letter from the representative


IN JORDAN, CASH ASSISTANCE BRINGS WARMTH


When I visited the Waleed family in Zarqa, Jordan, Jodi, 12, Maha, 8, and Jana, 5, sat together on a mattress, giggling and chatting like all girls of their age. They were three happy children. What struck me, though, was that their happiness was due to one simple fact: they were warm, basking in the heat of a single stove.


Even though we are in the middle of winter, most of us take being warm for granted. That’s not the case for Syrian refugees,


including the more


than 650,000 who have fled to neighbouring Jordan to escape the ongoing war in their own country. During


the winter,


in Jordan hover between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius, and can go below freezing, often with rain, sometimes with snow. It feels even colder to many Syrians who lack proper winter clothing and boots, and live in uninsulated shelters, unlike our homes in Canada.


As the Canadian Representative for UNHCR, I travelled to Jordan late last year to see first-hand how a vital UNHCR program provides cash assistance to Syrian refugees living in urban areas.


In visiting with the Waleeds, I was able to see how winter cash assistance has allowed them to keep warm with a simple heater. Abu Waleed, the girls’ father, works in construction, but jobs are hard to pick up during the winter. UNHCR winter cash assistance


makes it possible for the family to buy essentials, such as heating fuel and warm clothes.


A recent UNHCR report, A promise of


tomorrow, detailed the effects of


cash assistance on Syrian refugees in


Jordan, and confirms what I


witnessed: as the conflict enters its eighth year, this aid is critical to survival for refugees.


temperatures


Unlike what Canadians may believe, many refugees do not live in camps, where items such as tents, food, water, and other supplies can be provided. In Jordan, 80 per cent of Syrian refugees live below the poverty line in urban areas, most in substandard housing.


When I met the Waleeds, I saw the huge difference the cash assistance program is making—especially


this


winter. It has given them some stability in a time of great upheaval. Before, they couldn’t afford rent, and had to move three times, each time looking for


cheaper, and thus inadequate,


accommodation. The cash assistance means they can now stay put, and their daughters can stay in the same school, affording them a small sense of normalcy and importantly, dignity.


You can learn more about the Waleeds on page 10. You can also find out more about the Rohingya—one of the world’s most persecuted minorities— and what has happened in the six months since over 600,000 Rohingya fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.


UNHCR.CA @UNHCRCANADA


There is good news, too: read about Syrian refugees pursuing their dreams in Montreal, and a transgender woman from Kenya who is transforming lives in Toronto.


As always, thank you for your interest


and your commitment


to people displaced by violence, conflict and persecution. You are helping them to survive, recover and build a better future.


Warm regards,


JEAN-NICOLAS BEUZE UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN CANADA


© UNHCR/David Azia


UNHCR CANADA


UNHCR CANADA / 3


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