Employment through Labour Intensive Infrastructure in Jordan (Phases III, IV, V)

This project supports the creation of immediate jobs through Employment Intensive Investment Programmes (EIIP), for both vulnerable Jordanian citizens as well as Syrian refugees. It also improves local infrastructure, with a focus on the maintenance and cleaning of roads, highways and municipal works. 

Summary

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the Federal Republic of Germany, through KfW Development Bank, has been supporting the ILO’s “Employment through Labour Intensive Infrastructure in Jordan” project since 2016. The project seeks to improve the living conditions of vulnerable Jordanians and Syrian refugees in host communities, through creating employment and enhancing their employability and access to jobs using labour-intensive methods in infrastructure works.

Under the project, Syrians and Jordanians contribute to the improvement of local infrastructure with a focus on maintenance and cleaning of roads, highways and municipal buildings and facilities.

Implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of Local Administration, the project targets some of the country’s most vulnerable groups and has ensured that those who benefit from its interventions include 50 per cent Jordanians and 50 per cent Syrians, as well as 20 per cent women and 3 per cent Persons with Disability.

From 2016 until the end of April 2021, 21,007 Syrian refugees and Jordanians have benefited from the project (10,414 Syrian and 10,590 Jordanians), through activities implemented during Phases 1 to 4 and the start of Phase 5. It is anticipated that an additional 3,500 jobs will be created by the end of Phase 5.

In March 2020, the programme temporarily suspended operations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in line with government instructions. Despite the suspension of work on sites, the project took a number of steps to minimize the adverse impact of the crisis on the several thousand workers employed under the programme. 



These steps included the continued payment of salaries to workers  employed under the project, as well as working with the Cash for Work sector in Jordan on the development of COVID-19 safeguarding guidelines  to ensure the safe return of workers to their sites. In June, the first of its workers began to return to work in the capital Amman, with the remaining municipalities following in July.


Geographical Coverage

  • In the first two phases of the project, EIIP activities targeted the Governorates of Irbid and Mafraq.
  • For the third and fourth phases of the project, activities were up-scaled to new Governorates, including Amman, Zaraq, Ajlun and Jerash.
  • The fifth phase of the project also includes selected municipalities in the Governorate of Karak.

Objectives

The overall objective of the programme is that Syrian refugees and Jordanians have better living conditions due to increased employment and improved infrastructure.



The programme’s immediate objectives are:
(i)  to improve infrastructure through the use of labour intensive methods for men and women; and
(ii) to improve employability and access to the labour market for Syrian refugees and Jordanians.


Main Activities

  • Generating decent employment opportunities for Syrian refugees and Jordanians through EIIP with a focus on road maintenance activities and community works including cleaning of roads, parks, schools, as well as planting trees in selected municipalities;
  • Building the capacity of public and private sectors, including staff at selected municipalities on employment-intensive approaches through continuous technical support for various partners on how to manage and implement labour-intensive approaches;
  • Improving awareness of municipality and Ministry of Labour officials on labour laws, work permits, and social security rules and regulations through workshops;
  • Implementing a gender strategy to increase women’s participation in the project, through awareness campaigns, trainings, and workshops on women participation in infrastructure works;
  • Supporting the issuance of work permits in the agriculture and construction sectors to Syrian workers at end of their employment contract under EIIP (work permit for one year processed for Syrian workers who have participated in the programme);
  • Improving working conditions of workers engaged in the programme through conducting safeguarding checks on the project, such as the provision of contracts for workers to ensure decent work;
  • Supporting workers who complete the programme through on-the-job and theoretical training in selected skills (skills training for future work opportunity in various sectors); and
  • Improving and maintaining infrastructure through routine maintenance work (removing debris and other obstacles from the side of the roads; clearing shrubs and clearing side drains; fixing road shoulders and clearing culverts); and community works (road maintenance, culvert cleaning, road kerb maintenance, fence painting, and landscaping).
  • Selecting Municipalities for Phase V according to past performance, technical and administrative capacity and proposed community infrastructure in order to maximise the benefits for the community members and minimise administrative and compliance problems.