Building bridges: livelihoods festival promotes ties between Syrian refugees and Jordanian host communities

Ramtha, Northern Jordan (ILO News) - The conflict in Syria has forced hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to neighbouring Jordan. While many urban areas have witnessed an influx in the number of refugees, Ramtha, a Jordanian city close to the northern border with Syria, has been particularly hard hit (closed captions available for video.)

It is estimated that Ramtha’s population has doubled since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria in 2011, to now include over 40,000 Syrian refugees, the majority of whom lost their livelihoods when they became refugees.

Um Qassam fled to Ramtha from the Syrian city of Daraa with her husband and four sons early on in the crisis, and is now finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Her husband was injured in the violence that engulfed Syria and can no longer work; Um Qassem is now her family’s sole breadwinner.

“I try to help my children (financially) by making things at home. I sew, I do anything to help pay the rent and everyday expenses,” she said in her modest rented apartment.

The arrival of some 630,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan has piled pressure on already struggling host communities.

Like Um Qassem, Jordanian mother-of-six Um Mohammed is the sole income generator in her household. She embroiders traditional dresses and sells them locally, but says that the money generated through selling her dresses is not enough.

Yet, thanks to an ILO supported two-day festival in Ramtha, designed to promote home-based businesses, Um Mohammed has some hope that she will be able to expand her small business by attracting new costumers.

“I work in embroidery. I work to generate income because we do not have any other means of income,” she said ahead of the festival. “I hope the festival will help me generate income for my family in the future.”

Organised by Jordan’s Agricultural Engineers Association, the festival provides struggling Jordanian and Syrian families with an opportunity for income generation by showcasing and selling home-made products.

“Our aim is to help them reach a place where they can market their products. That is our aim, and the profit will go to the participants,” said Khaled Bashabsheh of Jordan’s Agricultural Engineers Association.

The festival was supported by the ILO project in Jordan titled "Enhancing job opportunities and livelihoods in host communities.” It is one of a series of similar events being supported by the ILO, as part of the UN agency’s wider efforts to enhance employment opportunities and livelihoods in communities straining to cope with the influx of large numbers of refugees in the region.

“This festival is a part of other activities that the ILO is implementing, the most important of which is the drafting of a local economic development plan, which includes a number of initiatives,” said Maha Kattaa, ILO coordinator for the Syrian Refugee Response in Jordan. “One of the initiatives is the promotion of agricultural festivals, which also serve to bring together local communities and refugees.”

Local residents flocked to the festival tent to see the products being showcased by both communities. Products included Syrian and Jordanian home-made dishes, soaps, traditional clothes, arts and crafts.

Syrian Um Mohammad said she spent days preparing soaps and creams to showcase at the festival. “The most important thing is that you feel that you are being productive,” Um Mohammad said.

While the festival aimed to restore and improve the livelihoods of those in need, many participants said the festival was a platform to highlight similarities between the Jordanian and Syrian cultures, as well as an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences.

Yasser Haddad, one of the festival’s visitors, said: “The festival is great…the most beautiful thing is that it brings Syrians and Jordanians together.”