Jordan: 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.