The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said a helpline aimed at providing support and advice on issues faced by refugees living in Jordan has answered over 1.7 million calls since its inception 10 years ago, The Jordan Times reported Thursday (April 5th).
One of the largest refugee helplines in the world, the Refugee Helpline Jordan offers support on a wide range of topics including cash assistance, resettlement, registration and access to healthcare, among others.
The line also receives queries about other agency programmes such as partners of the Common Cash Facility or the World Food Programme (WFP) voucher programme, which are then referred to the new WFP helpline for direct assistance.
Launched in 2008 to respond to the needs of refugees living in Jordan, the helpline system was upgraded in 2014 to cater for the increasing number of calls following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis.
In 2017 alone, UNHCR received an average of 45,000 calls per month, and was able to answer around 60% of them.
