This report provides an assessment of the Millennium Development Goals;; laid out by the UN Millennium Declaration. The UN Millennium Declaration was adopted in September of 2000 as a commitment on the part of the world's leading nations to reduce poverty;; improve health and promote peace;; human rights;; and environmental sustainability. The Millennium Development Goals are specific;; measurable targets that aim to reduce extreme global poverty by the year 2015. This report analyzes the challenges and barriers to meeting these goals as of 2003;; examining the successes and failures of various nations and the gaps that exist between regions and countries with regards to economic growth and human development. This report then examines the successes and failures of public and private policies with regards to hunger;; health;; water and sanitation;; education;; and environmental sustainability. This report also analyzes the participation of civil society throughout the world and the mobilization of grassroots support for the various human development goals. Finally;; this report presents a number of recommendations on what countries can do to best support these goals.

Attacks and harassment amidst the security vacuum in Iraq forced refugees and other foreigners to flee the country and become refugees again;; this time in Jordan. Based on research in Baghdad and Jordan;; this 22-page Human Rights Watch report details the abuses against refugees and foreigners in Iraq;; as well as their treatment upon arrival in Jordan. Housing is frequently the pretext for the violence and harassment. Many landlords;; forced by the previous government to take Palestinian tenants at discounted rates;; are taking advantage of the breakdown in law and order to evict Palestinian tenants from their homes or to extort unrealistic rent increases from them. In other cases;; violence and threats have come from individuals who seem to have no legitimate claim to the property. Human Rights Watch criticized Jordanian authorities for limiting refugees' entry to Jordan and recommended that Jordan provide immediate protection and assistance to all refugees;; including those currently trapped near the Jordanian border in accordance with international refugee law standards.

يأتي هذا التقرير متزامناً مع الأول من أيار يوم العمال العالمي. ويتناول هذا التقرير أبرز الاختلافات التي يعاني منها سوق العمل الأردني;; وابرز الانتهاكات التي تتعرض لها قطاعات واسعة من العاملين في الاردن;; إلى جانب التحديات التي يواجهها الاقتصاد الاردني .

The fifth volume in the series of Arab Human Development Reports sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and independently authored by intellectuals and scholars from Arab countries. The report argues that human security is a prerequisite for human development;; and that the widespread absence of human security in Arab countries undermines people's options.

This report adopts a rights-based approach to map the access of persons with physical disabilities to social services in Jordan and assess the extent to which they enjoy equal opportunities and are socially integrated. The rights-based approach calls for a thorough assessment of the “4 A’s”;; i.e. the availability;; accessibility;; adaptability and acceptability of social services for all members of society. It thus puts special emphasis on the environmental factors and policy gaps constraining the “4 A’s” and preventing the social integration of vulnerable groups. Accordingly;; the objectives of this study are (a) to set forth the social;; legal and institutional barriers preventing persons with physical disabilities in Jordan from fully enjoying their right to education;; health;; employment and social protection and (b) to gauge the ability of social policies to lift these barriers and facilitate the overcoming of inequity for this group.

The Government of Jordan adopted its first Poverty Alleviation Strategy in 2002 recognizing poverty as a key development problem requiring a comprehensive policy for improving the lives of the poor and socially excluded;; increasing their human capabilities;; providing them with economic opportunities and fully integrating them in the society. Considerable progress in poverty reduction has been achieved. The Government has put in place a series of social programs aimed at increasing employment opportunities;; curbing unemployment;; combating poverty and offering in-kind and cash assistance for the poor and marginalized groups within Jordanian society

This report is a baseline assessment of community-identified vulnerabilities among Syrian refugees living in Amman;; Irbid;; Madaba;; Mufraq;; and Zarqa. The purpose of this report is to identify urban Syrian refugees’ current coping mechanisms and any gaps in services available to Syrian refugees in Jordan. The research methodology is both qualitative and participatory in design;; drawing from the UNHCR tool for Participatory Assessment in Operations. This report presents only the data from household interviews;; baseline assessment;; and the follow-up focus groups conducted with community members. The number of households surveyed was 240;; with a total number of 1;;476 household members and 89 focus group participants representing 534 household members. The report proposed general recommendations and interventions to deal with the main highlighted challenges (cash assistance;; strengthening community links;; vocational training;; physical activities ...etc).