In Uganda, refugees are immediately granted the right to education and work, says Ugandan Refugee Commissioner David Apollo Kazungu. He is coordinating Uganda’s response to Africa’s largest refugee crisis.
In 2016, more refugees crossed the border to Uganda than crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Their numbers totalled in over one million. Most came from South Sudan, which is where the largest refugee crisis in Africa originates.
Thus far, Uganda has succeeded relatively well in a situation that has driven Europe into turmoil. We interviewed Ugandan Refugee Commissioner David Apollo Kazungu on the Ugandan refugee policy.
How is Uganda managing the refugee situation?
“We have extensive experience in accepting refugees and many of our former and current government officials have been refugees at one point. The rights of refugees have been anchored in our legislation and in the founding principles of the UN, written out in the New York Declaration of the United Nations. The refugees are also an important part of the Ugandan national development plan. We treat them as an opportunity rather than a threat.”
What actually happens when refugees arrive into the country?
“Immediately after registration the refugees are given the right to study, work, set up enterprises and move freely within the country. They are also given a plot of land on the refugee settlements for cultivation. They have all the same rights as native Ugandans apart from the right to vote.
In my opinion, it is crucially important to invest in the education of refugees, because it empowers them. It will also serve them when they return to their home country. We have seen how education changes people.”
What is the role of Finn Church Aid in Uganda?
“Finn Church Aid has supported education in emergencies and also organises vocational education. For the refugees it is extremely important, because it provides them with practical, professional skills, and Uganda in turn benefits from their employment.”
Is Uganda ever consulted for advice in refugee matters?
“Yes. The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has stated that our approach could serve as an example for the entire world. We have exchanged ideas with and answered questions from many other countries, and have had observers visit from Malawi, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia.”
Since July 2016, thousands of refugees have arrived in Uganda every day. How serious is the situation in your estimate?
“We are working with the refugees with very scarce resources. Our approach requires sustainable funding from the international community (last year, only 40% of the required 250 million dollar funding was covered). Uganda is committed to keeping its borders open to refugees, and the international community must, for their part, make sure that there are sufficient resources available to guarantee these people a chance for a life with dignity even as refugees.”
What motivates you in your work?
“Working for humanity, and the fact that I can, for my part, somehow respond to humanitarian needs.”
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Each day thousands of refugees have arrived in Uganda since violence in South Sudan escalated last summer. Aid organisations warn of a severe lack of funding.
Text: Erik Nyström, Photos: Cornelia Kästner (Lutheran World Federation)
“We are at breaking point. Uganda cannot handle Africa’s largest refugee crisis alone,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a U.N. statement on Thursday.
South Sudan’s 3,6 million refugees now constitute the biggest refugee crisis in Africa. Globally only Syria and Afghanistan have produced more refugees.
Most remain internally displaced, but over 1,5 million people have fled South Sudan to neighbouring countries. Uganda hosts more than half of those refugees, a total of 800 000 in March.
Thousands have arrived each day since hostilities erupted into war in July 2016. Most arrive after wandering in the bush for days with horrific stories of indiscriminate violence, killings, rapes and forced recruitment of children.
South Sudanese refugees awaiting plot allocation in Palorinya refugee settlement in Northern Uganda. Around 90 per cent of the refugees are women and children. According to their stories all adult males – brothers, fathers and husbands – have been killed or captured. Photo: LWF / Cornelia Kästner
Severe underfunding is creating significant gaps in the crisis response of Uganda’s government and aid organisations. Only 36 per cent of the 251 million US dollars needed for 2016 has been received. This creates significant challenges in providing refugees with food rations, clean water and services like health and education.
The drought that’s consuming Eastern Africa has also complicated food production in Uganda. In November WFP was forced to halve food rations in order to provide nutrition for everyone.
“Further cuts can’t be ruled out”, fears Kaisa Huhtela, FCA’s humanitarian coordinator in Uganda.
UN agencies, humanitarian organisations and the office of the Prime Minister in Uganda issued an appeal to the world in December to bring an end to the suffering of the South Sudanese people. FCA was one of the signatories.
Uganda’s way of dealing with refugees has long received a lot of praise. Newcomers are provided with a small plot of land within local host communities, where they can settle down and live peacefully. However, the pace of arrivals has been tough to keep up with.
