Snapshot 28 May–2 June 2015

Iraq: 104,000 IDPs from Ramadi district over 15–29 May brings the total number of displaced in Anbar to 238,000 since April. They are facing serious restrictions accessing neighbouring governorates. In Anbar, Islamic State abducted 400 children in the last week of May. The humanitarian response for Syria is facing severe cutbacks due to funding shortages.

Yemen: Violence has escalated even further. Displacement has increased in Sa’ada, Hajjah, and Amran governorates, and the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in Aden, Lahj, Taizz, and Al Dhalee.

Somalia: Nearly 12,000 people have arrived in Somalia from Yemen since late March. 3,665 people arrived in Bosaso, Puntland and Berbera, Somaliland over 21–27 May. Camps are overcrowded and cannot meet needs: Bosaso only has capacity for 500, and Berbera for 200. Authorities in Somaliland have stated they will no longer accept arrivals in Berbera as they cannot provide the necessary assistance. Some 7,000 more people are registered to travel to Somalia.

Updated: 02/06/2015. Next update: 09/06/2015

Global Emergency Overview Web Interface

2 June 2015 – Marking 65 years since the inception of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called it more than just an agency but a “lifeline,” as he paid tribute to its staff especially those who have lost their lives trying to serve others.

“Anniversaries are usually a time for celebration,” Mr. Ban said at Headquarters this morning. “But we do so with the heaviest of hearts. We do so knowing that we should not have had to mark the 65th anniversary of UNRWA because UNRWA was never meant to exist for this long.”

“It exists because of political failure. [It exists] in the absence of a just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestine refugees,” the UN chief added.

UNRWA provides assistance and protection to nearly 5.2 million registered Palestine refugees through the provision of health care, education, social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, and microfinance, and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.

Joining Mr. Ban at today’s event on UNRWA@65: Sustaining Human Development and Protecting Rights of Palestine Refugees was President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, Special Representative of the President of the State of Palestine, Hanan Ashrawi, and the Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, Pierre Krähenbühl.

The Secretary-General paid tribute to UNRWA's 30,000 dedicated staff, most of them Palestine refugees themselves, and to all the staff who were killed during the terrible fighting last summer.

Last summer’s conflict in Gaza caused massive loss of life and devastated homes, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, Mr. Ban said, as he urged parties to finalize the arrangements to rebuild destroyed homes.

“We know where failure to address these and other issues will lead. We have seen it time and again. Gaza is a powder keg – mounting frustration and anger will surely light the fuse. Action is needed now,” Mr. Ban said.

Gaza today is home of the highest unemployment in the world, with more than 60 per cent of young people not working. Life opportunities for Palestine refugees continue to be made immeasurably more difficult by blockade, bombings, siege, closures and upheaval, he added.

Some 60,000 Palestine refugees from Syria have fled to Lebanon and Jordan, putting pressure on host communities. From Syria’s Yarmouk and Jordan’s camps to the West Bank, the lives of Palestine refugees are constrained, with poverty and deprivation overflowing in overcrowded camps and the needs of the communities continuing to grow resources.

“The result is deepening pain and vulnerability for Palestine refugees. Some are resorting to desperate measures, putting their lives in the hands of unscrupulous human traffickers, in a perilous attempt to reach Europe by sea,’ Mr. Ban said.

UNRWA remains a vital stabilizing factor, Mr. Ban said, urging the leaders of Israel, Palestine and all parties with influence to resume meaningful negotiations without further delay, and put an end to unilateral actions that erode trust.

In the same vein, General Assembly President Kutesa said that few could have imagined 65 years later, that UNRWA would continue to play such a vital role in the lives of millions of Palestinians.

“Last year’s conflict in Gaza has had far-reaching, negative impacts on the 1.2 million people UNRWA provides assistance to there. Thousands died and many more were injured, some of whom will suffer from life-long physical disabilities and emotional trauma,” he said.

Moreover, the deterioration of the socio-economic and humanitarian conditions in the region has created formidable obstacles to the agency’s ability to provide necessary aid, including with its emergency, reconstruction and development programmes.

Hence, it is vital that the necessary funding is provided as quickly as possible so that reconstruction can begin in Gaza. In that context, he urged all donors to seek ways to further support UNRWA’s vital work across the region.

“Renewed support from the UN system, donors and the international community will be critical to further strengthening the work of the Agency,” Mr. Kutesa emphasized. Also taking to the floor today, the head of UNRWA, Mr. Krähenbühl, said that marking 65 years of the agency requires a necessary moment of reflection on what it means to be Palestine refugees today, who face an “existential crisis.”

“Being a Palestinian refugee in Gaza means being a victim of a blockade and wishing nothing more than to be self-sufficient,” he said, recalling also his visit to Syria’s Yarmouk camp where he had seen first-hand the misery and hunger etched into the faces of Palestine refugees.

