Shraideh urges international community to honour pledges to JRP 2021

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh on Saturday acquainted ambassadors and representatives of donor countries with the economic challenges facing the Kingdom due to the Syrian refugee influxes and how Jordan dealt with these crises.

During a meeting at the ministry, Shraideh reviewed the repercussions on the Kingdom as a result of hosting more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees, which put additional strain on the budget, host communities and public services.

He stressed the need for the international community to increase and sustain assistance, according to a ministry statement.

The minister also urged the international community to assume its responsibilities towards countries hosting Syrian refugees, mainly Jordan, in light of the remarkable drop in the support presented to the Jordan Response Plan to the Syrian Crisis (JRP) over the past two years.

In this regard, he called on the international community to provide the necessary funds for the JRP2021, which was prepared and updated through joint efforts among all relevant ministries, institutions, UN agencies, donor countries and non-government organisations.

The minister added that the 2021 plan included a new component to deal with the pandemic, where the total financial needs of the JRP 2021 stands at some $2.4 billion to cover the needs of refugees and host communities, and enable the government to continue providing basic services for Syrian refugees.

Shraideh, in this regard, briefed the international community with the Kingdom's efforts towards refugees in the fields of education, protection, livelihoods and health, including providing refugees with anti-COVID-19 vaccines.

The minister stressed that the support of the international community to Jordan at this time is an “urgent need” to enable Jordan to continue its humanitarian role on behalf of the international community towards Syrian refugees residing in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, participants in the meeting praised the pivotal role of the Kingdom, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, in providing refugees with decent living conditions despite the scarce resources, stressing their efforts to provide the necessary financial support to the government.

They also voiced understanding of the challenges facing Jordan and the resulting repercussions for receiving refugees, highlighting the importance of focusing on the quality and effectiveness of assistance to deal with this crisis in the best way.

The attendees also stressed the importance of holding more meetings soon to reach "a clear vision" on how to deal with this crisis.