Protection in Jordan

In Jordan, the 2,5 million Palestine refugees who are registered with UNRWA enjoy broad inclusion in social and economic life. The vast majority have Jordanian nationality, except for some 185,000 ‘ex-Gazan’ refugees – Palestinians who fled from Gaza to Jordan in the aftermath of the June 1967 hostilities. Several legal restrictions limit their rights and contribute to their vulnerable living conditions. 

Jordan also hosts around 20,200 Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS), 47 percent of whom are children. While most of them are assessed as highly vulnerable and receive UNRWA assistance, many of them additionally face a difficult protection situation, mainly due to their precarious legal status in the country.  

Other vulnerable groups among the Palestine refugee population in Jordan include those living below the poverty line, women and children exposed to different forms of violence including gender-based violence (GBV), and persons with disabilities suffering social exclusion. 

In Jordan, UNRWA targets the specific vulnerabilities of individuals and groups through a range of protection interventions. These include: 

• Enhancing safe and meaningful access to UNRWA services and assistance 

• Strengthening communities to enable them to identify, prevent and mitigate protection risks affecting them 

• Training staff to integrate and respond to the specific needs of the most vulnerable girls, boys, women and men with and without disabilities in service delivery 

• Raising awareness about legal rights and human rights through legal clinics   

• Advocating for the rights of Palestine refugees in Jordan according to international law, with a special focus on ‘ex-Gazans’ and Palestine Refugees from Syria (PRS) 

Protection is further integrated through Area Protection Working Groups. These groups include staff from various UNRWA programmes such as Health, Education, Relief and Social Services, and provide a platform to identify and address a wide range of protection issues including child marriage, child labour, violence against children, gender-based violence and exclusion of persons with disabilities.  

A dedicated legal team provides individual protection support to refugees with legal status and legal documentation challenges. The Protection Unit also implements activities related to Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), ranging from victim assistance to community-based prevention initiatives.  

Protection in Jordan ensures that humanitarian principles and standards are followed in all facilities and by all staff as UNRWA works to promote safe, inclusive, and gender-appropriate responses for Palestine refugees of all ages.    

*Last updated: March 2024 

Stories from the Field

* Play, Learn, Protect: Educating Children One Crossword at a Time