Social Protection
Creating equal opportunities for children in Jordan
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- العربية
Situation
In Jordan, around 1 in 7 children lives in multidimensional poverty, meaning they lack access to basic necessities like healthcare, food, education, decent housing, and clean water.
Children growing up in large families, in female-headed households, or in the poorest wealth quintile incomes face greater hardship. Refugee children, children with disabilities, and marginalised groups like the Dom community often struggle with multiple layers of disadvantage at once.
Relative to its population size, Jordan hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world.
Two-thirds of Syrian refugees live below the poverty line. With limited job opportunities, more children are being pushed into poverty and thereby becoming more vulnerable.
Jordan is taking action. The government is building a stronger, more inclusive social protection system, moving away from one-size-fits-all subsidies towards targeted support that reaches the families who need it most. This includes direct cash assistance, better access to social services, and programmes that address unemployment.
Recent key milestones for the national social protection system include:
- Development and launch of the updated National Social Protection Strategy (2025–2033).
- Expanded cash assistance through the National Aid Fund (NAF).
- Introduction of Cash Plus models, which combine cash support with services, including linking children from families receiving cash assistance to Makani centres.
Even with this progress, more needs to be done, especially to reach children under five, respond quickly to shocks during crisis, and ensure the most vulnerable families are not left behind.
What does UNICEF do?
UNICEF works alongside the Government of Jordan to provide fair and inclusive support to families, and ensure public resources are used in ways that truly meet children’s needs, especially the most vulnerable.
Working in line with Jordan's National Social Protection Strategy (2025–2033), UNICEF supports evidence generation to shape policy, provides technical support, and delivers programmes that protect the children who need it most.
Our key areas of focus:
Key areas of our focus:
UNICEF collects and analyses data on children's wellbeing, vulnerabilities, and inequalities. This evidence helps shape national policies and programmes that reach the most vulnerable communities.
We also work with national partners, including the Department of Statistics, to strengthen Jordan's data systems. Through major surveys like the Jordan Population and Family Health Survey and the Jordan Labour Market Panel Survey, we build a clearer picture of how Jordanian and refugee families are really living, and where social protection needs to improve.
UNICEF supported the Ministry of Social Development in developing the National Social Protection Strategy 2025–2033, with a strong emphasis on child-sensitive approaches.
We continue to partner with the Ministry in putting this strategy into action — helping to improve how the system is managed, planned, and monitored; expanding the role of local community organisations in delivering services; and helping more families know what support is available to them and how to access it.
UNICEF works with the National Aid Fund to improve Jordan's cash assistance programmes, making them better targeted, more responsive to the needs of children and women, and easier to access through digital tools.
At the same time, UNICEF runs the Hajati ("My Needs") programme, which provides monthly cash support directly to vulnerable children - regardless of whether they are Jordanian or refugee - helping them stay healthy, safe, and in school.
Across Jordan, 114 Makani ("My Space") centres give children and families a safe place to learn, grow, and obtain the support they need.
Run in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and local NGOs, the centres offer a wide range of services under one roof, from early childhood development and learning support, to child protection, skills building, and guidance for parents.
With our partners, the results UNICEF achieved in Jordan in 2025 included:
- Supported the development and launch of Jordan's new National Social Protection Strategy (2025–2033), officially endorsed in May 2025 under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and shaped through 19 national consultation sessions involving over 900 people across the country.
- Reached more than 3 million people through Jordan's first-ever nationwide social protection awareness campaign.
- Supported the establishment of a new Cash Plus unit within the National Aid Fund, linking cash assistance to health, education, and other support services for families.
- Reached around 105,500 people - including 87,100 children from across Jordan - through UNICEF's 114 Makani centres, providing learning support, child protection, skills building, and parenting services.
- Provided cash support to 2,824 vulnerable school-age children through the Hajati programme, helping them stay in school and avoid harmful coping strategies