FCA works with the refugees in Bidibidi settlement in Yumbe district and Pagrinya settlement in Adjumani district. New settlements have basically been opened every third month, Huhtela says. A new refugee settlement opened in Palorinya in December already exceeded its capacity of 100 000 in February, totaling at 140 000.
Creating new plots for farming is an enormous task on the rocky grounds of the settlements.
“We can’t keep up with this pace of arrivals and the need of further settlements. Without increased funding it becomes ever more difficult to ensure refugees their basic human dignity”, Huhtela says.
South Sudanese refugees who have just crossed the border to Uganda near Pomoju border point. Photo: LWF / Cornelia Kästner
The first collection point behind the South Sudanese border, where all refugees are vaccinated against Polio and Measles. Photo: LWF / Cornelia Kästner
Refugees are transported for plot allocation in Palorinya refugee settlement in Northern Uganda. Photo: LWF / Cornelia Kästner
Statement on Supporting Community Resilience in Syria coinciding with the launch of the United Nations Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan 2017-2018 in response to the Syrian Crisis in Helsinki on January 24, 2017.
We, the civil society organisations working with Syrian communities, welcome the launch of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan 2017-2018 in response to the Syrian Crisis (3RP) and the sharing of the key humanitarian priorities for Syria in 2017 in Helsinki on 24 January 2017. We endorse the focus of 3RP on integrating a development approach with humanitarian assistance activities and echo the key features of the plan, such as the emphasis on educational opportunities and the need for boosting the use of national and local capacities for service delivery.
However, we express our concern at the untapped opportunities to integrate local stakeholders with humanitarian processes. We encourage the international community to involve Syrian communities and civil society more closely into the planning, implementation and evaluation of all processes in order to support stabilization and resilience. Their active involvement is needed to move the international response to the Syria tragedy from a humanitarian response to one of developing the inclusive economic and political conditions for building a sustainable peace and usher the dignified return of Syrian people to their homes. In the meantime, it is also important to work with host countries to formulate comprehensive strategies to accommodate Syrian refugees and to support host communities.
A year ago, the international community agreed on a comprehensive new approach to address the crisis in Syria and in the region. Now, in reviewing the financial commitments and policy changes made by donors and the international community in London, it is essential to assess whether the situation of people on the ground in Syria has improved. In working to alleviate suffering in Syria, the international community has so far operated according to planning and strategizing mechanisms done internally within its humanitarian coordination and programming capacity. Most efforts by the international community have focused on dealing with the humanitarian disaster in the region emanating from the Syrian conflict. This is essential for effective action during the conflict stage, but as the Syrian war is almost entering its seventh year, it is time to amplify this approach by better connecting with and coordinating among all actors working on Syria.
Also, in order to address the regional refugee situation effectively it is crucial to work on the situation inside Syria, and to create stability and resilience in the local communities so that people would not need to leave their homes and communities. In addition to dealing with the impact of the conflict, it is important that all activities contribute to the support of confidence building and conflict resolution. It is of particular importance that Syrian grass root actors across the political division lines are involved in strategizing, planning and implementing all processes. Working together with the local actors is essential as they are the ones who create resilience on the ground and shared incentives for peace. Consultation with Syrian stakeholders should go beyond defining humanitarian needs and cover all aspects from participation in planning to the implementation of priority investments.
Education is one of the key sectors where the future and capacity of the Syrians is being built. The inclusion of both education and economic opportunities in the Syria response is both welcome and necessary. However, given the exceptionally high youth unemployment rates in the region and a lack of future prospects for youth as a fuel for instability noted in the recent Arab Human Development Report by UNDP, more attention must be paid to linking these two aspects of the response to each other. In order for that to happen, the response should:
1) Provide for uninterrupted educational paths (incl. secondary, vocational and higher education). Thus far the educational solutions have strongly focused on primary education, which alone is not enough to provide for economic and opportunities, not to speak of prerequisites for reconstruction;
2) Support teacher training which reflects and responds to the rapidly changing needs;
3) Enhance dialogue with the private sector and 3RP actors to ensure the relevance of the education for labor market needs and
4) Increase entrepreneurial training as well as funding possibilities for young start-up entrepreneurs and deconstructing bureaucratic barriers hindering their aspirations.
For the sake of social cohesion and addressing the problem of youth unemployment, the chosen measures should target both Syrian refugee youth and local host community youth who are at risk of being marginalised. Such measures need to be complemented by psycho-social support for children and youth in vulnerable life situations.
