The Ministerial Conference on “Belonging and Legal Identity” concluded last week in Tunis in the presence of the member states of the جامعة الدول العربية - League of Arab States (LAS). By hosting this event - the first of its kind in the region - UNHCR and LAS contributed to supporting and strengthening protection measures for stateless persons, and developing concrete solutions to prevent and reduce the statelessness risks in the region. At the conclusion of this Ministerial Conference, Member States adopted the Arab Declaration on "Belonging and Legal Identity", which shows their shared commitment to enhancing the protection of individuals in the region through the strengthening of civil registration and citizenship systems, with particular attention to individuals at risk including refugees. “Longstanding traditions in the Arab Region recognize all rights of children to belong to enjoy their rights to family life, unity, and to have a name, a legal identity and a nationality. UNHCR and LAS brought together all relevant sectors to uphold these principles to safeguard the future of refugee children and strengthen the access of refugee women to nationality rights,” said Karim Atassi, UNHCR Egypt Representative. The event was organized by UNHCR, LAS and the Republic of Tunisia, under the patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Tunisia, Mr. Béji Caid Essebsi.

The second edition of “Heya” Campaign will kick off at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina - مكتبة الاسكندرية to celebrate The International Women’s Day. The event will take place on 12-14 March at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center (BACC) with UNHCR Egypt's participation. Heya campaign aims at focusing on the irreplaceable role of women in the Egyptian society, and at tackling women empowerment in three main fields: leadership, health and arts this through various activities, workshops, and lectures. Three refugees will be speaking at the closing event to share their experiences in Egypt: their adversities, their resilience and their hopes. Refugees and asylum-seekers will also be performing a play and other musical acts which focuses on women issues particularly pertaining to refugees. The campaign is organized in partnership with UNHCR, The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Alexandria Volunteers for Awareness and Development Club (AVAD), Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA), Bibliotheca Alexandrina Friends Association, VI Markets, Injaz Egypt, Egyptian Banking Institute and others.

In February, the Basic Needs Working Group provided around 3,385,401 US$ worth of regular cash, winterization assistances and non-food item (NFIs) to vulnerable beneficiaries from the refugee and host Community.

In Feb, 491,000 Syrian refugees residing in camps and host communities received monthly cash based transfers. Around 109,000 refugees reside in camps and 207,000 extremely vulnerable refugees living in communities received USD 28.2 per person per month; while 175,000 refugees categorized as vulnerable to food security received USD 14.1 per person per month.

In March, the Basic Needs Working Group provided around 3,757,926 US$ worth of regular cash, winterization assistances and non-food item (NFIs) to vulnerable beneficiaries from the refugee and host Community.

In February, the Jordanian Government increased taxes and removed subsidies on basic commodities such as bread. To ensure beneficiaries maintain the same level of purchasing power to meet their basic food needs, WFP will increase the assistance to Syrian refugees living in host communities as of April 2018. For extremely vulnerable cases, the increase will be from 20 JD to 23 JD, while for vulnerable cases the current assistance of 10 JD will be increased to 15 JD. The relatively higher increase for vulnerable cases is due to the outcomes of WFP food security monitoring exercise, which has shown a trend since 2016 for the group of vulnerable cases to be most food insecure, as compared to extremely vulnerable and non-assisted cases.

WASH: In March, WASH services were provided to 119,156 Syrian refugees, including 67,460 children, living in Azraq, Zaatari, and King Abdulla camps and host communities.

Jordan Humanitarian Fund JHF/ OCHA Health Sector picked up as one of the priority sector for March call while the sector define it priority under “Projects that support secondary health care for priority cases, such as Basic Emergency Obstetric care and Newborn Care (BEmONC) and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) including supporting priority medical referrals from the borders and camp”. Nutrition Sub Working Group: No significant changes reported in the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) and Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP). The admission rate for SFP in Azraq camp reported higher compared to Za’atari camp and urban. Reproductive Health Sub Working Group (RHSWG): JICA’s project for Improvement of Services at Village Health Centers (VHCs) in Rural Host Communities of Syrian Refugees concluded. The project focused on the linkages between VHCs and communities. The RH working group has done review session for this model project for lesson learnt and results related to changing people’s attitude towards Reproductive Health /Family Planning practices and healthy life style. Zaatari Camp: - Community Health Programme activities handed over to Save the Children Jordan. - The second screening phase of the school health program including physical examinations for all student at first, third and fifth grades has been completed successfully. Azraq Camp: • Number of consultations reported higher by 15% compared to last month’s statistics, no changes on other statistical trends and remain stable for month of March. • An experiment was carried out under UNHCR Innovation Fellowship addressing the delays in medical emergency response by Civil Defense in the camp. Civil Defense respond to all call essentially and the main objective of the initiative is to enable Civil Defense prioritize cases and dispatch the ambulance accordingly. A second experiment will take place soon after adjusting for any main issues faced. Although analysis has not been completed yet, positive feedback from Civil Defense was reported. Berm Situation: Significant increase in number of patient accessing UN joint clinic noted with daily average of 167 cases. 4,346 patients accessed the clinic on March while 27 cases referred for treatment at Jordan hospitals. Malnutrition rate was stable at 3% among PLWs and at 1.8 among children under 5 years old. 24/7 health services operating plan established, resources allocated and communication made with MOFA and MOH for final clearance.

In April, the Basic Needs Working Group provided around 5,496,248 US$ worth of regular cash, winterization assistances and non-food item (NFIs) to vulnerable beneficiaries from the refugee and host Community

In April, 491,000 Syrian refugees residing in camps and host communities received monthly cash based transfers. Following an increase of WFP’s assistance, in response increases in tax on food commodities and the removal of a long-standing subsidy on bread, around 109,000 refugees residing in camps and 207,000 extremely vulnerable refugees living in communities received JOD 23 per person per month, while 175,000 refugees categorized as vulnerable received JOD 15 per person per month.