A. PROJECT DETAILS

Organization Islamic Relief Jordan

Project name Conditional Cash Project for Vulnerable Syrian and

Jordanian Children in Irbid, Jordan

Location Jordan, Irbid

DFID reference 204007

Start and end date of grant 15-1-2014 / 15-1-2016

Budget 2,000,000 GBP

Type of report Year 2 – Quarter 5

Reporting time period 15-1-2015 / 15-4-2015

B. PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

Overall performance

The project “Conditional Cash Project for Vulnerable Syrians and Jordanians Children in Irbid, Jordan” is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by Islamic Relief Jordan (IRJ). It supports Syrian refugees through interventions in the education and shelter sectors. The idea of the project is to ensure children’s right to education and protection; children of Syrian refugee families and the host community are encouraged to attend/return to school (or informal education) for which conditional cash assistance is given to the families for their monthly rental bills. At the end of Q4 2,631 children (the target of project for Year One) were back in education and their families were receiving financial support to contribute to their monthly rental costs. During Q5, an additional 571 children (Syrian: 371, Jordanian: 200) were reached through the project bringing the cumulative total to 3,202. In Q5 (the beginning of Year Two) 1,828 Syrian refugee children are attending informal education sessions (facilitated by the partner, ICCS), and 803 Jordanian children are back in formal education (in Jordanian public schools). Q5 saw the first referrals for Syrian refugee children who have been performing well in informal education into Jordanian public schools (in collaboration with Ministry of Education); by the end of Q5, 371 Syrian children had fully completed the registration process and are now back in formal education. 200 Jordanian children who were part of the project in Year One are now committed to attend public schools after six months involvement in this project. Additional Syrian and Jordanian children have now been brought into the project to take their places.

Key successes

To date, 3,202 school-aged children (1,523 girls (48%), 1,679 boys (52%); 2,199 Syrian (69%), 1,003 Jordanian

(31%)) have received education as a result of this project. These figures exceed the milestone for this quarter

(2,631 children) by 175 children and represents 81% of the target figure for the end of the project.

During Q5, 371 Syrian children (178 girls, 193 boys) who performed well in the informal classes during Year

One, were successfully referred to Jordanian public schools and have therefore completed their return to

formal education after a period of absence. This is a highly significant achievement for these children and for

the project in general. It is important to note that the capacity of Jordanian schools to accommodate Syrian

students is almost saturated and it has become highly challenging to find places for Syrians in Jordanian

schools, particularly in the areas of high refugee population density in north Jordan.

The agreement and scope of the potential role with Save the Children remains under discussion between IRJ

and DFID. The intended responsibility for Save the Children will be to refer children in informal education

classes who are ready to rejoin formal education as they are the organization authorized to process such

referrals in Jordan. In the absence of this agreement, the 371 Syrian children referenced above were referred

to formal education through the facilitation of IRJ and ICCS staff (without involvement of Save the Children).

ICCS have successfully developed an agreement with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to enable them to

process referrals and to access attendance sheets. This enables ICCS to monitor the progress of the students

and make payments according to their ongoing involvement and commitment to education.

House-to-house visits continued during Q5 to identify out-of-school children and a further 518 families were

visited during the period. By the end of Q1, the following cumulative results had been achieved:

2,069 Syrian families and 489 Jordanian families have been assessed – 2,558 families total

4,121 Syrian out-of-school children have been identified and of these 2,199 children have fully

completed the registration process and are now either back in informal education offered by ICCS

(1,828 children) or in formal education (371 children) at Jordanian public schools.

1,003 Jordanian children who were either out-of-school or at risk of dropping out have been identified

with 803 of these now benefitting from formal education (10 schools in Irbid, 6 schools in Ramtha and

3 schools in Bni kenanh). 200 Jordanian children who attended public school for six months during Year

One have now completed their involvement in the project having received six months of payments.

MoE nominated a new target area (Bni kenanh) for the project where there are Jordanian children in

need of assistance. In Q5, 173 Jordanian children in this area were added to the project.

897 Syrian families (2,135 children) have received payments; some families have more than one child

in the project. A monthly payment of 30JD is given for each child attending education.

444 Jordanian families (303 children) have received payment. As for Syrian children, some families

have more than one child in the project and the same amount of 30JD per child per month is paid.

