The civil war in Syria has created a humanitarian crisis where the differing needs of all men, women and children continues to rise.
The ‘Conditional Cash Project for Vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian Children in Irbid,’ which was funded by the Department for International Development, aimed to relieve economic pressure on families by offering cash assistance if their children attended school or informal education centres.
This study assesses how the project influenced the individual roles and responsibilities of girls and boys, and men and women, exploring whether the risk of exploitation and abuse, such as early marriage and child labour, may have reduced. The study also aims to identify the experiences and challenges faced by refugee families whilst carrying out daily activities. A special focus was placed on the different barriers encountered by each member of the household when trying to access humanitarian assistance and basic public services like healthcare or justice.
Conclusions drawn from the study have identified steps that Islamic Relief could take in order to further improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. This includes:
- Improving the way gender, age and disaggregated data is collected
- Building the field team’s capacity to carry out gender and power analysis
- Ensuring budgets and programmes facilitate the safety, dignity, adequate participation and meaningful access of all individuals
Islamic Relief has been responding to the crisis in Syria since the conflict began in 2011, delivering more than $184 million worth of aid inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.