Final Report | Assessing the Needs of Refugees for Financial and Non-Financial Services

Jordan’s small economy is generally struggling with absorbing the effects of the Syria crisis, suffering from rising unemployment and high government debt. The country’s strategic response to the refugee crisis caused by the Syria conflict is outlined in the Jordan Response Plan, which has adopted a resilience-based approach and seeks to bridge the gap between addressing more immediate emergency assistance needs and longer-term institutional and systemic weaknesses. The plan incorporates the country’s endorsement of the so-called ‘Jordan Compact’; an agreement between Jordan and the donor community which, among other efforts, targets the provision of 200,000 job opportunities for Syrian refugees. While some enabling steps have been taken (including the issuing of almost 100,000 work permits, primarily in the ‘open’ sectors of agriculture, construction and manufacturing), the general regulatory framework still imposes fairly strict conditions, limiting the opportunities for formal employment and self-employment on part of refugees (particularly non-Syrians) in a good number of professions and sectors (refugees are for example not allowed to engage in home-based businesses outside the settlements). Working refugees are consequently commonly engaged in informal activities.

The assessment is primarily based on original data collection through direct consultations with refugees as well as financial service providers (FSPs) and other relevant stakeholders. In particular, it involved interviews and focus group discussions with a total of 117 refugees (48% women and including 108 Syrians, 4 Iraqis, 3 Yemeni, and 2 Sudanese) in the capital Amman (49%) and the Zaatari ‘camp’ or settlement in the Mafraq governorate (51%) as well as interviews with 13 stakeholder entities. The assessment also relies on the review of secondary sources. Since direct consultations only involved a limited number of refugees, the data and information collected are not meant to provide statistically significant results. Furthermore, due to the lack of comprehensive socio-economic data for the whole refugee population, it was not possible to randomly select a representative sample. In fact, consulted refugees include an overrepresentation of assisted, and hence more vulnerable, individuals and households. Consequently, findings from the direct consultations with refugees within the scope of the assessment cannot be translated onto the whole refugee population