Center Visited Families

Number of school age

children

Boys Girls Benefited Families

Benefited Children in

ICCS

Girls Boys Children transferred to public school

Total

Kourah 728 1,569 728 841 226 472 269 203 300 772

Irbid 742 1,408 688 720 366 767 354 413 0 767

Ramtha 433 773 455 318 243 482 222 260 71 553

Sarih 166 371 187 184 62 107 48 59 0 107

Total 2,069 4,121 2,058 2,063 897 1,828 893 935 371 2,199

Table 1: Number of Syrian children (disaggregated by sex) who have been visited, identified and now benefitting from the

project

Center Visited Families Benefited Children Girls Boys Children finish the course Total

Bni kenanh 73 137 74 63 0 137

Irbid 337 470 213 257 515 621

Ramtha 79 196 82 114 94 291

Total 489 803 369 434 022 3227 Table 2: Number of Jordanian children (disaggregated by sex and geographical area) benefitting from the project

School Location Girls Boys Total

Samakh Elementary School (girls) Irbid 29 0 29

Thaora Al Arbea School (boys) Irbid 0 51 51

Yarmouk Elementary school (mixed) Irbid 28 15 43

Adon Elementary School (boys) Irbid 0 26 26

Adon Secondary School (girls) Irbid 12 0 12

Hakma School (boys) Irbid 0 42 42

Rabea Aladoea Secondary (girls) Irbid 20 0 20

UNRWA / Irbid Camp School and Shahid Azmi Mufti Camp School Irbid 105 123 228

Nusseibeh Al Mazinah Elementary School (girls) Irbid 6 0 6

Safiah Secondary School (girls) Irbid 13 0 13

Nahawand Elementary School (mixed) Ramtha 22 10 32

Eamrawh Secondary School (girls) Ramtha 54 0 54

Mohealden Elementary School (boys) Ramtha 0 19 19

Emrawh Secondary School (boys) Ramtha 0 58 58

Emrawh Elementary School (mixed) Ramtha 8 11 19

Thaora Secondary School (boys) Ramtha 0 14 14

Kafrsoom Elementary & Secondary School (boys) Bni kenanh 0 46 46

Kafrsoom Elementary & Secondary School (girls) Bni kenanh 43 0 43

Alhamh Alordneh Elementary School (girls) Bni kenanh 31 17 48

Total 371 432 803

Table 3: Number of Jordanian children (disaggregated by sex and school) benefitting from the project

Increased attendance for Syrian children:

The introduction of free transportation assistance for the students in the project (identified as a need during

field observations and the stakeholder’s workshop) has successfully resulted in increased attendance rates. This

service is being provided by ICCS who are being compensated with project funds. This support began during Q4

for Syrian children in the four centres and has been scaled up during Q5.

Figure 1: Attendance rates for Syrian students in the project

0

20

40

60

80

100

Girls Attendance Boys Attendance

Monitoring the attendance records of the students shows there is a higher rate of attendance among girls than

boys (see Figure 2). This is due to some boys working in the market for days in the month. This issue is something

that will be considered during the impact study. Analysis of the age groups of the Syrian students benefitting

from the project (Table 4) shows that there is a balanced spread overall (7 – 9 years: 32%; 10 – 12 years: 34%; 13

– 16 years: 34%), but with more younger children in Irbid, and more older students in Ramtha.

Figure 2: Attendance rates (%) showing variation between boys and girls

DFID project open day

After the success of the open day in Deir Abu Se'eed center during Q3, on 4 April 2015 IRJ held another open

day for children enrolled in this project. This time, 107 Syrian children (48 girls, 59 boys) from Sarih centre

participated. In collaboration with Sarih Islamic Centre the open day provided an enjoyable and informative

way in which the children were given the opportunity to play games and make new friends. During Year Two,

IRJ will hold further open days in other centers (Ramtha, Irbid).

Educational centres WASH improvements

IRJ and ICCS are working together to rehabilitate existing WASH facilities at ICCS centres. With this project

already bringing over 1,800 additional children to use the ICCS centres, and more to come, the extra demand

on the existing WASH facilities has created the need for some rehabilitation work. This does not represent a

specific WASH outcome to the project, but serves to ensure that the project beneficiaries have access to

adequate and appropriate WASH facilities while attending school. The assessment work was completed during

Q5, and in Q6 IRJ will finish the tender and the WASH rehabilitation works. The assessments found that

rehabilitation work will be required in the bathrooms of all four centres.

The WASH rehabilitation works will include:

Tile WASH facilities as required The expansion of the bathrooms and maintenance Water and sanitation: Maintenance of all sanitary fittings in the bathrooms, maintenance of water

supply, and therefore reduced health risks and better hygiene Replace the doors and windows

Feedback from beneficiaries

IRJ has continued its efforts to engage with beneficiaries to seek ongoing feedback on the project. In Q5, a

focus group discussion (FGD) was held in Sarih center with Syrian and Jordanian parents of the children in the

project as well as the Jordanian landlords; there were 11 participants in total (4 men, 7 women; 9 Syrian, 3

Jordanian). The FGD sought to consider evaluation of project payment mechanism, staff performance project

and the impact of the project on children. The results were predominantly positive, but as will be noted from

the adjacent chart, there was one negative comment about the level of satisfaction of project staff. This related

Location Type Student age (years) Total

7-9 10-12 13-16

Irbid Refugees 287 280 200 767

Sarih Refugees 24 38 45 107

Kourah Refugees 158 181 133 472

Ramtha Refugees 113 128 241 482

Total 582 627 619 1,828 Table 4: Number of Syrian children (disaggregated by age)

benefitting from the project

to an issue with a member of ICCS team. To

address this, and to improve the

performance of ICCS staff in the project, IRJ

held another meeting with all ICCS in all

centres to explain the rules and expected

standards of the project and enable

discussion and any questions from the staff.

