Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Country: occupied Palestinian territory
HIGHLIGHTS
- UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl attended the UNRWA pledging conference in New York on 5 December from the UNRWA Gaza Field Office through a videoconference. He was joined by Ms. Razan Al Daboos, the 15-year old head of the UNRWA central school parliament, 14-year old Mr. Ahmad Al-Mahdoun, Vice President of the central school parliament, and Ms. Rua’ Kdeih, a 12-year old student whose partially burned notebook was found after the summer 2014 hostilities containing a poem about courage and steadfastness. During his remarks the Commissioner-General stressed that the issue of Palestine refugees cannot be overshadowed and must remain a priority at this time of great uncertainty in the world. Razan also described her life in Gaza to the Member States; the blockade and the destruction caused by the wars waged in her lifetime. She asked those present to see Gazan youth not as victims but actors of change with dreams, skills and the potential to contribute to a better future. During the conference twenty UN member states have expressed their intention to pledge over US$ 60 million to support next year’s budget of UNRWA, and several more indicated their contributions would be forthcoming or are pending approval by the respective national parliaments. Donors made their pledges during a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee created by the General Assembly as the main forum to announce donor support for the Agency, which provides educational, health, relief and social services for more than 5 million Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.
- On Thursday 1 December, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller, and the Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Mr. Bo Schack, visited the Hashem Elementary Boys A&B School, Gaza City, to learn more about the impact of German support to the UNRWA education programme. During the visit, Dr. Müller and Mr. Schack engaged with the schools’ students and teachers in a mathematics class. They also met with the members of the school parliament of the nearby Daraj Elementary Co-Ed C School.
- On 7 December, under this year’s global theme of ‘Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want’ the UNRWA Disability Programme, a part of the UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme (RSSP), in cooperation with the Coordination Committee of Rehabilitation Centres, organized a celebration in the UNRWA Gaza Field Office (GFO) to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). The celebration was attended by Mr. Bo Schack, Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Mr. Nasser Al Khaldi, Deputy Chief of RSSP, senior UNRWA staff and representatives and students from Community-Based Rehabilitation Centres (CBRCs). The event included a variety of performances by children with disabilities, such as Dabka dance, traditional songs and sign-language performances. RSSP aims to empower Palestine refugees, focusing on the most vulnerable groups, by meeting their social and economic needs through community social interventions. The Programme conducts activities through 14 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), seven Women Programme Centres (WPCs) and seven Community-Based Rehabilitation Centres (CBRCs) for persons with disabilities. Its Social Services Division contains five programmes on youth, the elderly, orphans, women, and a disability programme.
- On 3 December, UNRWA opened the new Sa’ad Al-Abdallah Al Sabah School in Abassan, eastern Khan Younis. This school was funded by the Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development. The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Bo Schack, the Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, and Mr. Munir Manneh, Senior External Relations & Projects Officer at the UNRWA Arab Partnership Unit, in addition to senior UNRWA staff, representatives from UNRWA school parents’ councils and leaders from the Abassan community. The new school building includes a multi-purpose room, a Special Education Special Needs room, space for health and school counsellors, a library and a computer lab. The new building is serving a total of 2,184 students. UNRWA sees education as a major investment in dignity, human development and a measure of stability for Palestine refugees who represent 40 per cent of those in a protracted refugee situation in the world. The Education Programme in Gaza is UNRWA’s largest and despite the fragile situation, lack of infrastructure and financial constraints, UNRWA runs 267 schools serving 262,000 students.
- In November, UNRWA completed three construction projects including one school building, maintenance works in one existing school and maintenance works in its Gaza Field Office. The total value of completed projects is almost US$ 1.64 million. 30 infrastructure projects worth US$ 64.45 million are under implementation. At present, the total value of UNRWA projects approved by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is US$ 241.3 million. However, project approval does not imply approval of the materials required to complete the project. The total value of projects approved by COGAT but without the materials required to complete the project is US$ 15.6million. The November 2016 UNRWA Construction Update is attached.
- To raise awareness among UNRWA Gaza Field Office (GFO) staff on the health risks related to diabetes and on how to control and prevent further complications for patients, the UNRWA Health Programme initiated a series of education sessions on diabetes from 4 to 6 December. The four sessions will include an introductory session on diabetes and sessions on diet and exercise for diabetes patients, medication and lastly, monitoring complications of diabetes. These trainings are implemented in cooperation with Micro Clinic International (MCI). The staff benefitting from these sessions will be messengers within the Palestine refugee community and among their colleagues in UNRWA to pass this knowledge and information. At the same time the World Health Organization (WHO), launched a two-year report on health access ‘Right to Health: Crossing Barriers to Access Health in the occupied Palestine Territory’ on 29 November. The report focuses on bureaucratic barriers for Palestinians to health care caused by the occupation which restricts access for patients, health personnel and ambulances.
- The exhibition ‘Palestinian Embroidery: Threads of Continuity, Identity and Empowerment’, inaugurated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 29 November 2016, on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, showcases traditional embroidered dresses, accessories and other home decorations. The exhibition will be on display until early January 2017. UNRWA in Gaza contributes to the exhibition with two initiatives, the Sulafa Embroidery Centre and the Gaza Training Centre (GTC) fashion design course. The Sulafa Embroidery Centre aims to empower refugee women by providing meaningful livelihood opportunities and giving access to the (local) market through their artisanal skills. Sulafa was established in 1950 and approximately 300 women and their families have benefitted from Sulafa per year. Currently, 250 women are gaining meaningful income through Sulafa. The GTC fashion design course was established in 2005 using a generous donation from the EU and the first cohort of graduates was in 2007. Every year, it offers a training opportunity to 24 female students who successfully completed a secondary school certificate and have design skills. A major element of the study plan is Palestinian embroidery. Several of the course graduates succeeded in being entrepreneurs and won business incubator competitions helping them to establish their own business. The GTC fashion design course and the Sulafa Embroidery Centre contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 1, 2, 5 and 8. The GTC fashion design course provides women with the skills to be successful in a complex field of work and empowers them to play a significant role in their family’s income generation and community development. Sulafa pays a fair and slightly above market norm compensation for the embroidery work, enabling women to gain income which can contribute to food security or meeting other basic needs of their families. Sulafa meets the SDG 8 in an indirect way – the embroidery activities are not full time positions, however the work is designed so that women can work from home or at CBOs – including WPCs – allowing women from more traditional families to also contribute to household income generation, and thus to the economic security of their families.