The world is facing an ever-increasing spectrum of challenges emanating from displaced persons who are fleeing from their countries and are striving for shelter in their neighborhood or heading for more remote destinations of hope.
The Kingdom of Jordan with its location in the heart of the Middle East has hosted multiple influxes of refugees. Jordan has become a target country as well as a transitional country for forced migration. Central challenges in this framework refer to issues of political, economic, cultural as well as medical and social issues.
Jordan and many European countries (e. g. Germany) are sharing the strong belief that the challenges in the fields of politics, economy, culture, health and social welfare cannot be mastered by one country individually, but that steps have to be undertaken jointly by the countries concerned.
The German Jordan University (GJU) has identified a high demand for creating a specialized postgraduate program of social work studies focusing on dealing with the challenges of refugees and migrants. This program will have to bring together national, regional and international aspects and perspectives to encompass the current pressing problems by approximately 5000 non-governmental organizations that serve refugees, the public sector and challenges faced by refugees and local communities.
To contribute to the sustainable professionalization of social work, both nationally and regionally, as well as simultaneously increasing the employability of social work professionals, this Master’s program, will also target building capacities of paraprofessionals and those from affiliated disciplines.
This proposed program follows the basic concept of linking theoretical study with field-oriented commitment. In addition to its interdisciplinary approach that offers an understanding of social work targeting forced migration in contexts of conflicts, development projects, natural disasters and environmental change the study program intends to be internationally recognized and therefore will have strong practical and research links with national, regional and international academic institutions. The ‘Social Work / Migration and Refugees’ is a Master’s program that is designed to respond to the increasing need of specialized services in Jordan, and as stated, will advance and professionalize social work. It will certainly lead to an increase in the quality of services provided by both public and private sectors.