Figure 3: FGD result in Sarih center

Key challenges

Issuing payments

The payment methodology continues to be a significant challenge of this project. During Q4 it was decided to

develop an E-card similar to the one used by WFP for food assistance for Syrian refugees in host communities.

Jordanian landlords will be given the E-card to receive the monthly rental payments on behalf of the Syrian

tenants to ensure the conditional aspect of the cash assistance (cash for shelter), and Jordanian families with

children in the project will also receive their cash assistance in this way. An agreement with the bank has been

signed after approval from Ministry of Social Development to open the required bank account, which took a

long time. Following this has been an unexpectedly onerous amount of bureaucratic demands from the bank

that have also consumed much time. However, progress is being made and it is planned to distribute the E-

cards for beneficiaries during Q6. In the meantime, IRJ staff continued to make payments to beneficiaries by

cheque which is effective but a very time-consuming and laborious process.

C. REQUESTED CHANGES TO THE PROGRAMME

Approved during reporting period

Revised milestones and action plan

During Q5 IRJ worked on the milestones and action plan for Year Two and this was accepted by DFID. In this

second half of the project, IRJ will increase the target number of students – this is possible due to the referral

of Syrian students who did well in informal education in Year One to attend Jordanian formal education in Year

Two. The revised plan for Year Two also incorporates activities stemming from discussions and ideas identified

during the stakeholders’ workshop in Year One.

Requested

Continue cash assistance for Syrian children after referral to public schools

As noted, Syrian refugee children who are performing well in informal education classes provided through this

project are being supported to return to formal education. Under the original design of the project, there was

no provision to continue cash assistance for the families of these children. As the transition into Jordanian

school is potentially challenging for these children, and the families will lose the financial assistance they had

been receiving previously, IRJ is concerned that this will reduce the commitment and rate of attendance of

these successful students. IRJ has requested DFID approval to continue payments for Syrian children after

referral to Jordanian school for the remainder of the project so that they are not discouraged.

Annual review and impact study

Following discussions with DFID, IRJ plans to conduct an annual review during Q6 to consider the impact of the

project to date. Further consultations will be held with stakeholders (Syrian and Jordanian children and their

parents, teachers, landlords, ICCS, etc) to consider the effectiveness of the interventions and what

improvements can be made during Year Two to further strengthen the project. Based on the existing budget

for this activity (3,650 GBP) it will not be possible to conduct an in-depth study and IRJ has requested DFID to

increase the budget.

Finalize decision about Psychosocial Support and Child Protection activities

Further discussions between IRJ and DFID took place during the reporting period regarding working in

partnership with Save the Children to introduce Psychosocial Support (PSS) and Child Protection activities into

the project. At the end of Q5, the final decision was still pending.

D. SECURITY AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES

Throughout implementation, IRJ emphasizes the acceptance of community participation to build trust with the beneficiaries. This acceptance from the community has paved the way in changing the planning process from centrally planned to “bottom-up”. Over the project IRJ has learnt a lot in this area. However, donor dependency of the beneficiaries will need to be addressed in order to sustain their own lives without support once the project period ends in early 2016. IRJ continues to attend coordination meetings (Education and Shelter, among others) to share and absorb best practices and lessons learnt with other agencies. Sharing vulnerability criteria with other agencies is another lesson learnt. Social Workers should be accompanied by Social Worker Assistants to ensure staff security and safety when in the field.

E. FINANCE NARRATIVE

There was an under-spend during the first stages of the project, particularly in Q1. A revised activity plan was proposed that set out how to utilise this under-spend amount effectively. Some of the activities in that plan have already begun (e.g. increased beneficiary target, WASH improvements and transportation assistance), while others (e.g. Child Protection and PSS interventions implemented in partnership with Save the Children) have not yet started.

The expenditure during Q5 was less than forecast due to a couple of factors. No project funds were received from DFID during the period meaning there was some restriction on the scale of activities that could be implemented with pre-financing from IRW and some support costs had to be shared with other projects. A payment was due to be made in Q5 to ICCS for their services in the project but they did not submit their invoice to IRJ on time so it was not possible to process any funds. This will be made in Q6.

The total spend at the end of Q5 is £852,094 meaning there is still an under-spend amount. DFID requested IRJ to compile a budget forecast for the remainder of the project and this will be shared in Q6 once final decisions have been reached about the proposed new activities (CP/PSS), continuation of financial assistance for Syrian students who transfer to Jordanian formal school, and available budget for the impact study have been agreed upon.