Al Mafraq, Jordan, 25 November 2013 (ICMC) – The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is betting on community involvement to help isolated Syrian women and girls in Northern Jordan better access social services available and face the many challenges of refugee life.

The isolation of Syrian women and girls is recognized as one of their biggest challenges in Jordan, home to more than 550,000 Syrian refugees. In a foreign country without husbands or a social network for support, they must fend for themselves. This exposes them to repeated verbal and sexual, psychological and physical abuse. Ignorant of the services they could rely on, their children are wasting away at home, while many vulnerable mothers are struggling to survive – alone.

“While services still need to increase, the main issue remains building trust and reaching out to the community,” stated a July 2013 report led by UN Women< on gender-based violence and child protection among Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Seeing sexual and gender-based violence as a private, family-based issue, women become reluctant to integrate into the local community and to seek help from local authorities or humanitarian organizations. Through a range of new outreach and informational services encouraging them to interact with and learn from others as well as make use of existing services, ICMC aims to better protect vulnerable 1,500 Syrian refugee women and children in Jordan.

Group discussions to overcome the hidden challenges of life as a refugee

As part of its humanitarian assistance programme for Syrian refugees in Northern Jordan, ICMC in May began weekly group meetings with Syrian women at its offices in the city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria. Discussions range from how to register children for school, to dealing with tensions between parents and children, and addressing domestic violence.

During the meetings, the participants’ children, who often stay at home without any friends or toys, are offered much needed supervised playtime and toy boxes containing crayons, colouring books and stuffed animals.

“The children are really excited to go. Last night they did not sleep, they kept asking if we were going to the ICMC playroom tomorrow,” said Mouna, a Syrian mother of six, after attending four group sessions. “It is useful for me to hear other people’s opinions and stories that I’ve never heard before. This helps me with my problems. When I have finished a focus group I feel stronger.”

Additionally, ICMC hosts monthly lectures by specialists from institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to further inform refugees of issues such as family health and the importance of conserving water. Finally, to ensure local communities surrounding these women were effectively made aware of protection issues and services available to women and girls, ICMC staff also distributed 1,500 information leaflets to Syrian households.

These protection services are part of ICMC’s humanitarian assistance programme in the area, funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) and which includes outreach and referrals, winterization assistance, rental subsidies and baby packages.

-- by Caitlin Hannahan/lb

Photocredit © ICMC / 2013