Multi-stakeholder partnership seeks to empower 25,000 young Jordanians, Syrian refugees

AMMAN — The Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Generations For Peace, INJAZ, the Jordan River Foundation and Mercy Corps are joining hands in multi-stakeholder partnership to offer better opportunities to 25,000 young Syrian refugees and vulnerable young Jordanians, according to a DRC statement.

A grant worth 120m Danish krone awarded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation will also be used to mobilise additional funding from the private sector, the Jordanian government and other institutional donors to pilot a sustainable method for providing young people with better opportunities at large scale, the statement said.

The project, which has a duration of three years and is expected to kick off by January 1, 2020, “will set a new agenda for how partnerships can achieve considerably larger impact together”, the statement said. 

Thirty-seven per cent of young people aged 15-24 are unemployed in Jordan, compared with the global average of 13 per cent, and unemployment among young Syrians in Jordan is at approximately 84 per cent, noted the statement.

Only 7 per cent of Syrian women are participating in the Jordanian labour market. Improving life skills among youth will thus lead to “a generation who will become change agents in a troubled region”, read the statement.

The Syrian refugee influx has had a significant impact on Jordan’s already fragile socioeconomic conditions and has placed growing pressure on the country’s tenuous economic and social fabric. 

This is the background for the multi-stakeholder project, called RYSE (Resilient Youth, Socially and Economically Empowered), which will stand on three pillars, according to the statement.

The first pillar will focus on providing life skills, trainings, and pathways for youth to engage in leadership in civil society, according to the statement. 

The second pillar will provide a comprehensive approach to help young people obtain the training and support needed to be strong candidates for better jobs. Families of youth will receive customised support packages including coaching, general family guidance, cash support and individually designed pathways to obtain meaningful and decent job opportunities. 

Finally, the project will address formal societal structures in Jordan that prevent youth from actively participating in civil society and the labour market. Creating an enabling environment that actively includes young people will be critical for the long-term success of the project, noted the statement. 

“We are very proud to have been selected to implement such an extensive project which will be the largest private partnership we have ever entered,” said DRC Secretary General Charlotte Slente, speaking on behalf of the consortium. 

“Syria’s lengthy crisis has paused the lives of Syrians and vulnerable Jordanians. It is critical for their future to support these 25,000 young people with education and job training,” Slente was quoted in the statement as saying.

The roles of the partners

The DRC will serve as the lead agency in the partnership and be the grant holder, responsible for the overall project, reporting and relations with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the statement said.

The DRC will be operating under all three specific objectives and will be “solely responsible for the project interventions in the Azraq refugee camp”, according to the statement.

Generations For Peace will deliver youth-led civic engagement programmes outside the camps, focusing on arts, sports and advocacy and will train teachers, youth workers and NGO staff in transformative leadership. 

The Jordan River Foundation will deliver youth-led civic engagement programmes outside the camps, focusing on advocacy, innovation, and technology, the statement said, noting that the foundation will also train teachers, youth workers and NGO staff in transformative leadership. 

Mercy Corps will deliver youth-led civic engagement programmes in the Zaatari refugee camp and the DRC and Generations For Peace will support households through the economic empowerment intervention. 

INJAZ will implement school-based life skills and entrepreneurship training. 

”Young people have an incredible ability to stay positive and motivated, and the young Syrian refugees in Jordan are no exception. I am very impressed with the tremendous contributions of our partners in creating this project, which will improve the chances for young refugees to realise their hopes and dreams,” Hanna Line Jakobsen, head of Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Social and Humanitarian area, was quoted in the statement as saying.

The partners will work together to conduct a market assessment and engage with the private sector in support of the programme. 

RYSE will be implemented in close cooperation with the Jordanian government and the local private sector, concluded the statement.