10-year anniversary of the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan:

This year, the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan has marked its tenth anniversary, a moment worthy of reflection on the progress and remaining challenges in providing water, sanitation and hygiene services for its resident population.

The Azraq refugee camp extends over 14 km² and is located 20 km west of the town of Azraq, Jordan, and was established in 2014 for refugees of the civil war in Syria. It soon hosted a population of 32,000 - a number which has since then grown to 41,000 – of which 61% are children. In total, Jordan has hosted some 1,3 million Syrian refugees, of which the majority live outside refugee camps.

Water: a serious challenge in Jordan

About 75% of Jordan is arid, and the country faces very high levels of water scarcity, even ranking among the top five most water stressed countries in the world. In recent years, this chronic shortage has worsened all over the country due to the lack of water-demand balance and due to the sharp increase in population since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

Existing sanitation networks are often more than 30 years old and suffer from lack of maintenance and repair. Similarly in the water sector, poor management and ageing infrastructure lead to high levels of Non-Revenue Water (physical and commercial losses) and more than 50% of the nation’s drinking water is lost, notably through leakage. Some communities receive water only once every two weeks, while some households lack the facilities to store it when it does arrive. This situation leads to an increase in costs that is difficult to manage for people with limited financial resources.

These issues in service delivery and capacity, along with pre-existing financial constraints have been exacerbated by the influx of refugees. The deterioration of services prevents many vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian households from accessing water at an affordable price.

 

WASH and the broader context of refugees in Jordan

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services are an important element in a broader context of refugee needs in Jordan. Jordan hosts the fifth largest number of refugees per capita worldwide, alongside the country’s own social and economic challenges, which include levels of youth unemployment of around 50% and a debt ratio of 114% of GDP. The most vulnerable communities are under pressure and have high dependence on humanitarian aid, associated with an increase in negative coping strategies, mental health difficulties and a loss of progress in terms of gender equality.

In addition, the country is vulnerable to climate change and can expect a transition towards a warmer, significantly drier climate, with shifting rainy seasons and more extreme weather events. The self-sufficiency of refugees and host communities has been supported through a phased approach which combines financial assistance with the strengthening of referral pathways and local capacities to address mental health needs.

Action Against Hunger (ACF) has been active in Jordan since 2013 and has supported comprehensive livelihood interventions, providing short-term employment opportunities for vulnerable Jordanian households and refugees, and improving the working conditions of informal waste workers. The organisation has also supported the connection of vulnerable households to public water networks and has contributed to the adoption of good hygiene practices and sustainable water management techniques.

In Azraq camp, improvements in hygiene, water services provision and maintenance of private latrines is achieved through community engagement as well as municipal waste management services. The objective is that Syrian refugees - women, men, boys and girls have access to improved WASH services and demonstrate optimal WASH-related behaviors.

In Irbid governorate, Action Against Hunger’s work aims to improve access to water and sanitation services, amongst others by optimising water use and increasing network capacity. These activities reduce the amount of water lost, maximize water reuse and increase household storage capacity. Within this, the most vulnerable households are targeted as a matter of priority. In the most disadvantaged households, work is carried out to rehabilitate or improve installations using technologies that save water, prevent leaks and reuse grey water.

To ensure long term impact, hygiene promotion and water conservation awareness sessions are organized in the communities. These activities take place at the community level through door-to-door visits, group sessions or public campaigns. The objective is to raise awareness of the fact that Jordan has a limited supply in renewable and affordable water, and to match water use habits at home with the country’s water shortage.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes in Azraq camp

Action Against Hunger alongside other partners such as World Vision and UNICEF is working to provide access to WASH services in Azraq camp. Action Against Hunger covers the community mobilization and the maintenance of private latrines, other partners are providing construction of private latrine services and the operation of the water supply system and sanitation services. According to Action Against Hunger’s Social and Behaviour Change Strategy for Water Sanitation and Hygiene in Azraq Camp, the current water supply system has been operational in the camp since May 2017 and consists of two boreholes with a joint production capacity of 2400 m³/day, two storage locations, and a distribution system which is 55 km in length, supplying each of the four villages of the camp and featuring over 300 communal tap stands. This system provides a water service for the entire population, delivering 65-68 liters per person per day in summer, and more than 45 liters of water per person per day in winter, which is well above the locally agreed minimum standard of 35 litres/person/day. As the water network is providing unequal access of water and only two hours per day, a third borehole is currently being installed.

