In northern Jordan, a UN-supported planning process for Irbid Governorate brought government, health and disaster management bodies together to assess climate-related health risks, and a local organisation then took the resulting priorities into wildfire prevention and school activities. The case includes refugee and host-community students.
Map
Building inclusive resilience in Irbid
General Information
ISIG
A local resilience process in Irbid Governorate, Jordan, in which institutions assessed climate and health risks together and a community organisation then turned the priorities into action with refugee and host communities.
In 2025, government, health and disaster management actors used the WHO-led Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR) to assess climate-related health risks, and UNDRR and the Community Action Association Network (CAN) supported Irbid’s first Local Resilience Action Plan. CAN then ran a wildfire-prevention campaign, “A Safe Summer for Our Forests”, at the Kufrabil reforestation site in the Koura district. School-based activities in Hawara on disaster risk reduction, nature-based solutions and early warning, adapted to age groups, reached 6,701 students in 11 educational settings (456 of them refugees and 6,245 from host communities; 57.7% were women and girls).
Irbid Governorate, in northern Jordan, faces connected climate, health and disaster risks. UNDRR describes rising temperatures, water scarcity and extreme weather putting pressure on communities and public services, and because refugees and other vulnerable groups live in the area, planning needs to be inclusive. The 2015 census counted about 1.77 million people in the governorate.
Jordan’s disaster risk management is led at national level by the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, with the Civil Defence responsible for response and the Higher Council of Civil Defence chaired by the Minister of Interior. According to a 2017 capacity assessment by the CADRI Partnership, governors are appointed through the Ministry of Interior, municipalities are supervised by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, and Jordan had no single disaster risk management law. The same assessment notes that Irbid was among eight municipalities with a disaster management plan, but that many plans were externally driven and local risk assessments were not widely shared. That description is from 2017 and may have changed.
The Irbid work was supported by UNDRR, IOM and WHO under a joint UN programme on climate change adaptation, risk reduction and migrant-inclusive health responses, and Irbid was chosen as one of its focus locations at a national workshop in October 2024.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
- Climate, health and disaster risks are normally handled by separate institutions, so there is little shared understanding of risk and preparedness priorities.
- Irbid had no local resilience action plan of its own before this process, and plans can stay on paper unless something follows them.
- Wildfire and the loss of vegetation cover were among the priorities identified for the governorate, and communities have a limited role in preventing them.
- Refugees, host communities and children receive little tailored risk information, and inclusion needs to be built in.
The school activities reached 6,701 students, of whom 456 were refugees and 6,245 came from host communities, and women and girls made up 57.7% of participants against a minimum target of 40%. UNDRR also notes that refugees, host communities and other vulnerable groups were considered in the planning.
Led by UNDRR, which supported Jordan together with IOM and WHO under a joint UN programme. UNDRR convened and supported the planning, and WHO led the STAR risk assessment. Public officials, health authorities and disaster management staff took part in the assessment, and UNDRR worked with a local organisation, CAN, on Irbid’s first Local Resilience Action Plan. CAN then took the plan’s priorities into community action.
National structures exist and Irbid had a municipal disaster management plan according to a 2017 assessment, but Irbid’s first Local Resilience Action Plan was only produced in 2025, and the 2017 assessment found local plans weakly linked to development planning.
No public information on the physical infrastructure in the target communities was found in the sources reviewed. Based on the available information, basic provision exists, and UNDRR notes pressure on public services. Neither the campaign nor the school activities relied on new infrastructure.
To create a shared understanding of risk across the climate, health and disaster sectors and to involve a local organisation and schools in carrying priorities forward.
A sub-national workshop in May 2025 (34 participants) and the STAR assessment in July 2025 (over 40 participants) brought the institutions together. The Local Resilience Action Plan was then developed in workshops in August to October 2025 (a scorecard workshop with 39 participants, a public health workshop with 30 and a validation workshop with 36). CAN recruited community participants for the wildfire campaign, and age-adapted sessions were run in schools.
Institutions shaped the plan and the priorities. Communities and students mainly gained knowledge and took part in activities that followed from the plan. UNDRR describes CAAN as a partner able to carry local priorities forward, and a community representative said the sessions changed how he understood disaster risk reduction and early warning.
Students, young people, families and community representatives learned about disaster risk reduction, nature-based solutions and early warning, including how to identify risks and interpret warnings.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
- Climate, health and disaster risks assessed together with STAR, bringing institutions into one process.
- A planning process that led to community-led follow-up by a local organisation, rather than ending with the plan.
