Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The population of Jordan has increased rapidly over the past 10 years, with the country taking in more than a million Syrian refugees, of whom nearly half are below the age of 18 years. The Government of Jordan, supported by the international community, has made substantial efforts to provide basic services for its refugees, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put additional pressure on the country’s limited resources. Given that young people account for a relatively large proportion of the population, especially the refugee population, it is critical that we understand what impacts the pandemic is having on adolescent girls and boys in order to ensure that the national response by government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and development partners including the United Nations (UN) are adolescent-friendly and equitable. This research brief draws on the findings of a questionnaire-based telephone survey involving nearly 3000 adolescent boys and girls, conducted as part of the Region-wide Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) longitudinal research programme which is co-funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Jordan’s population grew considerably in the last decade, as it took in more than a million Syrians fleeing civil war. With the support of the international community, the Government of Jordan has taken multiple measures to ensure refugees are housed, fed and educated. Compared to other countries in the region, results have been largely positive – yet significant gaps remain. Unemployment is exceptionally high, especially for Syrians, and most Jordanians are poorer today than they were a decade ago. Moreover, despite scaling up free education, primary education is not yet universal, with Syrian children particularly likely to be out of school. UNICEF Jordan has invested heavily to improve school access and learning outcomes for children and adolescents from refugee and host communities. A key initiative to support extremely vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian households with school-aged children to access education is through a cash transfer programme, called Hajati, which is a ‘cash for education’ programme. Within this broader context, this report has two objectives: 1) to identify economic barriers (e.g., costs of schooling, labour market ‘pull’ factors, and returns on investment to formal education) and non-economic barriers (e.g., school violence and legal constraints to enrolment) to education in Jordan, taking into consideration gender and disability status differences; and 2) to provide evidence-based recommendations for overcoming the barriers facing adolescents, especially those at risk of dropping out, with a particular focus on strengthening the Hajati cash transfer programme and maximising its synergies with Makani centres.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown has shattered the everyday lives of young people, limiting peer interactions and disrupting privacy, with potential for long-term detrimental impacts. This study uses rapid virtual quantitative and qualitative surveys undertaken from April to July 2020 with over 4,800 adolescents affected by displacement in Bangladesh and Jordan to explore adolescent girls’ experiences of social isolation and lack of privacy.

Extraordinary steps have been taken to alleviate the current quick transmission of the Jordanian COVID‐19 pandemic. The obligatory lock‐down affects their obedience to measures to fight COVID‐19. This research aims to determine the prevalence rate of violence amongst women in Jordan and identify possible correlates of violence amongst women during the COVID‐19 outbreak.

This study presented an overview about the mental health situation in Jordan during the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) in general, and about the situation of mental health and the provided support for Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp.

One of the strictest quarantines worldwide to limit the spread of coronavirus was enforced in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated reported mental health and changes in lifestyle practices among Jordanian mothers during COVID-19 quarantine. The specifc objectives included studying the level of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and their potential statistical associations with demographic and lifestyle variables. Furthermore, the study aimed to investigate differences in mental health between different demographic and socio-economic groups and to examine the major lifestyle changes that occurred on mothers during the quarantine.

Covid-19 has rapidly disrupted the lives of individuals across the globe. While the direct health effects are largely concentrated among the elderly, the virus will almost certainly have multidimensional effects on young people’s well-being in both the short and long term. This factsheet is part of a cross-country series designed to share emerging findings in real time from quantitative interviews with adolescents in the context of covid-19. The young people involved are part of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme’s longitudinal research in East Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. This factsheet is a rapid snapshot of adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards covid-19 in Jordan and presents key findings on the impact of covid-19 across GAGE’s capability domains: education and learning; health, nutrition and sexual and reproductive health; psychosocial well-being; economic empowerment; voice and agency; and bodily integrity.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a rapid global spread.  All individuals of all age groups are at risk of COVID-19. This study aims to describe the knowledge and attitude of Jordanian parents regarding COVID-19 in children, including clinical signs of the disease, modes of transmission and protection measures. A cross-section study among Jordanian parents was conducted. The size of the sample was 810. Information regarding the clinical signs of the disease, modes of transmission, protection measures against COVID-19 and satisfaction with governmental measures was collected.

The overall purpose of this rapid assessment is to measure the impact of COVID-19 on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights among adolescent girls (defined as girls ages(10-17) and young women aged (18-24) in Jordan, including persons with disabili es (PwD).

This report aims to highlight one major initiative, the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) implementation of the Reach Up and Learn program in the Middle East, and the ways in which this initiative is providing vital support to both children and their caregivers affected by the Syrian refugee crisis. The first section includes a description of the adaptation process, with following sections highlighting the diverse characteristics of frontline staff and clients, program costs and the early-stage measurement piloting conducted in preparation for the planned randomized controlled trial. By sharing these experiences and lessons learned, the report aims to provide practical guidance for early childhood leaders, practitioners, policy-makers and researchers interested in designing, delivering, testing and scaling home visiting programs in crisis- and conflict-affected settings.