Reflecting also means reviewing some of the outstanding achievements UNRWA has made in the last six and a half decades. For example, during the 2014 conflict in Gaza UNRWA sheltered some 300,000 displaced persons in 90 of its schools and provided lifesaving aid in the extreme circumstances of war.

“During the ongoing conflict in Syria, we continue to provide essential relief to the hundreds of thousands displaced from Yarmouk with essential lifesaving aid but also healthcare and education,” Mr. Krähenbühl said.

With the support of its partners, UNRWA has also contributed to human capital development of the Middle East. As it stands now, some 700 schools are run by UNRWA, which is equivalent to running the public school system of San Francisco. Some 140 health care clinics are also run by UNRWA.

This has created the human capital that many countries in the world would envy. Pointing out that these achievements come at a high cost, he paid tribute to the UNRWA workers who lost their lives in 2014.

“We are all witnesses to the failure to find a just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees, which has become a matter of common sense in an increasingly unstable Middle East,” he said.

Not acting today when 65 per cent of Palestinian refugees under the age of 25 are educated but unemployed will lead many to despair and to choose desperate routes in the Middle East and beyond, he warned.

“We can choose to close our eyes to this but we should be aware of what the landscape will look like when we open them again,” Mr. Krähenbühl said, emphasizing that the agency requires the support of existing and new partners and that financing its work must be seen as an investment rather than a burden.

“But humanitarian aid is not a substitute for human dignity and human rights. Palestinians deserve a just and lasting solution,’ he added.

Advice for disaster risk reduction specialists and protected area managers on how best to use protected area systems as effective buffers, to prevent natural hazards from developing into unnatural disasters

Nigel Dudley, Camille Buyck, Naoya Furuta, Claire Pedrot, Fabrice Renaud and Karen Sudmeier-Rieux

PREFACE

Globally, disasters due to natural hazards such as storms, flooding, drought, earthquakes and ocean surge extract an enormous toll in terms of human lives, destruction to crops and livelihoods, and economic losses. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) estimates that between 2000 and 2012, some 1.2 million people died as a result of disasters; 2.9 billion people were affected and disaster-related damage cost around US$1.7 trillion. Even in a world where wars seem to affect almost every continent, more people are affected by disasters than by conflict. The complicated and hard to predict implications of climate change are adding a further layer of problems facing those attempting to protect human communities against the impacts of natural hazards.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has therefore become a critical part of sustainable development strategies. The acronym DRR embraces a complex mixture of policies and actions, from education of civil society, through disaster preparedness strategies to engineering solutions ranging from construction of sea walls to building regulations that aim to protect cities against earthquakes.

Over the past few decades, the role of healthy ecosystems in providing cheap, reliable protection against natural hazards has been increasingly recognized. Forests and other vegetation help to stabilize slopes, prevent floods and slow or stop soil erosion and desertification. A range of coastal habitats, from corals to mangroves, protect people living near the sea from the worst of storms and tidal waves. Sustainable management policies in the drylands can halt and even reverse the spread of deserts.

But DRR strategies based on ecosystem services are failing in many places because natural ecosystems are being degraded and destroyed. In these circumstances, places that maintain functioning natural ecosystems become increasingly important. The world’s protected area system, of national parks, nature reserves and wilderness areas, currently covers 15.4 per cent of land and freshwater and 3.4 per cent of coastal and marine areas1 . Although primarily designated for their nature conservation and recreational values, protected areas are increasingly being recognized as potential tools for their role in facilitating DRR.

The following handbook provides practical guidance on the effective use of protected areas as tools to reduce the likelihood and impacts of disasters. The main text is supplemented by case studies drawing on the experience of the Ministry of Environment in Japan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and partners. It is aimed in particular at:

• DRR specialists, so that they understand and can integrate protected areas into DRR strategies

• Protected area system administrators and managers, so that they recognize the value of their protected areas for DRR, and understand how best to plan and manage protected area systems to contribute to DRR strategies within protected areas and surrounding communities.

The handbook will be one of a series detailing how protected areas can maximize the ecosystem services that they provide, without undermining their fundamental nature conservation function.

Omer Karasapan | June 2, 2015 9:30am

As fighting continues in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons stands at 15-16 million—a number that is unprecedented and growing. The displaced are mainly in seven countries (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, and Turkey), with significant numbers seeking refuge in Europe and smaller numbers going everywhere from Oman to Somalia. While governments scramble to cope, tensions between the displaced and host communities continue to simmer (from Lebanon to Iraq’s Kurdish region to Baghdad.

