About Jordan

Jordan is home to 10.8 million people. It is home to the second highest number of refugees per capita in the world. More than 760,000 refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the majority (over 650,000) from Syria. Most Syrian refugees live in abject poverty and have precarious legal status. Also, more than two million Palestinian refugees reside in Jordan. Most, but not all of them, have citizenship. Many live in the ten official and three unofficial Palestinian refugee camps throughout the country. In addition to Syrian and Palestinian refugees, other large groups of refugees come from Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. Nearly half of the refugee population in Jordan are children under the age of 18.

The country has high unemployment rates (over 20% in the first quarter of 2024), especially among young people. As a result, families resort to negative coping strategies such as withdrawing children from school, sending children to work and/or forcing girls into early marriage. 

The Syrian refugee crisis, which began 10 years ago, has put a significant strain on Jordan’s national systems, including education and health care. Population growth is putting increasing pressure on all services. This leaves poor children, undocumented refugee children, children with disabilities, children from marginalised ethnic minorities and children living in informal settlements particularly vulnerable and at risk of child labour. 

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic overshadowed everything and had a severe impact on the socio-economic fabric of Jordan. It affected the root causes of child labour, including an increase in household poverty, particularly in our programme areas of East Ammam and Za’atari refugee camp.

Our focus areas: Za’atari refugee camp, Za’atari village and East Amman

Za’atari refugee camp is a refugee settlement located 10 kilometres east of the northern Jordanian city of Mafraq. It hosts approximately 80,000 refugees and is considered a permanent settlement. The camp is jointly managed by the Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate (SRAD) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Since its establishment in 2021, Za’atari has become emblematic of Syrian displacement across the Middle East. It is the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world. More than half of the camp’s population are children under the age of 18. 

In Za’atari refugee camp, many refugees live in UNHCR-provided shelters. Over the years, the Za’atari camp has grown into a dynamic settlement. It has markets with everything from vegetable shops to restaurants to bicycle repair shops, all run by refugees. Many of the owners and workers in these businesses do not have work permits in Jordan; in fact, only a very small percentage of refugees of working age in Za’atari have work permits. Due to the lack of work opportunities inside the camp, refugees and refugee children often leave the camp to work in host communities around the camp, especially in agriculture. 

Health clinics are scattered around the camp to treat emergencies and people coming in off the streets. Za’atari camp has six medical facilities that provide primary health care, including one that provides 24-hour emergency services. However, dwindling funding has led some health providers to close their clinics in the camp, limiting the availability of basic services and stretching the capacity of remaining providers. 

Our other focus area, East Amman, is also home to many refugees and faces a number of pressing socio-economic challenges. Many of these are similar to those in Za’atari refugee camp. For example, unemployment and poverty rates are high, there is a high rate of chronic health problems, people have no form of health insurance, and a very low number of children are fully enrolled in formal education.

Child labour

The definition of child labour we use is: “Any form of work performed by children under the age of 15 that interferes with their right to formal quality education, and/or that is mentally, physically, socially and morally dangerous and harmful for their health and development; as well as any form of hazardous work performed by children between 15 and 18 years old.”In general, children in child labour are not a homogeneous group. They differ in age, gender and background. Some do paid work, others unpaid; some are self-employed, others receive wages. Many children work in the informal sector, an area of economic activity that is largely invisible and unregulated by governments. This makes child labourers vulnerable to all forms of exploitation: very low wages, excessive working hours, unhygienic or abusive working conditions, retention of identity documents, debt bondage. 

Child labour in Jordan in East Amman and the Za’atari camp

Between 2007 and 2016, the number of child labourers in Jordan more than doubled. One of the main reasons is the worsening economic situation due to the large influx of refugees.

In Za’atari camp, an estimated 3,300 children between the ages of 7 and 17 are engaged in child labour. Half of them work seven days a week, and 80% of them suffer from extreme fatigue. The main sectors in which children work are agriculture outside the camp and shops inside the camp. 

Child labour in Za’atari camp is mainly caused by poverty and social norms surrounding child labour. As a result, families are dependent on their children’s contribution to their family income. 

East Amman is home to many Jordanians and refugees. Similar to Za’atari camp, poverty and social norms are the main causes of child labour. Children in East Amman work mainly in small shops, car workshops, home-based businesses and the recycling industry. 

Domestic work is also very common in both the Za’atari camp and in East Amman. This type of work is more common among girls and much more hidden; they work long and exhausting hours and are denied basic rights such as access to education and health care, the right to rest, leisure, play and recreation.

“In Jordan, we have children working in the recycling industry. At the landfill, they employ kids to take parts out of old cars, like the iron and copper. The children work with toxic waste and materials, what results in different health issues on the long term.” – Johan Vigne, Child Protection Officer UNICEF

School enrolment

The enrolment rate of Jordanian children in schools is very high. According to UNICEF, 98 percent of Jordanian children are enrolled in primary school. 86 per cent of them are enrolled in formal secondary education. For Syrian refugee children, however, the situation is different. Only 59 percent of registered Syrian refugee children of school age are enrolled in formal education. This means that 41 per cent of Syrian school-age children in Jordan are not in school. 

Many of the reasons for not attending or dropping out of school among children in camps are related to their living situation and refugee status. Examples of obstacles to education include early marriage for girls aged 12-17, the importance of work over school for children, distance from school and lack of safe routes to school (violence on the way to and from school), and strong social and cultural norms that discourage girls from attending school. 

“For many parents, especially in rural areas, it doesn’t feel save to send their children to school. The schools are far away, there is lack of public transport and children encounter dangers like unsafe roads and stray dogs. Also, the schools themselves could be safer, with less bullying, etc. ” – Safa Aijoussy, Advocacy, Campaigns and Communications Director Save the Children Jordan

WNCB partners working in Jordan

Two WNCB partners were active in Jordan: UNICEF Jordan and Save the Children Jordan (with Johud, the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development). While the two organisations have different strengths, this partnership has allowed them to work together more effectively.