Comprehensive Food Security Monitoring Exercise (CFSME) - Syrian Refugees in Jordan - July 2015

As the Syrian crisis extends into its fifth year, almost 630,000 Syrian refugees are now registered by UNHCR as displaced to Jordan,1 the vast majority of which (nearly 85 percent) live in host communities outside of refugee camps. Since the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)/REACH 2014 Comprehensive Food Security Monitoring Exercise (CFSME), there have been several significant changes in context for refugees living in Jordan: Azraq refugee camp has opened, the regulatory environment has become more restrictive, and humanitarian funding has decreased, resulting in less assistance for refugees living in the host communities. To measure how these changes have affected refugees, WFP, again in partnership with REACH, has carried out another CFSME throughout all 12 governorates of Jordan as well as in Azraq and Za’atri refugee camps. The results of this exercise were compared to the findings from the WFP/REACH 2014 CFSME. Given the similar approach and timing, the results of the two CFSMEs are directly comparable and therefore provide a good understanding of how the food security situation of Syrian refugees in Jordan has evolved over the year.

The overall objectives of the CFSME (2015) are to assess current levels of refugee food security, how these have changed from last year and review how many and who are the most vulnerable refugees. This in turn then informs WFP targeting, the prioritisation of families and households for urgent assistance. The findings in this report focus on vulnerability to food insecurity and how this interconnects and reinforces cross-sector vulnerability of refugees living within host communities, with comparisons to findings from the refugee camps where relevant. In total, 5,088 families, representing 2,837 households and comprising 20,255 individuals, were surveyed between March and May 2015 during this monitoring exercise.