Jordan’s Policy Brief: "Understanding Gender Dynamics to Inform the Jordan Refugee Response"

Countries: Jordan, World Sources: CARE, UN Children's Fund, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Women, United Nations Population Fund Please refer to the attached file. Across eight governorates and two camps In Jordan; where Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Sudanese, Somali, and other refugees exist; an eye-opening policy brief has been developed including 1,482 participants. This brief is a strong example of inter-agency coordination to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Under the leadership of the Inter-Sectoral Gender Advisory Team (ISGAT)-with contributions from UN Women, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNFPA, and CARE International, and co-funded by UN Women and UNICEF- a diverse team of expertise, extracted data, and field insights was brought together to create a brief informed by diverse mandate perspectives and expertise. The brief identifies persistent inequalities in Economic participation, Household decision-making, Gender-based violence, and Reliance on overburdened informal networks. In households where women carried out the unpaid care 4.2 times more than men , only 4.4% were able to participate into income-generating activities. Inside homes, 80% of women ensured that men are the decision makers regarding women’s work. In marriages**, 26%** of refugee women reported experiencing intimate partner violence, and unfortunately, 42% insist they would remain silent if it happened. And for many already navigating displacement, survival depended on overburdened informal networks, due to inadequate formal services, particularly for out-of-camp refugees and minority groups. Another trend emerged from the brief showed that women-led households now make up 16.2% of all refugee families and up to 25% in camps. Many women/ wives became heads of families in a blink of an eye as the male heads of households left for Syria, often without consulting them. On February 4th, the policy brief emerged from the refugee women voices was officially launched, and it has been actively disseminated across multiple coordination platforms. Separate briefings were delivered to the Jordan Operations Senior Humanitarian Group (JOSH), the Inter-Sector Working Group (ISWG), and the WASH Working Group on different occasions. On February 5th, at a roundtable hosted by the Immigration Department of the Embassy of Canada to Jordan, the brief’s findings were shared under the theme of “Protected Characteristics.” Across all these platforms, stakeholders acknowledged its relevance, its urgency and timeliness in addressing the evolving gender dynamics of the refugee response. Together with this collaborative approach, they ensured the analysis drew on each agency's sectoral expertise and field-level data, resulting in a comprehensive, cross-sectoral evidence base rather than siloed findings. The coordination process also strengthened a shared understanding of gendered refugee dynamics among partners and produced unified, actionable recommendations directed at three levels: the Jordan Refugee Response coordination structure, donors, and sector organisations. The brief demonstrates how pooling resources and expertise across agencies can produce a higher-quality, more impactful product than any single entity could achieve alone. The process didn’t just produce a brief; it rather strengthened partnerships, aligned strategies, and deepened the shared understanding of gender realities within Jordan’s refugee communities. The team will now move forward to integrate the analysis and findings in the UN’s support to the national response plan.

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