UNHCR grants US$11 million to boost health services in Jordan
News Stories, 19 November 2007
© UNHCR/S.Malkawi
Health and Education. Iraqi and Jordanian children head off to school in Amman; UNHCR's grants are helping ensure education and health care for young Iraqis.
AMMAN, Jordan, November 19 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Monday pledged US$11 million to help Jordan provide improved medical services and facilities for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in the country.
The money will be distributed by Jordan's Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation under a funding agreement signed in Amman today. The money will help the Ministry of Health enhance public medical services and primary health centres.
"In the health sector this will mean increased capacity and improved services to help Jordan and our Iraqi brethren," Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali said after signing the accord on behalf of the Jordanian government.
The grant comes as part of UNHCR's commitment to help neighbouring countries, especially Jordan and Syria, cope with an influx of more than 2.2 million Iraqis, who have fled the conflict in their country. UNHCR assistance in these countries is focusing on five areas of assistance – education, health, food, social and legal counselling, and shelter.
Iraqi refugees have been putting a strain on Jordan's health sector and the government has been trying to boost and improve medical facilities. "For a long time there was not enough attention given to the burden on Jordan and we continue to try to help in alleviating this burden," UNHCR Representative in Jordan Imran Riza said after signing the agreement.
The health grant follows an earlier agreement under which UNHCR agreed to provide some US$10 million to strengthen the capacity of Jordan's public schools. Tens of thousands of Iraqis were allowed to enrol in public schools at the start of the academic year last September.
By Rana Sweis in Amman, Jordan
The health of refugees and other displaced people is a priority for UNHCR.
Crisis in Iraq: Displacement
UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.
In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities
Posted on 12 June 2007
Crisis in Iraq: Displacement
Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan
After Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in Iraq in 2003, groups of refugees who had lived in the country for many years tried to leave the chaos and lawlessness that soon ensued. Hundreds of people started fleeing to the border with Jordan, including Palestinians in Baghdad and Iranian Kurds from the Al Tash refugee camp in central Iraq.
Aside from a few Palestinians with family connections inside the neighbouring country, the refugees were refused entry and free movement in Jordan. Thousands were soon stranded in the no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan or at the desert camp of Ruweished, located 60 kilometres inside Jordan.
Since 2003, Palestinians, Iranian Kurds, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have been living there and suffering the scorching heat and freezing winters of the Jordanian desert. UNHCR and its partners have provided housing and assistance and tried to find solutions – the agency has helped resettle more than 1,000 people in third countries. At the beginning of 2007, a total of 119 people – mostly Palestinians – remained in Ruweished camp without any immediate solution in sight.
Posted on 20 February 2007
Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan
Iraqi Refugees in Jordan
The UN refugee agency has launched a US$60 million appeal to fund its work helping hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The new appeal concludes that unremitting violence in Iraq will likely mean continued mass internal and external displacement affecting much of the surrounding region. The appeal notes that the current exodus is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948.
UNHCR has warned that the longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it will become for the hundreds of thousands of displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq. Because the burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous, it is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts.
The US$60 million will cover UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non-Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people within Iraq itself.
Posted on 10 January 2007
Iraqi Refugees in Jordan
Iraq: Harsh Living
There are more than 350 settlements for internally displaced people in Iraq.The living conditions in most of them are dire.
Iraq: Brick by Brick
In Iraq, where more than 2 million people remain displaced, UNHCR has launched a home renovation project to assist returns.
Angelina Jolie in Iraq
During a day-long visit to Baghdad, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited a makeshift settlement for internally displaced people in the Chikook suburb of north-west Baghdad where she met with four families displaced from the district of Abu Ghraib and from the western suburbs of the Iraqi capital.
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