- Refugee and host-community students taking part in the same sessions, with a female participation target (40%) that was exceeded.
- Age-adapted content on disaster risk reduction, nature-based solutions and early warning.
- A wildfire-prevention campaign that links directly to priorities in the local plan.
Arabic
In Irbid, UNDRR (Regional Office for Arab States) worked with the Community Action Association Network (CAN) on the Local Resilience Action Plan, WHO led the STAR assessment, and CAN then led the community follow-up.
UNDRR is the UN agency that coordinates disaster risk reduction and WHO developed and led the STAR assessment. CAN’s wider track record was not described in the sources reviewed. Based on the available information, it can be inferred that CAN had enough local standing to be chosen as UNDRR’s implementing partner for the Irbid plan.
UNDRR, IOM and WHO; public officials, health authorities and disaster management staff in Irbid; CAN; schools in Hawara; community representatives, refugees and host communities; and the Kufrabil reforestation project.
- Choose Irbid as a focus location (national workshop, October 2024).
- Hold a sub-national workshop in Irbid (May 2025, 34 participants).
- Run the STAR assessment in Irbid (9-10 July 2025) with officials, health authorities and disaster management staff.
- Develop the Local Resilience Action Plan with the Disaster Resilience Scorecard, a public health addendum and a validation workshop (August to October 2025), and finalise it by December 2025.
- Support community-led follow-up: CAN’s wildfire-prevention campaign at Kufrabil and school-based sessions in Hawara.
Funding for the planning work came through the joint UN programme, and the amount for Irbid was not stated. A USD 90,000 agreement between UNDRR and CAN for local resilience planning is reported in the programme’s final report. Other needs were facilitators for STAR and the scorecard, participation by government and health actors, and volunteers and school staff for the community activities.
Irbid’s main steps ran from the workshop in May 2025 to the finalised plan in late 2025, followed by community action. The dates of the wildfire campaign and the school activities were not given. No monitoring or evaluation specific to Irbid was found.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
Assessing risks across sectors together builds shared understanding; A planning process should be tied to concrete follow-up, and local organisations can carry priorities forward as partners instead of beneficiaries; Placing refugee and host-community students in shared sessions widens access to risk information.
Plans can stop at the document stage, which CAN addressed by taking the plan’s priorities into community activities.
Public services are under pressure from the refugee population, so activities had to be inclusive and low-cost, and the female participation target and joint sessions for refugee and host-community students responded to this. C
Continuity after the project depends on local ownership, which is why CAN has continued to look for partnerships and implementation opportunities.
Risk: the plan stays a document. Mitigation: a local organisation carries the priorities into action, as with the wildfire campaign.
Risk: funding ends with the programme. Mitigation: CAN is mobilising new partnerships and opportunities; no secured follow-on funding was found.
Risk: uneven inclusion. Mitigation: a 40% female participation target and joint sessions for refugee and host-community students.
Risk: uneven community reach. Mitigation: schools were used as a channel to reach students, families and community representatives.
These risks and mitigations are drawn from the UNDRR article (see url) and are partly inferred.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
Local organisation follow-up built on an institutional plan. The Local Resilience Action Plan gives a set of agreed priorities, and CAN continues to mobilise partnerships and implementation opportunities in Irbid. UNDRR describes the pathway as understanding risk, setting priorities together, strengthening local planning, empowering community actors, implementing locally led solutions, measuring change and scaling.
UNDRR presents the Irbid pathway as replicable. STAR and the Disaster Resilience Scorecard are standard tools that other governorates can apply, the school content can be adapted to age groups, and the plan’s priorities to local risks. Replication depends on a convening institution, a trusted local partner and funding for follow-up.
The assessment tools (STAR and the scorecard) support the process; no digital platform is described.
A USD 90,000 agreement between UNDRR and CAN for local resilience planning is reported, and it likely relates to the Irbid plan. Based on the available information, set-up costs can be inferred to include workshops for STAR and the scorecard, facilitation and plan drafting.
No cost figures were found for the wildfire campaign or the school activities. Ongoing costs can be inferred to include volunteer and staff time, school sessions and campaign materials.
The planning was externally funded for a fixed period. CAN continues the work, but no secured funding for the Irbid activities was found.
Continuity and local ownership matter most. CAN’s continued engagement adds a community layer to the work after the project, and UNDRR reports that the programme’s external evaluation saw relatively good prospects for institutional sustainability in Jordan. No information on the funding that would keep the Irbid activities going was found.