Jordan - UNOPS Jordan: Labour-intensive maintenance and upkeep in public spaces (Phase I)

completed

The influx of Syrian refugees has increased the pressure on the Jordanian labor market. There is a lack of employment opportunities for Syrians and, in some cases, for vulnerable Jordanians, particularly in the northern districts of Irbid, Mafraq and Balqa, as well as in the governorates of Aljoun and Maan. This is leading to increasing tensions between refugees and residents of the host communities. There is a lack of income and life prospects for both refugees and vulnerable Jordanians. At the same time, there is a great need to repair public schools in Jordan, as they are also massively overloaded as a result of the relatively high population growth and the influx of refugees and are therefore wearing out more quickly. To make matters worse, Jordan does not have a functioning cleaning, maintenance and repair system for public schools. The result is that schools across the country are already in poor condition just a few years after they were opened. The project aims to improve the condition of public schools in the short term through rapid, labor-intensive maintenance and repair. This is intended to create positive income and employment effects for up to 4,000 Jordanians and Syrian refugees. The measures are supplemented by on-the-job training for the target group. The program is expected to run for 20 months.