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Amid Despair: Hope for Palestine Refugees in Gaza

11 September 2017

Humanitarian needs in Gaza remain high. Rolling power outages of up to 20 hours per day greatly undermine the delivery of basic services and water quality is extremely poor, with 95 percent of tap water in Gaza deemed undrinkable. The overall unemployment rate stood at 41.7 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Seventy percent of the total population of Palestine refugees in Gaza are increasingly dependent on UNRWA to assist in meeting their basic needs. Over the past four years, in partnership with the United States, UNRWA has been able to improve conditions for Palestine refugees in Gaza in the areas of education, health, food distribution and shelter through a series of projects supporting the construction or reconstruction of needed UNRWA facilities and refugee homes.

Through a joint effort to improve the educational environment for Palestine refugee youth in Gaza, UNRWA and the United States have successfully partnered to construct seven schools across the coastal enclave, add 53 additional classrooms to 4 existing schools, and rehabilitate more than 170 classrooms to 41 existing schools over the past four years. Additionally, with U.S. support, UNRWA has reconstructed two health centres, two distribution centres, and 100 housing units. 

Palestine refugee students during a science lesson in Rafah Preparatory Girls School (B), southern Gaza. UNRWA is the largest provider of quality education for youth in Gaza. Over the past four years UNRWA constructed seven new schools with support from the United States; four of them began their operations during the 2016/17 scholastic year. © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanU.S. contributions to the UNRWA education programme have helped to reduce overcrowding in classrooms and school facility shortages in Gaza, says Tawfiq al-Hourani, the Deputy Education Chief in Gaza.© 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanThe United States supported the construction of the Rafah Distribution Centre in southern Gaza, which will begin operations at the end of August 2017 and extend services to 85,000 Palestine refugees in Gaza. The United States also funded the reconstruction of another distribution centre in the Jabalia area, northern Gaza, which serves approximately 125,000 refugees. © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanYears of socioeconomic decline and conflict have left the health sector across the Gaza Strip in poor condition – with deteriorating physical infrastructure and limited training opportunities. These challenges threaten the health of the already-at-risk Gaza population, making reconstruction and construction efforts in this sector all the more vital. © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanHashem al-Borea is a 66-year-old father of eight from Beit Lahiya. “Since the opening of the Al-Fakhoura Health Centre, I’ve been going there to benefit from health-care services, since I suffer from diabetes and hypertension,” he explains. “I usually come to have a medical check-up, but since I forgot the date of my examination, the nurse called me to come in.” The United States supported the reconstruction of the Al-Fakhoora Health Centre with funding provided in 2013. © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanThirty-four-year-old Maha Abu Shamla, right, from Deir El-Balah camp in Gaza, receivies health services from UNRWA Maghazi health centre. She says, “Before the reconstruction of this health centre, the waiting areas were very crowded. Now it is more comfortable, since there are enough seats and wider spaces. It takes less than one hour to finish my child’s medical check-up.” © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil AdwanJihad Mahmoud Abu Daqqa from Khan Younis, Gaza, is waiting for the final renovations of his home to be completed. “Just like the thousands of families who lost their houses during 2014 conflict, we missed the sense of stability and we were displaced to different locations for long periods,” he says. Thanks to reconstruction, Palestine refugees like Jihad have a chance to regain some normalcy. © 2017 UNRWA Photo by Khalil Adwan

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