Summary:

In promoting an employment-rich national response to the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, the ILO has identified supporting evidence-based policy development as one of the key pillars of its response strategy. The ILO has conducted a number of studies at the national and sectoral level in Jordan to better measure the impact of the influx of refugees on the labour market and to assess the impact of the measures taken to facilitate access of Syrian refugees to the labour market.

This project aims to improve knowledge on the employment and labour market situation of Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan to ultimately help inform policy making. It focuses on different work permit policies and regulations and their implications on Syrian workers’ formal employment and access to decent work. It will provide insight into the impact of work permits on wider labour market challenges in Jordan, including labour market segmentation and employers’ access to qualified labour. At the same time, it will evaluate how work permits impact non-Syrian workers’ access to decent work.

Objectives:

Contribute to and advance the evidence base on the impact of work permit regulations and procedures governing Syrians’ access to the labour market in Jordan and feed into advocacy and evidence-based policymaking.

Main Activities:

• Provide quantitative analysis of work permit issuance, employment and labour market data (through mapping of available data and conducting survey with Syrian, Jordanian and migrant workers); 
• Provide qualitative data on work permit regulations, employment and decent work for Jordanian, Syrian and migrant workers in Jordan (through interviews and focus group discussions with workers); 
• Enhance awareness of Syrian, Jordanian and migrant workers, their employers and members of their host communities on issues surrounding Syrians’ employment in Jordan (through awareness raising campaigns); 
• Enhance knowledge on gender specific barriers to the labour force participation of Syrian women and support Syrian women (through interviews and discussions with female workers and those not yet in the workforce) and support women to have better information on labour market opportunities and procedures (through ILO employment service centre support and social media campaign). 
• Disseminate research findings to key policy processes.