UNICEF delivers 2,100 tonnes of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza from Jordan, through airlifts, land convoys — Duamelle

AMMAN — From delivering urgent Humanitarian aid to Gaza to development programmes for local communities throughout the Kingdom, UNICEF’s efforts continue to address both immediate crisis and long-term needs in Jordan. In an in-depth interview with The Jordan Times, Phillipe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative to Jordan, reflected over seven decades of UNICEF’s impactful presence in Jordan. 

Since 1952, UNICEF has been serving children in Jordan across various sectors including health, education, nutrition, child protection, social protection, water and sanitation. “For 72 years, together with the Jordanian government, local authorities, and civil society organisations, UNICEF tackled a broad range of issues to advance child rights, addressing immediate humanitarian responses with long-term development goals,” Duamelle said. 

Syria crisis

“When the Syria crisis started, UNICEF Jordan immediate response prioritised the urgent humanitarian needs of Syrian refugee children and their families, and we continue to do so till today. In parallel, we continue working with our national partners to address the needs of children and young people in Jordan through our programmes. This dual approach — addressing immediate humanitarian needs while aligning to long term development goals– underscores the core principle of UNICEF and the way we operate,” Duamelle explained.

Gaza response 

In response to the ongoing regional crisis, Duamelle detailed UNICEF’s efforts successfully transporting so far 2,100 tonnes of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza from Jordan, through airlifts and land convoys. “Despite our efforts, the aid is still a fraction of what is needed to meet the current needs,” he acknowledged, stressing that the organisation seeks to increase its aid delivery to approximately 40 trucks a week. 

“Jordan has been crucial in supporting and facilitating relief aid to Gaza.” Duamelle explained. Through our partnerships with the Jordanian government, UNICEF has been able to upscale the aid efforts providing multiple types of supplies, including medical and surgical kits, therapeutic food, children food, blankets, water and sanitation equipment, and we will continue. 

“Access is still an issue for sure. As long as the fighting continues, the access of humanitarian assistance remains extremely challenging.” Duamelle explained the logistic challenges, hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in addition to the funding shortage, stressing on the ongoing calls for an immediate ceasefire to protect and alleviate the suffering faced by children and families within the Gaza Strip.

“The level of suffering and trauma that children in Palestine are experiencing is catastrophic. Humanitarian agencies desperately need unimpeded and safe access to be able to deliver aid and provide lifesaving interventions for people in Gaza strip, especially most vulnerable groups including children and women. At the moment no place is safe for children in Gaza. Furthermore, the long-lasting implications of this conflict on children are deeply alarming, children being deprived from their basic rights including access to schools, health services, in addition to physical and emotional traumas they encounter on daily basis. That is why we need a ceasefire now, we need to be able to reach every child and meet their critical needs.”

UNRWA

Duamelle emphasised the pivotal role of UNRWA, the leading UN agency for assisting Palestinian refugees. “We stand in solidarity with UNRWA, it is an essential player for the assistance of Palestinian refugees. We are hopeful that it will receive the necessary financial support to continue its vital work,” he said.

‘Learning to Earning’ Programmes

UNICEF has been implementing a diverse range of projects under the “Learning to Earning” programme targeting young people in Jordan. The programme focuses on improving young people’s skills, supporting them in starting their income-generating projects and entering the labour market as employees or entrepreneurs.

One the programmes under “Learning to Earning” is “Azem”, launched in 2020 as an economic emergency response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Azem aims to equip vulnerable youth aged between 18-24, with focus on girls and young women, as well as community-based organisations, with entrepreneurship and business development skills. Furthermore, in-kind seed funding allows participants to establish their own viable micro businesses. This focus on entrepreneurship, particularly home-based, is especially beneficial for young women, providing them with flexible working hours and addressing the challenges of restricted mobility.”

Duamelle also highlighted the second project under “Learning to Earning”, “Inhad”, which is the national programme focused on self-employment. This programme supports young entrepreneurs, aged 18-45 years, by offering them technical and financial assistance, as well as business linkages to help them establish their own viable Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Explaining the third project under “Learning to Earning” programme, Duamelle explained that “Nahno” is another UNICEF supported programme focused on volunteering. “In Jordan, the National Youth Engagement and Volunteering Platform [Nahno] was launched in 2018 to promote volunteerism and enhance youth meaningful engagement and employability. The programme supports youth participation and youth led actions through service leadership, trainings and internships,” stated Duamelle.

In implementing these programmes, he indicated that UNICEF is closely collaborating with national partners and ministries, including the Business Development Centre, Dar Abu Abdullah, the Crown Prince Foundation, the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship.

Social protection 

Highlighting one of UNICEF’s key social protection programmes in Jordan, Duamelle explained that the “Makani” programme was established in 2015, and was initially designed to offer informal education and child protection services to the most vulnerable children in Jordan, with focus on Syrian refugees. Today, it offers a wide range of age-appropriate services to vulnerable children, adolescents, and youth living in Jordan, including Jordanian children.

“Currently, there are 114 operational Makani centres, aiming to reach 95,000 children, youth, and caregivers in 2024. Makani integrated services are designed to follow the life cycle approach, and include learning support services, skills development opportunities, community-based child protection, early childhood development and parenting sessions,”Duamelle explained.

“However, the funding for these operations is on the decline, impacting UNICEF’s efforts in Jordan as well. In late 2023 and early 2024, due to funding shortages, UNICEF had to close 22 out of 136 Makani centres, impacting approximately 26,000 children, adolescents, youth, and caregivers who regretfully lost access to these integrated services. Furthermore, this year, an additional 10 Makani centres are at risk of closure due to ongoing financial constraints, potentially affecting another 14,000 vulnerable children.”

Funding Challenges

In terms of funding challenges, UNICEF among other UN agencies face severe budget gaps, with only 31 per cent of its $170 million appeal for 2024 being met. 

“This is really concerning, the widening funding gaps over the past years due to multiple reasons, are limiting our ability to deliver critical interventions for the most vulnerable children but also hindering the implementation of sustainable high impact programmes for children and young people in Jordan,” Duamelle explained. 

“For example, if you look at Azraq and Zaatari camps for Syrian refugees, these are city-size refugee camps; families living in the camps have imminent basic needs, including access to drinking water and sanitation facilities. UNICEF in coordination with its partners is managing the full operation of the drinking water and sanitation facilities in the camps for Syrian refugees in Jordan. For education, we are supporting the running cost of the schools in the camps, including support to the Syrian volunteer teachers, the operational costs of the schools among other costs. Same applies for social protection, where UNICEF is operating Makani Centres in the camps serving tens of thousands of children with non-formal education, skills development and psychosocial support interventions. We are facing serious challenges due to funding cuts and very soon we might be forced to significantly reduce or stop our support to these critical services.” 

“This situation is not only limited to funding shortages for Syrian refugees, but the whole range of our programmatic interventions are also affected by funding gaps. This lack of funding presents imminent risk on our abilities to continue implementing some of the key interventions in several programmatic areas including health, social protection, education, and child protection. This means that we might be forced to scale down or even stop some of our interventions, depriving hundreds of thousands of children and young people in Jordan from these critical activities and life-changing opportunities. Yet, as we speak, we are facing real challenges to continue providing some of these interventions due to budget deficits. These budget reductions have serious implications on children and families’ lives. We sincerely hope that efforts and solidarity will prevail to ensure that their rights are fully met.”