The gap between Jordan's humanitarian needs and the international funding available to meet them is widening, the latest sign of a shrinking donor umbrella that has long helped the Kingdom absorb the economic and social costs of hosting refugees.
اضافة اعلان
According to the latest data from the Financial Tracking Service (FTS), run by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), total humanitarian funding directed to Jordan since the start of this year stands at roughly $73.9 million, alongside $4.7 million in pledges. That compares with an estimated $2.8 billion in needs under the Jordan Response Plan for the Syrian refugee crisis.
The plan has actually received no more than $62.9 million, leaving coverage at just 2.2 percent of total estimated needs, according to data published on August 17.
Comparing current funding levels with those of a decade ago shows the scale of the shift in the aid landscape. Humanitarian funding to Jordan fell by roughly 92.11 percent between 2016 and 2026, from $936.9 million to $73.9 million.
The data show that about 85 percent of total humanitarian funding directed to the Kingdom this year, $62.9 million, went to the Syrian refugee response plan, while the remainder was distributed across the needs of other refugee communities, including Palestinian, Iraqi and Sudanese refugees, as well as host communities.
A Gap That Goes Beyond Humanitarian Funding
The current gap does not look like a temporary funding shortfall. Experts say that if this trend continues, it will create challenges that go beyond humanitarian organizations' ability to run their programs, extending to Jordan's own capacity to keep absorbing the economic, social and service-related costs of hosting refugees.
These developments come amid broader shifts in the global humanitarian funding system, as donor attention shifts toward new crises, wars and displacement, alongside the protracted nature of the Syrian crisis and mounting economic and political pressures on donor countries themselves.
Dr. Ruba al-Akash, director of the Center for Refugee, Displaced and Forced Migration Studies at Yarmouk University, said the sharp funding decline cannot be explained solely by waning interest in the Syrian refugee crisis. It reflects, she said, a broader set of shifts in donor priorities and the global humanitarian funding system.
Al-Akash explained that the Syrian crisis has become a protracted one, now stretching beyond a decade, at a time when new crises, wars and displacement have emerged to compete for limited resources, alongside the economic and political pressures facing donor states.
She noted that a crisis running long does not mean needs have disappeared. Donors tend to treat protracted crises as less urgent than new emergencies, even as humanitarian needs grow more complex over time, extending into social protection, education, healthcare, employment, housing and psychological support.
Al-Akash cautioned against treating refugees as a homogeneous group, noting that Jordan hosts refugees from a range of national, social and economic backgrounds, which makes their needs too varied to be captured by refugee numbers alone.
2.2% Funding Falls Short of a $2.8 Billion Plan
Al-Akash said funding for the Jordan Response Plan reaching just 2.2 percent represents a structural funding gap, not merely a temporary resource shortage.
Falling funding does not make needs disappear, she said. Instead, it pushes humanitarian organizations to rearrange their priorities, preserving the most urgent services while cutting or suspending others, a shift that could affect cash assistance, protection services, education, health and livelihoods.
At the same time, she said, recent changes in Syria and rising numbers of voluntary returnees have pushed the refugee crisis into a new phase, but that doesn't mean needs have ended, particularly since most refugees in Jordan live outside camps, within host communities.
As a result, the widening funding gap does not affect refugees alone. It extends to the Jordanian communities hosting them, adding pressure on the education, health, water, infrastructure and social protection sectors.
From an Annual Response Plan to a Long-Term Partnership
Al-Akash added that the continued decline in funding calls for rethinking the model used to manage the refugee crisis, arguing that short-term funding and annual projects are no longer adequate to address a crisis now more than a decade old.
She called for redefining the relationship between Jordan and its donors, shifting from funding an annual response plan to a long-term partnership for sharing the responsibility and burden of hosting refugees, alongside an increase in development financing to complement humanitarian aid.
Priorities, according to al-Akash, include water, education, health, infrastructure, social protection and employment, sectors where investment would benefit not just refugees but also strengthen Jordanian communities' ability to absorb the effects of hosting them.
Decline a 'Global Humanitarian Setback' and Added Strain on the Budget
Zian Zawaneh, a political economy specialist, described the sharp decline in humanitarian funding to Jordan as a "global humanitarian setback," as well as an added burden on the state budget and national resources.
Zawaneh linked the decline to shifting donor priorities and a reordering of humanitarian concerns, pointing to international and regional developments in recent years, including the war in Ukraine and regional tensions, which he said have redirected humanitarian support resources elsewhere.
He added that rising defense spending among European countries, along with economic pressures tied to trade disputes, tariffs and competition with China, have placed additional strain on those economies and pushed them to reorder their fiscal priorities, including humanitarian aid.
These shifts, Zawaneh said, have affected the level of European and Arab support for various humanitarian causes, including support for Jordan's Syrian refugee response plan.
Zawaneh also stressed the importance of paying special attention to the file of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), citing what he described as Israeli attempts to undermine the agency's role and programs. He emphasized the importance of Jordan redoubling its efforts to protect UNRWA's mandate, which rests on international resolutions.
Declining International Attention Does Not Mean the Refugee Crisis Is Over
Economic expert Mufleh Aqel said there has been a noticeable decline in international interest in the region's refugee issue, particularly the Syrian refugee crisis, following the political and security changes Syria has undergone and the end of its civil conflict.
Aqel said the shrinking humanitarian funding directed to the Kingdom is placing significant strain on infrastructure, services and local resources, and could push the government to absorb a larger share of these costs from the state treasury, in addition to economic and livelihood effects on refugees that could ripple into local markets.
He noted that the departure of a number of Syrian refugees from Jordan in recent months, following some improvement in stability factors in their home country, does not mean the crisis has ended, given that large numbers of refugees remain in the Kingdom and economic and living conditions in Syria remain difficult.
Aqel said the Syrian refugee crisis will remain one of the most significant challenges facing the national economy unless the conditions preventing larger numbers of refugees from returning change. He called on the government and relevant authorities to redouble efforts to engage the international community and press it to fulfill its commitments to Jordan.
The current funding figures place Jordan before a new test in managing the refugee file, as humanitarian aid declines while the cost of hosting refugees remains present across services, infrastructure and social protection.
While the changes in Syria may mark the beginning of a new chapter for the refugee crisis, the sharp drop in funding, coming before the conditions for sustainable return are fully in place, means Jordan and its donors need to find a more durable model, one that goes beyond plugging emergency humanitarian funding gaps to link humanitarian response with development financing and burden-sharing.
In sum, a response plan with $2.8 billion in estimated needs now funded at no more than 2.2 percent, combined with a drop of more than 92 percent in humanitarian funding to the Kingdom over a decade, is not a challenge for humanitarian organizations alone. It places a growing cost on the national economy and makes redefining the funding relationship between Jordan and the international community increasingly urgent.
