AMMAN — The Cash-for-Work (CfW) programme has no strong impact on local economic development in Jordan, the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan and the German Development Institute (DIE) said in a joint statement on Saturday.

 

Preliminary findings of the two-month study showed that the programme has helped participants cover their basic needs, the statement sent to The Jordan Times said.

 

CfW programmes are frameworks designed to provide jobs to impoverished households and individuals at relatively low wages, the statement explained.

 

Aside from covering rent, electricity and water, food and household expenditures, increased business activities and investment effects in the studied communities “are traceable only to some extent”, the study found.

 

The objective of CfW programmes in Jordan is twofold, the statement underlined: First is to alleviate the financial stress of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian communities, and second is to improve and strengthen social cohesion between them.

 

On the social cohesion frontier, the study found that the programmes did positively affect the participants' sense of belonging to their place of residence, but not to the wider community.

 

The study, entitled “Community effects of Cash-for-Work programmes in Jordan — Effects on host communities’ local development, gender roles and social cohesion”, also found that CfW programmes contributed positively to building trust between Syrian refugee and Jordanian communities, the statement added.

 

Analysis showed that CfW programmes have changed the perception of women in the workforce, the statement said. 

 

The study was conducted over the months of February and April by DIE in partnership with the CSS, collecting primary data through qualitative semi-constructed interviews with stakeholders, the statement underscored.

 

The leading question of the study was: To what degree and how have social cohesion and economic opportunities — in particular for women — changed within host communities due to CfW programmes?

 

Core CfW activities include the collection and recycling of waste, the rehabilitation and development of infrastructure such as road construction and school rehabilitation, as well as the protection of water reservoirs, the joint statement highlighted

 

DIE is located in the UN Campus in Bonn, in Germany and was established in 1964.

 

The CSS was established in 1984 at the University of Jordan and was ranked the top think tank in the MENA region for the third year in a row, the statement mentioned.