Humanitarian and development aid to Syrians should be conducted in both host aid countries as well as in Syria to encourage stabilization and the dignified return of refugees. Programming should focus on supporting local livelihoods and community resilience to build local ownerships for solutions. Especially when working in Syrian cities, development aid needs to be coordinated and harmonized with potential or ongoing political processes. All aid processes should strive for the same goal: sustainable and inclusive peace in Syria.
As the Charter for Change stated, at least 20% of humanitarian funding should be directed to local actors. Furthermore, it is crucial that the international partners include all Syrian parties and geographic localities and, through this, help dissolving the already polarized political division lines. We see this as the minimum requirement. We urge the United Nations and its partners to increasingly support Syrian communities, local governance structures and Syrian civilian actors across the political divide to take ownership of all processes from meeting humanitarian needs to supporting potential peace negotiations and reconstruction.
Statement signed by Felm, Fida International, Finn Church Aid, Kehys ry, CMI, Kepa, Save the Children
Geneva, 15 June 2016 — The world is facing the largest refugee crisis since WWII. At this year’s Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR), 34 NGOs made an urgent call on all parties to support the UN Secretary General’s goal: for States to provide resettlement spaces and additional legal channels for at least 10 per cent of the global refugee population annually. This is the kind of bold responsibility sharing needed to respond to this historic challenge, the NGOs say.
Humane solution
“There is no doubt about it: resettlement saves lives. It prevents deaths at sea and it makes it harder for smugglers to exploit refugees for profit” says Jasper Kuipers, deputy director of the Dutch Council for Refugees and NGO co-chair of this year’s ATCR. Resettlement provides a humane solution for the most vulnerable refugees. It is also crucial that quality integration programs remain part of resettlement and alternative pathways.
Increase pledges
In the run up to the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees in September in New York, efforts are underway to double the number of resettlement slots to 340.000 for next year. This still falls far short of the 1.2 million refugees currently in need of resettlement according to UNHCR. “The Summit is a critical opportunity for States to show leadership by committing to resettle significantly more refugees. Given the staggering size and scope of the global refugee crisis, the time for action is now. Greatly increasing resettlement is fundamentally the right thing to do” adds Naomi Steinberg, director of Refugee Council USA.
Other safe and legal channels
In order to move towards the much needed ten per cent, sizable quality resettlement programs should be introduced by those countries, which have not already done so. The quotas of existing resettlement programs should increase significantly. Complementary safe and legal channels should be dramatically expanded. For example, refugees should be able to access extended family reunification, labour mobility schemes, student scholarships, private sponsorships, medical evacuation and humanitarian visas. These additional pathways can be crucial for refugees who are unable to access resettlement.
Resettle other refugee groups besides Syrians
The NGOs stress that other groups of refugees besides Syrians, such as Somalis, Afghans and Rohingyas, who are in protracted refugee situations, should not be overlooked when it comes to opening up resettlement places. Also in other regions such as the Africa and South West Asia resettlement needs remain high. Access to resettlement should be equitable – reaching refugees in need regardless of location or degree of media attention.
EU-Turkey deal: a bad example
Resettlement should be offered irrespective of political agendas. NGOs strongly condemn the EU-Turkey deal that has made resettlement of Syrian refugees from Turkey to the EU conditional on individuals being returned from Greece to Turkey. Catherine Woollard, Secretary General of ECRE, European Council on Refugees and Exiles says: “This deal is nothing more than a shameful one-for-one trading in human beings and implies large-scale returns between countries that do not ensure refugee protection. We cannot let this EU-Turkey deal set a precedent for other States to follow”.
Involvement of NGOs
NGOs play an invaluable role in all aspects of the resettlement process, from identification to the successful settlement of refugees. Partnerships between States and NGOs should be set up or strengthened to make sure that lives can continue to be saved through resettlement. We, as NGOs, stand ready to help our governments receive these newcomers into our communities.
Further information: Johanna Tervo, Humanitarian Adviser, Finn Church Aid, johanna.tervo(at)kua.fi, tel. +358 40 631 38 37.
This joint press release is supported by the Dutch Council for Refugees, Refugee Council USA , ECRE, AMES Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Auckland Refugee Community, British Refugee Council, Canadian Council for Refugees, Caritas Austria, Caritas Internationalis, Danish Refugee Council, Ethiopian Community Development Center USA, Finn Church Aid, Forum Refugiés, Foundation House, HIAS, ICMC, ICVA, IRC, ISSofBC, Japan Association for Refugees, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, MYAN, Refugee Action UK, Refugee Consortium of Kenya, Refugee Council Australia, Refugee Rights, Refugees as Survivors, RefugePoint, Romanian National Council for Refugees, Settlement Council of Australia, SSI, Swiss Refugee Council, WUSC.
