For decades, Jordan has generously provided refuge to people fleeing conflict and insecurity. To respond to the influx of Syrian refugees after the dramatic events of 2011, Jordan established camps to provide families with safety and shelter. In Zaatari Camp, established in 2012, after living in tents, shelter transformed into prefabricated shelters or what we like to call it “caravans” which became the primary form of shelter, while in Azraq, established in 2014, families were accommodated in shelters constructed largely from metal sheets. Over the years, these shelters became more than physical structures: they became homes, communities, and a significant part of the infrastructure of prolonged displacement.

 

For many years, shelters in Jordan’s refugee camps served their primary purpose: providing families with a degree of stability during displacement. As refugee returns to Syria increased after the fall of Asad government in December 2024, a new question emerged: What should happen to these assets when families no longer need them?

 

This question led to an initiative that has now reached an important milestone: US$1 million in revenues generated for refugees directly through the sale of shelters in Zaatari and Azraq camps. The significance of this milestone goes beyond the financial value. It demonstrates how operational challenges can be transformed into an opportunity through innovation, systems thinking, partnership and a people-centred approach.

 

From an operational challenge to a structured solution

 

As returns increased, caravan dismantling was done by humanitarian actors, but informal sale became increasingly common. In Zaatari, caravans were being dismantled and sold through informal channels, while in Azraq, where shelter structures differ, dismantling mainly was done by UNHCR and other humanitarian actors.

 

Refugees wanted to make use of assets that had been part of their lives for many years. Companies saw potential commercial value in caravans and their components. The Government of Jordan needed to ensure that camp regulations and asset management requirements were respected. UNHCR, meanwhile, needed to consider protection, accountability, voluntary returns, and responsible asset management. All this was not possible and the situation looked complex.

 

The informal market was not providing an adequate solution. It created risks of exploitation, conflict with the law, and unfavorable prices for refugees. The response of simply to try to prevent the practice of informal sale proved to be insufficient, and there was a need to think how the existing market could be structured in a way that was more transparent, predictable, and protective. UNHCR and the Government of Jordan managed to do that. This marked an important shift from managing a problem to redesigning the system around it.

 

Innovation through adaptation

 

The initiative was launched in Zaatari as a controlled pilot. UNHCR initially engaged five companies and established a dialogue involving relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Interior and the Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate (SRAD), participating companies, and refugees. The initial model, however, did not immediately produce results.

 

During the first month, no formal sales took place. The prices offered by the initial companies did not meet refugees’ expectations, while companies raised concerns regarding the condition of some caravans, access permits and transportation costs. Rather than treating this as a failure of the initiative, UNHCR examined the market dynamics and adjusted the approach. Among other corrective measures taken, one important measure was bringing additional companies into the process to increase competition. Companies with stronger market engagement and closer proximity to the camps were identified. The formal market subsequently became more functional and competitive and formal sales ceased.

 

The lesson is broader than the caravan sale itself. Innovation does not always mean introducing a new technology or creating something entirely new. Sometimes it means understanding how a system behaves, identifying where it is not working, and changing the incentives and relationships within that system.

 

Putting refugees at the centre

 

At the core of the initiative was a straightforward principle: refugees should be able to get a fair value from an asset that has been part of their lives, particularly when they are preparing to return. For a family returning to Syria after years of displacement, a caravan is more than a humanitarian asset. It has been a home and part of their daily lives. Taking the decision to handover the ownership of the caravans to refugees wasn’t easy for UNHCR given the lack of precedents. Providing a structured mechanism through which families can sell their caravans gave them greater agency over what happens to that asset. It also reduced their reliance on informal intermediaries and markets where they may have limited bargaining power.

