Baseline Assessment of Child Labour among Syrian Refugees in Za’atari Refugee Camp - Jordan

One particularly striking social phenomenon that has emerged not only in Jordan but in all countries hosting Syrian refugees is that of child labour. In the context of the international community’s "No Lost Generation initiative" efforts have been made to analyse the problem in more detail, its causes and consequences, in order to put in place a comprehensive and effective plan of action to reduce and ultimately eliminate the significant numbers of working Syrian refugee children and prevent its recurrence.

In this context, the Jordan Country Office of Save the Children International (SCI) and UNICEF Jordan carried out a detailed survey on the very visible phenomenon of child labour in Za’atari refugee in mid-2014. This report examines in detail the outcomes of the interviews of a random sample of 518 children, 179 of whom were working. It was important to note the high percentage of children not going to school within this random sample, 62 per cent. Working children within the sample were questioned in more detail on the nature and characteristics of their activities.

Recommendations are arranged on a short, medium and long-term basis. It is hoped that these recommendations will contribute to the development of an agreed action plan to address child labour in Za’atari refugee camp and to the launch of a child labour survey outside the camp, to analyse the situation in host communities and prepare an appropriate strategy for this context as well.