Fleeing from killing and war, the refugee children have very few toys with them. Toys were left at home in Syria.
Kites are integral to spring in the Middle East. They’re everywhere in different shapes and colours. 440 children in the Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps received their own kites when Finn Church Aid organised kite workshops at both camps in the span of two weeks. The jarring, prospectless everyday life of a refugee was set aside for a moment as the colourful kites flew high above the camps.
“I am so happy”, said Khalil, who was flying his kite above the FCA compound.
“If only my kite could take me back home to Syria and there would be peace.”
Khalili’s friend Walid is also all smiles.
“It’s wonderful to fly my own kite! I couldn’t remember how fun this was!”
FCA workshop at Azraq refugee camp in Jordan brought lots of joy to Syrian children.
The fathers of some children had volunteered to build kites. Laths were nailed together into frames and then plastics were suspended on the frames. Painters gave the kites a final, colourful touch.
“This is the first time the kids have been able to fly kites since leaving Syria. It is sure to take their mind off of the gloominess of life as a refugee”, said Mohammed, who put together hundreds of kites.
Little Ahmad waited patiently in line for his turn to get a kite. When he finally got the colourful toy in his hands he sprung onto the sand yelling “I feel free!” at the top of his lungs.
Volunteers built kites for children at Azraq refugee camp.
Second grader Hamad pushed his friend Ahmed in a wheelchair in the soft sand. It was hard work but worth the effort on this special occasion. When the boys got their hands on a pair of kites, all signs of fatigue were instantly washed away as they just admired their colourful kites.
This wasn’t the first time Hamad had helped his friend Ahmed, Hamad pushes his friend to school and around the camp every day. The boys are inseparable. True friends help each other no matter how hard it is, seems to be the idea.
And when the boys finally got to fly their kites, Ahmed’s wheelchair was thoroughly put through its paces. Ahmed was very shy in explaining to us foreigners: “I wish I too could fly on my new kite back home, I wouldn’t even need a wheelchair!”
Volunteers building kites here on the football pitch of Zaatari refugee camp. This major event would not have been possible without their help.
An estimated 55% of Syrian refugees are under 18 years old. The future of Syria lies in children and youth, but do they have a future in Syria?
“I hope everything will go back to normal soon and we can go back to Syria”, said young Asma, smiling, yet wistful.
Everyone’s dreams and prayers seemed to share that wish as the kites soared to the sky.
The refugee situation in Jordan in April-May 2016
There are 638,633 registered Syrian refugees living in Jordan. However, the actual number of refugees in the country is estimated at 1.4 million. Finn Church Aid is working in the Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps and the surrounding host communities.
Azraq
30,059 refugees
57% children
21% under 5 years old
An average of 22 new-borns a week
3,000 children attending primary and secondary school
Zaatari
79,551 refugees
57% young people
19.9% under 5 years old
An average of 80 new-borns a week
20,771 children attending primary and secondary school
Source: UNHCR
Olli Pitkänen
Regional Programme Manager, the Middle East
How would you feel sending your children to study in a school that was damaged in battle and had no learning materials available? What would you think if your child was attending a class much lower than other children his age because the exams were in a foreign language and he couldn’t pass them? Would you want your children to study the history of a neighbouring or foreign country instead of that of your own? What if your children couldn’t go to school at all? And how would you do your job if you were the only teacher in a class of 198 students?
During the 2014/2015 school year, 2.8 million Syrian children and adolescents weren’t able to attend school. That’s 40% of all school-aged Syrians. After five years of conflict, there are many causes for this, but surprisingly many of them are related to the quality of education which directly affects learning. The problems in the quality of education are different for Syria than they are for the refugees, but always difficult to resolve. The language of teaching, the curriculum, organising teacher training, and the wellbeing of teachers and students are the core issues.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) operates within different international networks to find solutions to the issues of education in emergencies and quality of education. Since 2010, we have been part of the UN’s Global Education Cluster which is responsible for supporting local education officials in coordinating education-related emergency relief efforts. Last year we joined the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), a network of education professionals. This week the experts of INEE’s working groups have assembled in Amman, Jordan, to cooperate in improving the quality of education in the world’s most difficult crises. This group of about 50 experts from UNHCR, UNRWA, UNICEF and the international branches of Plan and Save the Children also includes two representatives from FCA.