 

This required more than establishing a list of companies. UNHCR maintained regular monitoring and communication with refugees, companies, SRAD and humanitarian actors. There was a need to convince other partners to adopt the same handover approach to make sure that latrines provided by actors working on water and sanitation can also be included in the sale. Additional communication was introduced when refugees indicated that they needed greater clarity on how the process of selling their shelters works. The experience illustrates an important dimension of a people-centred approach: it is not only about providing assistance; it is also about enabling people to make informed choices and exercise greater control over decisions affecting their own assets and future. In this case, it was not about creating a new programme, but about making a policy shift that ultimately transformed people's lives. It took coordination, practical problem-solving, and a willingness to put refugees' needs at the centre of the solution. When we do that, even small changes can have a profound impact. Not only did this solution improve outcomes for refugees, it came at virtually no additional cost. In fact, it reduced operational expenses. Had the caravans remained unused, UNHCR would have needed to allocate space to store them and cover the associated logistics and storage costs. Instead, a simple policy change turned an idle asset into an opportunity for refugees while generating savings for the operation.

 

Supporting voluntary return

 

The initiative also demonstrates how asset management can contribute directly to solutions. For returning families, the sale of a shelter provides an additional source of financial value at a significant moment of transition. It allows families to monetize an asset before leaving the camp and potentially use those resources to finance their return journey or as they re-establish their lives following return. In this sense, the initiative connects two areas that are often considered separately: the management of humanitarian assets and support for voluntary return. The shelter does not simply become an obsolete humanitarian asset when a family leaves. Its remaining value can become part of that family's transition to the next stage of their life. For those who are not planning to return immediately, we have also observed greater investment in the care and maintenance of their caravans, as families seek to preserve their value and secure a better price when they eventually decide to sell. This represents an additional, unintended positive outcome of the initiative, encouraging better preservation of the assets even among those who choose to remain for the time being.

 

A more responsible approach to the environment

 

There is also an important environmental dimension. After years of use, large numbers of caravans and their components represent a substantial stock of materials. Without a structured mechanism, these materials can be dismantled informally, sold through unregulated channels or treated simply as scrap. A functioning market creates incentives to recover and retain value. Companies can assess caravans and their components according to their potential for reuse, refurbishment and material recovery. The experience showed that once market conditions and competition improved, companies were willing to assign greater value to the caravans.

 

This offers a different way of thinking about humanitarian assets. The end of an asset's primary humanitarian use does not necessarily have to mean the end of its useful life. A responsible asset lifecycle can include reuse, recovery, recycling and value creation, while reducing the incentives for unmanaged dismantling and informal disposal.

 

From Zaatari to Azraq

 

The initiative was designed as a pilot in Zaatari, allowing UNHCR and its partners to test the approach, identify challenges and adapt the model. The experience subsequently informed the expansion to Azraq, where the physical characteristics of the shelters and the market dynamics are different. Preparatory work included engagement with SRAD and potential companies, with the intention of establishing a similar structured mechanism adapted to the Azraq context. The objective was not simply to replicate a process. It was to apply a methodology that proved its success in Zaatari: Understand the problem, engage the people affected, test the market, monitor results, adapt the approach, and scale what works. It was obvious that the model is relevant to Azraq as well, with a lot of differences, which is normal. One of the main differences was the lower market value of the shelter.

 

The $1 million

 

The US$1 million milestone is significant. It represents real financial value generated for refugees and demonstrates that a structured approach can produce tangible results. But the more important question is what the initiative represents.It represents refugee agency: families having an opportunity to determine what happens to an asset that has been part of their lives.It represents protection: reducing dependence on informal markets and limiting opportunities for exploitation.It represents systems thinking: Bringing together refugees, government authorities, humanitarian actors and the private sector around a shared solution. It represents innovation: Testing an approach, recognizing when it was not working, and changing the model rather than accepting the initial outcome. It represents support for solutions: Enabling returning families to derive financial value from an asset as they transition from displacement to return. And it represents more responsible environmental management: Creating incentives for the reuse, recovery and productive end-of-life management of materials.

 

The US$1 million is therefore not the end of the story. It is evidence of what can happen when a humanitarian asset is viewed as part of a wider system involving people, markets, protection, solutions, and the environment. The real question was never simply what a caravan was worth. It was what could be achieved by putting the decision back into the hands of the people.

 

The writer is UNHCR deputy representative for Operations