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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Jordan, concluded recently a distribution campaign of an estimated half a million Jordanian Dinars funded by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), to 73,000 Syrian refugees living in Zaatari refugee camp in the governorate of Mafraq in Jordan.

According to NRC,every refugee family in Zaatari camp registered with UNHCR in the camp received a sum of money depending on the number of its family members. The cash assistance covers their needs for hygiene items and cooking gas for three months, until the next distribution happens.

In addition to the cash distributions that lasted for 14 days, NRC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, distributed 12,000 energy saving LED bulbs from IKEA, in addition to the distribution of 17,000TOMS summer shoes.

Richard Evans, NRC’s Shelter Project Manager, explained that NRC manages the common humanitarian distribution centre and coordinates all non-food- items distributions in the camp.

He added, "NRC along with UNHCR have adopted the method of cash distributions instead of in-kind donations (blankets, clothes etc.) and vouchers that were used earlier, to allow beneficiaries to prioritize their needs and give them the freedom to buy what they want rather than impose items on them." From his part, Gavin White,UNHCR’s External Relations official, expressed his appreciation for the role NRC plays in the distribution of NFI’s in Zaatari refugee camp. "The main advantage of the cash distributions is that it puts refugees in a position to take responsibility for their own housekeeping affairs, in addition to giving them the freedom to determine and prioritise the list of their needs,"explained White.

In a previous cash distribution campaign that took place in March of this year, NRC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Development and UNHCR, distributed cash assistance to more than 800 vulnerable Jordanian and Syrian families in the governorates of Irbid and Mafraq.

In 2015, NRC provided shelter and educational services for a quarter of a million Jordanian nationals and refugees in the northern regions of the Kingdom.