Now, in order to see the beginning of a return process, peace must return and a reconciliation process will have to take place. Even then, home may no longer be the place it used to be. No matter how much is invested in housing, services, and critical infrastructure, only those feeling safe will show up and they may well not be the ones originally displaced.

For many reasons, going back home gets harder with each passing year. Some of these reasons are relatively benign: the rural displaced may seek refuge in urban areas and then lose the skills or interest in returning to farming; some people form family ties beyond their old communities. Other reasons are less benign. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are increasingly seeing instances of well-documented ethnic and sectarian displacements. The Islamic State group’s brutal onslaught against the Yezidis, not to mention its barbaric treatment of Christian and Shiite populations, stands out. Sunnis opposed to the Islamic State group have also been mercilessly attacked. But these are not the only instances of specific groups’ being targeted or displaced.

In Iraq, the expansion of Kurdish rule to Kirkuk and its environs has led to Arabs being displaced from previously mixed Arab-Kurdish areas. According to the Al-Monitor web site“…the Kurds do not want to have the Arabs return to these areas after the massacres against Yazidis and the perception that they [the Arabs] have worked with [the Islamic State group]. Before [the Islamic State group], the relations between local Arabs and Kurds were much better.” So far the numbers of the displaced are relatively low, but things could change.

The sectarian conflict between the Alawite/Shiite and Sunni populations in Iraq and Syria are establishing difficult-to-reverse facts on the ground. In Iraq, 85 percent of IDPs are Sunnis. In March 2015, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a comprehensive study of human rights violations by both the Islamic State group and pro-Iraqi forces. The Islamic State group, OHCHR concluded, likely committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Yazidis. It also concluded that the Shiite militias had engaged in brutalities and sectarian cleansing. Human Rights Watch noted that “building destruction in at least 47 predominantly Sunni villages was methodical and driven by revenge and intended to alter the demographic composition of Iraq’s traditionally diverse provinces of Salah al-Din and Kirkuk.” Violence is also being visited on the remaining Sunni communities in Samarra, Baghdad and elsewhere, while Shiite neighborhoods continue to face bombings.

Indeed, with the Kurds in firm possession of the north of Iraq and willing to fight only to preserve and perhaps enlarge their territory, and with ethnic displacement taking place south and north of Baghdad to strengthen the majority Shiite populations of those areas, there seems to be less of a desire to take the fight to Sunni provinces in the west of the country, especially by the weak Iraqi Army. The alternative are Shiite militias and their use remains highly problematic in heavily Sunni areas. When these militias retook the Sunni town of Tikrit—Saddam Hussein’s hometown—from the Islamic State group, the Sunni population fled and have not yet returned.

In Syria, a similar proportion (around 90 percent) of a much larger population of refugees and IDPs are Sunnis. Here too ethnic displacements, including destruction of property and birth records, are taking place with a focus on removing populations and securing the Damascus-Homs-Syrian coast corridor to provide geographical and demographic continuity between held areas in Syria and Lebanon. Several reports document these activities, including one by a group of Lebanese, Iranian, and Syrian activists called Naame Shaam that uses open sources including satellite photography. Since many of the Syrian refugees in the north of Lebanon come from this corridor, their return, a contentious issues to say the least, is questionable. Syria is splintering along sectarian and ethnic lines as the northeast comes under Kurdish control; a newly invigorated opposition takes over the northwest and other largely Sunni areas; and the Islamic State group expands its reach in the east and encroaches on Damascus and beyond, while fighting the government and other opposition forces. The lines being drawn involve population displacements as well as placements of the “right” grouping.

Clearly, we are far from a situation in which a significant and sustainable return process can be contemplated. Continued fighting, including in cities like Mosul and Aleppo, promises more human misery and displacement. The international community needs to assist the displaced and host communities. However, it also needs to strongly raise its voice on these crimes to at least slow the pace of sectarian cleansing and bring bodies like the International Criminal Court into play. This would not only help hapless civilians but also those looking for more inclusive solutions such as the current Iraqi government. Continued silence on ethnic cleansing will only ensure decades of turmoil in the region.

Executive Summary

The concept of resilience offers a framework and vocabulary that facilitates cross-institutional and crossdisciplinary dialogue and learning and pushes us to examine systems that influence complex situations. To date, resilience thinking primarily focuses on natural disasters and climate change; it has not been extensively applied to politically-induced emergency situations. UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Mercy Corps conducted research to explore this intersection using Lebanon as a case study. More specifically, this paper examines what resilience means in the context of the Syrian crisis in Lebanon, and what programmatic interventions outlined in the 2015 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) can support stabilization, while at the same time facilitating greater resilience in Lebanon.