A distribution schedule is in place, with water pumped during two shift times each day in the morning and evening. Work on WASH includes the operational management of the water supply system, communal latrines, water points, the construction of latrines for the most vulnerable households, and the installation and monitoring of the camp’s grey water network.

Latrine and shower facilities in the camp were initially organised through communal WASH blocks and connected to water and greywater networks. These facilities are typically shared between 3 households. However, 60 per cent of the surveyed households are using private latrines constructed latrines, 24 per cent of households use communal latrines as private latrines not shared with other families, and 16 per cent use communal latrines shared with other families.

Asmaa hails from a rural area near Homs, Syria. She arrived in the camp with her husband and children in 2015, and has been the family’s main financial provider ever since. She describes the difficulties they encountered when they moved to the camp: “Life here was difficult for the first few years. There were no markets, electricity, kitchens or toilets in the shelters. All the refugees had to use communal latrines,” she explains. ” Now we have access to electricity, we have a kitchen and we’ve built our own bathroom“.

The importance of Behavior Change Communication for WaSH Interventions

Action Against Hunger has carried out extensive community awareness-raising and mobilization work through a large network of trained volunteers, including 65 community water, hygiene and sanitation representatives, 750 lead mothers and 65 young people. “Community involvement is crucial to the success of our programs, as it enables us to influence the social norms and behaviors of camp residents“, explains Ala’a Azaizeh, deputy program manager of the water, hygiene and sanitation programmes. “These awareness-raising sessions enable camp residents to live healthier, more dignified lives“. 

In implementation of the activities in Azraq camp ACF relies on Incentive Based Volunteers (IBVs). Incentives received from ACF for many Syrian families are the only source of income. Asmaa, IBV with ACF since 2019, has become a resource person for people in her community. She relays awareness-raising messages and shares advice and best practices linked to the responsible use of water resources, personal and menstrual hygiene with the lead mothers, who in turn pass on this information to their neighbors. During the sessions she runs, the group usually sits on mats in the small courtyard in front of her caravan.  “The residents of Azraq are more aware now. For example, they no longer throw bread and sanitary towels in the same garbage can. I myself didn’t know that grey water could be reused. Now I use the water used to wash vegetables and cook rice to water the plants, so I don’t waste it anymore“, explains Asmaa.

Maintaining essential aid over the long term

Although efforts to provide access to water, hygiene and sanitation have had positive impact, the needs continue to grow. “People are asking for water taps at plot level. This would solve many water-related problems and reduce wastage. The situation would improve considerably if this measure were implemented“, observes Asmaa.

Increased water consumption over the past two years, low water pressure and vandalism of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure have led to inequitable access to resources and services. In addition, growing deficits in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector make it difficult to maintain the minimum provision of these services. There is also a recognized need to influence social norms and behaviours around water conservation and maintaining personal hygiene, including menstrual hygiene among the camp residents.

Challenges in maintaining and keeping the latrines clean included lack of cleaning materials, lack of water, lack of repair tools and expensive metal sheets. A stark difference in cleanliness was reported, with the private latrines considered more hygienic and clean than communal facilities, with women mostly responsible for this. For communal latrines, there is no clear allocation of responsibility for cleanliness and hygiene although families living close to the communal latrines are expected to keep them clean.

Despite growing needs, the water, sanitation and hygiene sector faces a lack of funding, with the gap increasing each year, making it difficult to maintain the minimum provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services both in the camp and in the host communities. Within the overall budget estimates for the 2024 response plan, WASH services are estimated at U.S. $ 739,520, and represent only a small fraction of the total of U.S. $ 132,827,362.

In the context of the latest Refugee Response and Resilience Strategy, Jordan requested U.S. $ 985,148,139 in total to adequately respond to the refugee crisis, but has so far received U.S. $ 228 263 054. The funding landscape is undergoing significant changes, with humanitarian funding on a steep decline and development funding becoming increasingly competitive and dominated by UN and government agencies. Globally, the humanitarian sector is facing shrinking budgets, creating widespread challenges across the field. The 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) highlighted a significant shortfall of 12% decrease from last year.  

With decline in humanitarian funding, ACF and other stakeholders operating in camp will have less opportunities to engage incentive based volunteers in everyday activities. Furthermore, with less funding, nothing only WASH services are under question mark, while also livelihood opportunities for vulnerable Syrians and access to decent living conditions are decreasing.