UNHCR Jordan receives ‘no funding’ for 2022 winter assistance programme

AMMAN — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has received no funding for the 2022 winter assistance programme. Originally, disbursing assistance in Jordan was planned to begin in October, which concludes Monday with no funds having materialised. 

Amid the “growing socioeconomic instability” surrounding many refugees, UNHCR is in need of some $46 million to support 120,000 refugee families in Jordan with winter cash assistance, according to UNHCR.

UNHCR spokesperson in Jordan, Meshal Al Fayez, in press remarks to Al Mamlaka TV on Sunday, said that UNHCR “has not received any funding for this year’s winter assistance programme”, noting that the agency is still contacting donors to access funding. 

A recent report revealed that UNHCR Jordan, as of October 25, had received only 42 per cent of its financial requirements for 2022.

This year’s funding requirements are estimated at $408.4 million, of which only $172.126 million has been received. The shortfall follows Jordan’s warnings that refugees in the Kingdom could face a humanitarian crisis within months if no funding for the provision of basic health and cash programmes is made available quickly. 

UNHCR had planned to increase the value of the 2022-2023 winter cash assistance to $380 per household, accounting for inflation and other price increases.

UNHCR’s winter strategy focuses on three areas: Providing seasonal cash assistance to vulnerable families to meet additional needs during the winter period, providing basic winter relief items such as blankets and winter clothing, as well as the provision of water-resistant, winter-friendly shelters, and improving drainage systems and general infrastructure in camps.

In Jordan, UNHCR requires nearly $40.9 million to support 106,622 Syrian refugee households, representing some 391,400 individuals, in addition to $5 million to provide assistance to 26,000 Iraqi and other refugees, who make up 13,000 families.

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Jordan has been hosting more than 1.3 million Syrians, including 676,606 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR.

The agency added that the total number of registered refugees of all nationalities in the Kingdom is 763,000, excluding Palestinian refugees, who are registered with UNRWA.