Jordan

Snapshot*
Population –6.3 million
Internally displaced persons – 160,000
Refugees –1.8 million (Palestine), 500,000 (Iraq)
Life expectancy –79 years old
Median age – 24 years old
Infant mortality rate – 16 deaths for every 1,000 live births
Fertility rate – 2.47 children per woman
HIV/AIDS rate – Less than 0.1 percent
Literacy rate –90 percent

Life in Jordan
Bordering Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, Jordan has remained remarkably stable in a volatile region. But despite its relative security, Jordan suffers from chronically high unemployment and poverty. With no oil and an economy reliant on tourism, services, and foreign assistance, its ruler, King Abdullah II, initiated substantial long-term economic reforms after ascending to the throne in 1999. Even with these reforms, Jordan is strained by a massive refugee population - about 60 percent of its 5.7 million citizens are Palestinian or of Palestinian descent. After the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq in 2003, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi fled to Jordan.

While Jordan has one of the best health care systems in the region, the needs of destitute Iraqis create a large burden on the country’s resources. Iraqis and their Jordanian host population suffer from limited access to medical care – especially secondary and mental health services - unemployment, substandard living conditions, lack of food and water, and few educational opportunities.

Helping Communities Help Themselves
Bringing Relief
International Medical Corps (IMC) is one of the few international aid agencies working both inside Iraq as well as in the countries coping with large numbers of Iraqi refugees: Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. To increase the health care support for refugees and vulnerable Jordanians, IMC is implementing activities that build and enhance:

• Primary health care
• Mental health care and psychosocial support
• Maternal and child care

To address the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi refugees and other vulnerable populations in Jordan, International Medical Corps is implementing assistance programs that aim to improve the quality of primary health care, including reproductive, child, and mental health services.

Enabling Self-Reliance
International Medical Corps understands the importance of a regional and holistic approach that addresses the needs of the displaced and host communities to ensure long-term stability. IMC builds the capacity of members of these populations by:

• Training health care workers who can provide primary health care through IMC-supported health posts, mobile clinics, and health centers
• Empowering peer mothers to train other mothers in improving child health
• Enhancing the mental health care capacity of primary health care providers

After years in exile, many Iraqis are still without income and have been forced to spend their savings to meet basic needs. In coordination with John Hopkins University, International Medical Corps surveyed Iraqi patients and found that the vast majority find cost to be a major barrier to obtaining health care. To improve the quality of care available to Iraqi refugees, IMC trains medical doctors working in NGO-run primary health clinics in communities with large refugee populations and supports Jordanian NGOs that assist Iraqi refugees.

International Medical Corps supports the Jordan River Foundation to implement a training program that aims to empower mothers with the skills and practices needed to enhance their capacity to care for their children during early childhood. From those participating in the training, select mothers will be recruited to serve as “peer mothers” to train others in improving the health status of their children.

To address the largely underserved need for mental health services, International Medical Corps is helping primary health care physicians to identify and manage mental disorders among Iraqis. This training will eventually lead to a cost-free referral system that enables Iraqi refugees to receive specialized care and treatment if necessary.

You Can Help Build Change That Lasts
Jordan continues to be burdened by its massive refugee population. But together, we can continue to expand the quality and availability of primary and mental health care for Jordanians and Iraqis. Your support helps build a safer environment where Jordanians and Iraqis can rebuild livelihoods, lead healthier lives, and ensure brighter futures for their children. Click here to help Jordan and other IMC programs worldwide.

*Statistics from U.S. Government