Jordan, UN sign fund deal to address Syrian refugee burden

AMMAN — The Planning and International Cooperation Ministry and the UN on Saturday signed a launching agreement of the Jordan Resilience Fund (JRF) as a unified channel for donor contributions against the impact of the Syrian crisis on Jordan. 

The fund, which is jointly managed by the government, the UN and donors, seeks to coordinate donations addressing the needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan as well as host communities, estimated at $2.9 billion in the Jordan Response Plan 2015 (JRP).

In his remarks to the media, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said the establishment of the fund is meant to provide an “impartial platform to strengthen coordination, assessment, planning and communication among various entities of the Jordanian government, UN agencies, international aid agencies and nongovernmental organisations”.

He added that JRF will allow non-traditional donation means for donors that are not represented in Jordan, adding that establishing the fund is part of the government’s preparations for the upcoming Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, scheduled to take place in Kuwait on March 31.

He noted that increasing donor funding will help Jordan continue the support it provides for Syrian refugees, as well as sustaining the development achievements it has worked on accomplishing for decades.

“The humanitarian and development needs of the refugees were incorporated within the 3RP [Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan] to guarantee that the regionally collected funding to deal with the Syrian crisis is in harmony with Jordan’s national priorities,” he said. 

The minister highlighted an electronic information system that is already in place for donors to use to submit their funding applications. He noted that users can view assistance for projects to avoid duplication of funding, adding that donors and representatives of international agencies have received training on using the portal. 

The JRP is a one-year programme to consolidate all major national and international efforts to address the humanitarian and developmental impacts of the Syrian crisis within a nationally-led and owned process in partnership with the UN and the international community.

From his side, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Edward Kallon described the capitalisation of the JRF as a “priority”, calling on donors to consider it as a possible mechanism for contributions and pledges, including those to be made at the upcoming conference in Kuwait.

“The effect of the Syria crisis in Jordan is unprecedented. The country remains a bastion of regional stability, but national response capacity and traditional humanitarian response infrastructure are at full stretch,” he said at the signing event, addressing representatives of several UN and other aid agencies.

He highlighted the need for a paradigm shift in donors’ collective response to crisis, describing the JRF as a tool to promote aid effectiveness, reduce fragmentation and avoid duplication of efforts. Kallon noted that the success of the JRP hinges on the “mobilisation of very significant additional resources to meet the $2.9 billion funding needed”.

“We must now collectively seek to do more, including breaking down traditional funding silos and committing to JRP as the single funding framework for mitigating the effects of the Syria crisis,” he concluded. 

The number of registered Syrian refugees in Jordan has reached 625,000, while the overall number of Syrians in Jordan is around 1.4 million.