Strengthening the Social Stability and Resilience of Vulnerable Jordanian Communities and Syrian Refugees in Amman against Flash Floods

Brief Background of the Project

Flash floods have become a serious problem in Jordan due to rapid unplanned urbanization and the insufficient capacity of drainage systems and most importantly climate change ramifications; they account for significant damages causing losses of both lives and properties. According to Jordan National Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategy 2019-2022, launched by the Prime Minister in May 2019, floods have been identified as the second prioritized risk in Jordan after earthquakes. In 2018, flash floods claimed 35 lives and affected approximately 150,000. Thirty minutes of heavy rainfall caused a severe flash flood leading to loss of life, damaged properties and flooded streets, leaving people trapped in their cars and homes. According to a flood hazard map of July 2019, the governorates of Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Mafraq are the most vulnerable to flash flood hazards due to high population concentrations in these areas that increased with the arrival of Syrian refugees, who exert pressure on social services and infrastructure for water and sanitation, drainage and waste management.

Like most cities in the MENA region, Amman experienced rapid and unplanned urbanization; during its relatively short history as the capital of Jordan, slightly over 100 years, it has gone through unprecedented growth from 5,000 inhabitants to a current estimate of over 4 million people. This increase is a result of both natural urban growth and continuous influxes of refugees due to ongoing conflicts and political instability in the region. Climate change, rapid population and spatial growth, lack of adequate land use planning and a deficient drainage management system results in ever more frequent and intense flash floods, especially in downtown Amman, which is topographically one of the city’s lowest areas.

Previous studies showed that there are various causes for increased flood risks in downtown Amman, some of the most prominent include: The existing stormwater drainage infrastructure is not adequate in handling the stormwater runoff that increased as a result of rapid development and urban expansion in the watershed which caused reduced infiltration and increased the volume and peak flows of the stormwater runoff.  The main stormwater drainage conduit in the Amman is a series of culverts that replaced the upper reach of Amman Sail which used to be natural stream fed by the runoff from the watershed and springs.  This series of culverts was designed in 1962, over 50 years ago & are not adequate to handle the flow resulting from the existing conditions.  Additionally, a sewage network improvement project for the City of Amman implemented in the mid-1990s placed the sewer mainline along the path of the culverts. This sewage main line constructed in 1996 was placed inside the culverts at some of its sections, reducing the cross-sectional area of the culvers and causing an obstacle to the water flow, which further reduced the culverts capacity.

The current situation requires the design and implementation of short-term intervention measures to increase the resilience of flood prone areas and reduce risk the disaster. Effective management of stormwater runoff is one of the main priorities of the Amman Resilience Strategy and Climate Action Plan. In this respect, improving stormwater runoff detention and reducing pollutants carried by the runoff were identified in the Flood Hazard Mitigation Plan as emergency actions needed to protect people’s lives and properties from flood hazards plan, and to protect Amman’s natural ecosystems from pollution caused by runoff. Improving stormwater runoff management more efficiently will reduce peak flows and lower water pollution levels. Moreover, the Amman Resilience Strategy called for developing a stormwater master plan for Amman and listed it as one of the priority issues the city needs to address in order to enhance the performance of the City’s stormwater system and to reduce the risks of flash flood damages and increase the City’s resilience to flash floods.

In response to the above challenges, UN-Habitat is implementing the “Strengthening the Social Stability and Resilience of Vulnerable Jordanian Communities and Syrian Refugees in Amman against Flash Floods”. Funded by Government of Japan, the project seeks to address these urgent needs by providing a comprehensive and integrated response against flash floods through community consultations and awareness raising, training and capacity building on resilience to floods, urban management and construction standards, and implementation of urgent flood effect mitigation activities. The overall goal of the project is to strengthen government and community resilience and capacities to better manage flash floods through the implementation of flood resilient infrastructure. The project will proactively reduce the actual or expected vulnerabilities of local communities and refugees to flash floods. It will provide a number of solutions to strengthen government and community resilience and capacities to better manage flash floods.

Main activities and outputs

The Implementing Partner will be undertaking main activities as follows (but not limited to):

• Liaise with UN-Habitat focal point in Jordan office and ensure full coordination throughout the assignment. 
• Consult and coordinate with Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), Amman Chamber of Commerce, and other relevant key stakeholders and governmental authorities to engage them with the different planned activities,
• Map and identify the key stakeholders and community leaders in the targeted area
• Be in charge of all the logistical preparations needed for the community consultation sessions and focus group meetings
• Organise and facilitate the community consultation sessions and focus group meetings and support the technical consultant in moderating the sessions / meetings.
• Ensure submitting high quality reports at the end of each task/ session as listed in the expected deliverables, including proof reading and translating the reports in Arabic/English language, and professionally edit and design the submitted material. 
• Ensure full documentation for the conducted activities (including list of participants, photographs and videos).

Full details about the main tasks and expected deliverables are indicated in the attached Terms of Reference (ToR), which constitutes an integral part of this Call for Proposal