The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working on mitigating the impact of the syrian refugee crisis on host communities and advancing social cohesion among refugees and hosts in Jordan since shortly after the war broke out in 2012. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has been supporting UNDP in sustaining socioeconomic stability and enhancing social cohesion between Syrian refugees and Jordanian host communities in targeted areas, while enabling Jordanians and refugees to pursue their human development aspirations.
At the onset of the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, an estimated 500,000 Syrian refugees resided outside the camps. Increased pressure on resources, infrastructure, education, health care, housing, essential services and increased competition for jobs out a strain on Jordanian host communities. The rising demand for social services threatened social cohesion, as access and quality of service provision diminished under the heightened demand. This put a increasing strain on Jordanian host communities and left them feeling marginalized.