On the agenda this week have been many refugee issues, not limited to the Syrian crisis alone. We have been preparing guidelines for ministries, civil society organisations and schools on how to organise psychosocial support to children, youth and teachers. The process is directed by FCA and Plan International. Increased wellbeing often translates to improved learning outcomes.
We have also been contemplating the use of self-study programmes in regions that have become isolated by war. A new teacher training programme was also launched in Amman with the intention of training primary school teachers who work under crisis situations. The programme is freely available on the INEE website and has already been used in Iraq and the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. This project has been led by UNHCR, and FCA has been one of the seven organisations involved. In relation to this training programme, FCA has organised a pilot project on the use of mobile phones to solve the problems teachers face daily in refugee settings, for example: how to ensure equal learning in a class of 198 students.
Quite a bit can be achieved with expertise, experience, imagination and problem-solving, yet money is also required. We have also had to contemplate how we could more effectively advocate towards donors and decision makers to release more funds for education in emergencies. Everybody has the right to education, even those caught in conflict.
Minna Peltola
FCA Senior Thematic Adviser, Right to Education
PS. FCA’s Regional Education Specialist for Eastern Africa, Mary Tangelder, was also present in Amman.
Reading the newspapers in Jordan, one sees stories every day about how many Syrians have again crossed the border to Jordan. According to today’s paper, 67 refugees had entered the country within 48 hours. After emergency personnel had tended to the wounded, the refugees were taken to the safety of a refugee camp. All of them face a new and unfamiliar life in Jordan. Though geographically they are not far from home, they are, however, one whole war apart.
This coverage has been ongoing for over four years. In the articles, local ministers aren’t indignantly planning to deny refugees’ access to Jordan. Those escaping violence cannot be denied their basic right to a safe life. But one and a half million Syrians are surely straining the country’s resources over their limits. Without outside assistance, Jordan could not take care of its refugees.
Now, that assistance is alarmingly in danger of decreasing.
Statistics to some, friends to Shoboul
My co-worker, Shoboul, lives on the Syrian border, in the village of Fal Shibab. He remembers when, in March 2011, rumours of unrest in the nearby village of Daran started to circle. Protests had started when the police had detained and tortured two young men after they had painted revolutionary writings on the walls of their school. The people, however, no longer tolerated the arbitrary actions of the authorities which for so long had been the norm.
During the spring of 2011, the situation began to escalate. Syrians began to flood into Shoboul’s home town. The sound of gunfire and explosions echoed from across the border. Many of the comers were successful farmers from the region of Horan, which stretches to both sides of the border. They had been forced to leave their possessions on the other side and were now poor refugees – statistics to some, but friends to Shoboul. The situation was scary. Jordanian forces were securing the border, but shots were fired across and some villagers got wounded.
Now, after four years, grenades still sporadically fly across the border – by accident or on purpose.
Shoboul laments the fate of these people: “We had a good relationship with them. They are good people. Still they invite me into their homes just like before the war, even though now they are refugees living in poverty in a foreign country.”
Mission: a future and hope for refugee children
“Syria is no more. There are only a number of fighting groups”, Shoboul ponders, missing the good old Syria. Even though a political solution seems impossible, hope for peace lives in Syria. The farmers of Horan wish to grow their crops in peace, support themselves and live peacefully with their neighbours. They hope to one day show their hospitality to Shoboul in their own homes in Syria.
The Jordanian society has been very open to Syrian refugees, despite the costs. Attitudes have remained positive, but there is fear of them hardening. Syrians snatch jobs by accepting lower wages, and people are getting tired of the refugee habitation which is becoming less and less temporary as the war continues.
Shoboul sees education and psychosocial support essential for the refugee children: “Our task as the Finn Church Aid team is to build a sustainable future and give hope to the refugee children and youth, so that they can persevere through this conflict to which no solution is in sight.”
Shoboul hopes that peace can be established in Syria and the country can get back on its feet once more. In the meantime, Shoboul can only continue his precious work helping the refugees.
How could I improve the learning environments of children in the difficult places I have visited? This was the question I was asking myself last autumn, sitting in my new room in the new FCA office, looking at the empty walls around my desk. My head seemed to mirror the emptiness, even though I was trying to come up with fancy architectural ideas.
