Enhancing Coordination and Sustainability: Addressing Challenges Faced by INGOs in Jordan to Support Syrian Refugees

The report, prepared for the Jordan International NGO Forum, focuses on enhancing coordination and sustainability among humanitarian actors supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan. The workshop team's research occurred amidst significant changes, with the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 coinciding with years of diminishing international aid, severely compounded by the dramatic reduction in funding commitments. The team identified four critical coordination challenges affecting refugee support.

First, tensions exist between UN agencies and NGOs due to UNHCR's dual coordinator-implementer role, competition for funding, and siloed environments. Second, collaboration with the Government of Jordan suffers from strategic misalignment, limited government participation in coordination forums, and regulatory obstacles restricting NGO operations. Third, INGO country offices across different nations struggle with communication barriers and knowledge sharing, hindering the development of cross-border mechanisms needed for returnee support. Finally, NGOs face internal coordination challenges due to funding constraints, duplicate mandates, and bureaucratic obstacles preventing them from flexibly filling service gaps.

These conditions lead refugees to consider returns due to necessity rather than choice. The team recommended diversifying funding sources, advocating for flexible support, formalizing coordination mechanisms, improving data sharing practices, strengthening partnerships with the Jordanian government, and leveraging media engagement to drive donor attention. These measures aim to ensure continued support for Syrian refugees.