Research Consultant: Jordan Country Study on Refugee Returns

About the role

Prosper Global, working with UNDP under a UNDP and Prosper Global initiative funded by the Regional Development and Protection Program (RDPP), is running three country studies on the economic implications of Syrian refugee returns in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This consultancy covers the Jordan study, examining how returns since December 2024 affect labor markets, consumer demand, local services and public finances. The closing date for applications is 20 November.

Key responsibilities

• Document how Syrians contribute to Jordan's economy as workers, consumers and recipients of public services, by sector and location, and how this has changed since December 2024.
• Assess impacts on labor markets (vacancies, wage effects, informality, supply chains and output) and on consumer demand, local services and public finances.
• Assess how businesses and donors are adjusting hiring, expansion, mechanization, relocation and financing plans.
• Develop country-level recommendations for policy dialogue on labor regulation, work permits, skills programs and service planning.
• Review existing studies and check data availability, then finalize the research design, sampling, locations, tools and workplan for approval before fieldwork.
• Analyze secondary data (Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey 2025, work-permit data, labor force surveys, price and rent data, service-use data, UNHCR return data).
• Conduct at least 25 key informant interviews, at least two sector deep-dives (agriculture and construction expected) and at least three gender-separated focus group discussions in the localities with the highest concentration of Syrian refugees.
• Triangulate findings across sources, report them as associations unless the design and data support causal claims, and apply ethics and conflict-sensitivity principles throughout.