As it happened, FCA education specialist Mary Tangelder came in and inspired me to look for a new angle. Why do the schools in developing countries always look like prisons, she asked, and then directed me on an idea hunt on the internet. She also talked about some wonderful Finnish schools she had visited. My head was no longer empty but buzzing with new ideas.
“Why do the schools in developing countries always look like prisons?”
How could we take notes from awarded Finnish school architecture, which is based on large, open buildings where different spaces meet and offer many different locations for learning and recreation? And how to do that especially when we work under very challenging conditions, with a very tight budget.
I started drawing on the walls and hanging various prints all over. That is my method of processing new ideas and collecting valuable seeds of thought and notable principles. And from all that, I began, little by little, to make out ideas that would combine limited resources and an inspiring school.
A redesigned learning environment is flexible.
A new school focused on learning and inspiring students could include a variety of spaces in classrooms, on big terraces, under a tree in a garden, in a media classroom, on a sports field or a quiet little corner, on a nice bench behind some shrubs. The buildings don’t have to be more expensive than before, they just need to be redesigned. The school grounds can then be transformed together to offer the kind of facilities that Finnish schools have under expensive roofs.
Obviously, an architect cannot design a school on his own; specialists in education are needed for support. We also decided to try out new ideas on a pilot project. That would be an excellent way to introduce our new ideas and principles to local personnel and partners. With meticulous documentation, this kind of a practical example would more easily attract the interest of others as well.
Product development and testing is quite different from our normal work, which meant that a proper time and financial resources had to be found for it. At the same time, FCA was looking for a target to the Suvivirsi Summer Hymn campaign in Cambodia. And behold, there was a place, and probably some funding as well, to test our new school design.
The writer is an architect and a coordinator of school construction at Finn Church Aid.
The war in Syria already tires the aid donors around the world, but even more it exhausts the individuals that are placed inside the refugee camps.
Intended to be temporary, the camps in the northern part of Jordan may become permanent residential places. Zaatri camp, set up in 2012, already has its own government, security forces, hospitals, shops, and the “Champs-Élysées,” bumpy alley lined with vendors shacks. Inside their own fenced compounds various aid organizations offer training and different activities for the refugees.
Fenced camp, roughly three square kilometers altogether, holds 83 000 people living in primitive conditions. At Azraq refugee camp the people are not living in tents, but simple metal cabins.
Secluded location in the desert makes it almost impossible for the refugees to have contact with the outside world. The people who fled their homes, with nothing else but the clothes they were wearing, are totally at the mercy of external grants. The refugees are allowed to move outside the camps only through strict authorization process and for a valid reason. So, some Jordanians concerns about the refugees taking over their jobs in this case is not accurate.
Some Syrians – with an entrepreneurial soul – have already taken action, such as the Champs-Élysées stalls merchants, or that former plumber, who started the first bicycle driven pizza taxi in Zaatri.
The local newspaper Jordan Times columnist YusufMansur has proposed establishing a textile factory near the camp Zaatri. This would stop the ongoing Jordanian textile industry trickling to Egypt . The Syrians know-how in this field could be utilized.
Work and income would help the refugees to get their lives back in their own hands. This would also benefit the economy of Jordan, now struggling, because of the various refugee floods from neighboring countries that have been draining it for decades.
New beginnings. Photo: Taina Värri
There are other options too. FinnChurchAid started an Agriculture and recycling project in Azraq camp in February. In the desert camp the soil donation from Finland, a few flowers and two strawberrie plants were welcomed with tenderness and devotion. Recycling workshop turned plastic bottles into flower pots and baskets.
The Agriculture project was well received by the camp management. The Jordanian contractor operating at Azraq donated a proper greenhouse to the FCA compound, so that the future cucumbers, radishes, zucchinis and tomatoes will have a chance to survive the challenging climate of the Jordanian desert.
There is a plan to include vegetable and fruit processing and later selling the products at the camp marketplace. The volunteers tending the garden receive a small monetary compensation for their work. The physical and mental #wellbeing that the gardening provides is a huge bonus.
FCA Middle East Regional Office is now drawing up a concept note, which in the future hopefully helps other players in creating similar projects too.
What does a flower smell like? Photo: Taina Värri
The writer is a Communications Specialist volunteering at Finn Church Aid’s office in Amman, Jordan.
