Winterization assistance to targeted vulnerable groups through local partner engagement The World Relief Germany (WRG) Jordan Winterization Project 2019-2020 aims to meet the winter-specific, basic needs of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees and Jordanians. This project is part of WRG's community based family strengthening program. The following proposal draws from lessons learned during our last three winterization projects in 2016/2017 (supported by OCHA), 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 (supported by OCHA).
WRG will assist 712 cases with a one-time cash transfer to cover their winterization needs. The average family size expected in this project is 5 people, totaling 3,560 beneficiaries (30% Jordanians, 70% Syrians outside of camps). Beneficiary names will be received from UNHCR, the Ministry of Social Development (MOSD) and our more than twenty local partners.
On the winterization task force meeting at the beginning of December 2019 it was reported, that 6,000 Syrian cases have not been yet covered. We will work with partners from the Amman, Zarqa, Mafraq, and Irbid Governorates to identify eligible beneficiaries from among those 6000 families that fit the beneficiary criteria in this call (women and elderly people at risk / people with disabilities / single parent or caregiver / children at risk). The verification on eligibility will be done via RAIS. If unexpectedly no VAF score is available, WRG will conduct its own vulnerability assessment (shortened VAF assessment). This grass-roots approach also helps identifying those who have no VAF scores and those whose situation has dramatically changed for worse since the last VAF assessment. If most of the cases from our partners are already covered and/or not eligible, we will request cases meeting the beneficiary criteria mentioned above from UNHCR.
Jordanian beneficiary names will be provided by MOSD. The UNHCR co-chair of the winterization task force mentioned the quality of the data from MOSD to be sufficient by now to work with their lists and that one can use specific indicators to receive names that fit the target group. The main benefit of working with MOSD is that duplications can be avoided, as MOSD will ensure that each beneficiary only receives one winterization package. To support further work with MOSD data, we will add some questions to the PDM, in order to measure the vulnerability of the people referred by MOSD.
WRG will disburse the one-time winterization cash assistance via the Common Cash Facility (CCF) for Syrians and via wire transfer for Jordanians. The amounts provided are based on the Winterization Task Force standards. This task force decided on amounts that should cover winter-related expenses depending on the case size.
WRG will have a protection focus through all phases of the project cycle. The project itself is mitigating protection concerns, as we have observed from previous post-distribution monitoring (PDM) for winterization: Providing cash for basic needs reduces household tensions among at risk households and therefore helps prevent negative coping mechanisms. More than that, WRG will provide further protection trainings to our partners and PDM teams. The trainings will focus on how to conduct a good home visit and include important topics like psycho-social support, supportive communication, active listening, confidentiality, and referrals. A second day of training will cover more in-depth how to handle cases of domestic violence, child abuse, and how to develop a safety plan. These topics are relevant for those grass-root partners who are in close personal contact with beneficiaries. Some of those trained will be able to use the training to assist in the PDM visits.