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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Cabinet has approved a new package of projects listed in the Jordan Response Plan (JRP) to the Syrian crisis, proposed by donors, UN agencies and NGOs, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury has announced.

Fakhoury recommended the project at the Council of Ministers' July 3 meeting in his capacity as the chairman of a coordination committee for humanitarian assistance that handles projects suggested by international parties and donors through Jordan Response Information System for the Syria Crisis (JORISS).

The minister said that these projects are designed to mitigate the impact of the Syrian refugee burden on host communities through supporting hosts and helping Jordan shoulder such a burden. The committee had held its ninth meeting this year and approved foreign funding for nine projects at a total cost of $15.8 million, as part of the 2016-1018 JRP. The package is meant to ease the socio-economic pressures on host communities, support the various sectors and government-provided services, Fakhoury explained. He added that the funds would finance activities in the fields of social protection, combating poverty through cash assistance, distribution of food parcels to impoverished Jordanian and Syrian households, improving water and sewage networks and supporting the education system through building new classrooms.

The funds will also be used to carry out maintenance to some schools, improve reproductive health for Syrian women and provide better health care for newborns in refugee camps and towns through establishing specialized clinics, in addition to providing people with disabilities with mobility aids.

The number of projects proposed through JORISS this year totals 142, worth $257 million, of which 109 projects are dedicated to the refugee component at a cost of $151, while 33 projects worth $106 million seek to increase the resilience of hosts. In terms of sector distribution, the social protection came first, with $97 million earmarked for the sector, followed by education with the cost of proposed projects standing at $40 million, then water ($38.5 million), health ($38 million), supporting livelihood and food security ($17 million) and municipal services ($13 million). Meanwhile, around $13.5 million has been allocated to justice services, sheltering and others.

During London donor conference in February, donor countries pledged to fund priority projects in JRP by $700 million a year, most of which targets resilience projects.