Jordan: Operational Response in Focus A Stronger Foundation for Child Protection during Adolescence Jordan’s efforts to safeguard the legal identity of all refugee children generates solid data on their age and legal status as children. This is particularly important as a source of protection for adolescent children who face risks of forcible recruitment and the worst forms of child labour. UNHCR, the government of Jordan and partners have established prevention initiatives that include awareness-raising campaigns to highlight the risks associated with child recruitment. Secondary and tertiary education initiatives help adolescents and youth reach their potential, either in Jordan or through scholarship programmes facilitating study opportunities in third countries. UNHCR also works closely with the government of Jordan to monitor situations where adolescents and youth express an interest in spontaneously returning to Syria, including through regular assessments of their best interests, with particular attention to preventing child recruitment. Addressing Protection Risks Associated with Informal Marriages The multi-sectoral protection approach in Jordan also addresses the issues of informal and unregistered marriages which can raise protection concerns for women and make it more difficult to register births. A significant number of Syrian refugees had undertaken informal “urfi” marriages in Syria, and the practice remained prevalent among refugees in Jordan. In response, UNHCR, the government and other partners worked together to raise awareness of the importance of official marriage registration as a source of legal evidence of marital status and family composition. A large-scale initiative was also launched to resolve the situation of those already in informal marriages, with the government of Jordan granting two waiver periods, in 2014 and 2015, during which Syrian refugees were able to regularize their marriages free of charge and without penalty. This measure benefitted some 3,000 families, which were then also capable of registering new births without penalty or difficulty. Partnerships and Interagency Coordination UNHCR and other partners have incorporated statelessness prevention and response strategies into national coordination mechanisms and convened special events to resolve challenges. In 2014, the government of Jordan organised a roundtable with close cooperation from UNHCR that assembled a diverse array of civil society actors, NGOs and UN agencies, including the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA, to identify solutions for refugees who face difficulties in registering births and marriages. In cooperation with UNHCR, the government has implemented the main recommendations of the roundtable, such as instituting mobile courts, judicial services and civil registration services for the camps. Moreover, ongoing programming and advocacy to address risks of statelessness in the Syria situation are coordinated at the national level through the 3RP Protection Working Group. Attention to statelessness prevention is also integrated within thematic sub-working groups on Child Protection and addressing SGBV. 21