong informal private sector have made the initial ambitions outlined in the Compact difficult to fully realize. Out of 200,000 work permit target, only 56,000 work permits have been allocated to date.

The following assessment was undertaken to better understand the capacity of households to graduate off of cash assistance into more sustainable livelihoods. It is designed to support livelihood projects implemented by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), building upon UNHCR’s attempts to design improved livelihood interventions based on global graduation principles in the context of current cash programming in Jordan.

The approach expands upon findings identified through a March 2017 area-based analysis of livelihoods (ABLA) in East Amman1 as well as an overarching need to generate a broader understanding of labour market dynamics effecting Syrian refugees. As such,DRC launched a comprehensive assessment of five governorates in Jordan: Mafraq, Amman, Madaba, Karak and Ma’an. The variegated methodology used for this assessment included a survey of over 771 households across each target governorate, 30 key informant interviews with key stakeholders, and a series of 28 focus group discussions.

The target group for the household level-survey was those households that fall within categories 1 and 2 within the Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF). Broadly speaking, these households that have demonstrated relatively low to moderate levels of vulnerability according to a comprehensive set of criteria. As such, these households were seen as being the most likely to be able to access alternative methods of income generation outside of humanitarian cash assistance. With voluntary return unlikely in the medium to long-term as well as a gradual reduction of cash assistance levels, attention has shifted to the provision of support that allows for more sustainable integration into local economies for those with the capacity to do so. However, findings indicate that solutions to the full integration of refugees into the labour market require a much more nuanced understanding of household dynamics as well as the attitudes and practices of many private sector actors that impact the full realization of Jordan Compact objectives.

KEY FINDINGS

Key findings from the assessment are as follows:

• Unemployment and dependency on cash assistance remain endemic amongst Syrian refugees living in Jordan. Only 50% of the surveyed population derive their primary source of income from work.
• Construction is the dominant sector in which 40% of the surveyed population is working.
• Due to low wages in these sectors, many (39%) households need more than one income source to afford their basic needs and are sinking deeper into debt.
• Overwhelmingly households are looking for work opportunities. 96% of households reported that they have at least one member not working and actively seeking work.
• In the interim they have struggling to meet their basic needs and all interviewed households are adopting some form of negative coping strategy.
• Those who can find work often change employment, as they struggle with low wages, transportation costs, work permits and poor working conditions. On average, the income earner has changed jobs 5 times since arriving in their current area of residence.
• 65% of primary earners did not have work permits, with similar rates across all sectors.
• The low wages earned relative to cost of transport restrict transport options for the population group. This is a particular challenge for work in agriculture, manufacturing and constructions as work opportunities are often located further away, as well as for those engaged in trade outside Amman who need to access bigger markets.
• Many Syrians reported that they are reluctant to travel far for work because they do not have work permits and are afraid of being stopped by authorities.
• Many Syrian refugees are still reluctant to formalise for fears of subsequently losing cash assistance.
• Employers in construction and food processing rely on Syrian labour, but provide poor working conditions.
• Employers in the manufacturing and trade sector have a pervasive distrust of hiring Syrian refugees.
• Despite this potential skilled workforce that can contribute to the growth of the local Jordanian economy, currently most smaller businesses cannot afford to employ the relative number of Jordanian staff required to be able to legally hire Syrians.
• Opportunities also exist for home-based businesses. Overall, 10% of VAF levels 1 and 2 Syrian refugee households run home-based economic activities, with higher proportions in Madaba and Mafraq. However, only 1% of these were the primary source of income for a household.

Original source and full report: Danish Refugee Council, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Published on 14 November 2017