Starting in 2011, Syria’s critical situation caused a range of spillover affects into neighboring Lebanon that resulted in a series of shocks and stresses on this small country, especially given the prolonged nature of the crisis. Interviews for this research were conducted in Lebanon from November/December 2014 with a variety of actors and observers, including senior central government officials as well as government officials at the provincial, district and municipal levels, along with social agencies, UN agencies, donors, international and national NGOs, business leaders, and groups of young Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. All affirmed that the spillover affects created by the Syria’s crisis generated increasingly politically charged dynamics, resulting in greater instability in Lebanon—namely pressures on sectarian relations and resources-based tensions due to the massive number of refugees.
Resilience literature outlines the importance of building absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities to engage systems to promote stability and ultimately positive development outcomes. Strengthening resilience capacities in politically-induced emergencies cannot be limited to absorptive or adaptive capacities, rather should also lay the foundations for transformative capacity. Resilience requires that all three capacities work together for long-term benefits for communities. While resilience is often perceived as a distant goal, difficult to achieve or to focus on in the midst of an emergency, a politically-induced crisis offers opportunities to work toward greater systematic changes that can transform structures within a country or a community to increase resilience to identified shocks and stresses. Resilience-building capacities at multiple levels can and should be addressed within a humanitarian response by prioritizing a resilience approach and analyzing the evolving context using a resilience lens within an emergency situation when appropriate. Sufficient time and effort is required to understand the underlying system dynamics to identify key entry points that will help align humanitarian responses towards building transformative capacity so communities can sustain and grow their development objectives over time. In Lebanon, this can be focused on building sub-national structures and networks to more effectively prepare for, absorb and adapt to current and future shocks and stresses. This will strengthen Lebanon’s political, social and economic systems to create greater localized decision-making and greater equity of services, and ultimately greater well-being outcomes to Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian communities.

With the understanding that the most appropriate solutions will “emerge” naturally if the conditions for learning and sharing are fostered, Lebanese Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) is well positioned to serve as a guide for programming. It will be most effective if activities are conceived as a rapid succession of short cycle, carefully monitored projects which can be measured and analyzed to inform longer-term learning and progress toward proving a larger theory of change on achieving positive outcomes. Skills that enable and promote adaptive design and management are key to this approach. The LCRP incorporates priority measures articulated in the Government of Lebanon’s 2013 Roadmap of Priority Interventions for Stabilization from the Syrian Conflict to expedite strategies and funding to mitigate the impact of the crisis on Lebanon’s stability.1 This document offers a series of interrelated recommendations focused on subnational level interventions that could foster greater learning and build resilience in Lebanon for the health and wellbeing of communities in light of current and anticipated cycles of future emergencies. Many of these interventions are included in the LCRP, and as stakeholders move to implement these activities, they are encouraged to maintain openness towards innovation, experimentation and learning that is characteristic of resilience-building strategies. There should be a strong emphasis on the interface between “order and chaos”2 and between local government and the people, empowering local actors to arrive at a variety of context-based solutions by delegating decision-making and allocating resources at that level.

As conflict continues in Syria, millions of people are in desperate need of assistance. The UK has committed £800 million of support in response to the humanitarian crisis, including food, medical care and relief items for over a million people in Syria and the region

HIGHLIGHTS

• First quarter of 2015 sees reduction of protection space

• MoSA requests UNHCR to suspend registration of refugees

• Registration of over 21,000 Lebanese Returnees from Syria

• PRS vulnerability to increase with suspension of cash assistance

• ALP provides education opportunities for refugee children

• Social stability at the forefront of LCRP activities

• HC to announce $6 million allocation under ERF

2015 - Le PNUD : oeuvrer pour les peuples et la planète

Dans toutes les régions du monde, des voix s’élèvent pour demander un leadership et des mesures en 2015 pour lutter contre la pauvreté, l’inégalité et le changement climatique.

Ces défis d’ordre planétaire exigent des mesures à l’échelle internationale, et cette année offre des possibilités sans précédent pour construire l’avenir que nous voulons. C’est l’année où les dirigeants du monde se réuniront au Siège des Nations Unies à New York pour adopter un nouveau programme en matière de développement durable. Les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD), orienteront la politique de développement et les priorités de financement aux niveaux national et mondial pour les 15 prochaines années, avec un engagement historique à la clé : en finir avec l’extrême pauvreté. Partout. Définitivement.

Le changement climatique et le développement durable sont les deux faces d’une même monnaie. Les effets du changement climatique menacent d’anéantir des décennies de progrès en matière de développement et de compromettre les voies du développement futur. Beaucoup des principaux facteurs de pauvreté dans les pays en voie de développement sont liés au changement climatique, à l’origine de sécheresses accrues et de tempêtes de plus en plus imprévisibles.

Les États Membres ont en 2015 une occasion cruciale de ralentir le rythme destructeur du changement climatique en entérinant un nouvel accord universel de haute importance pour réduire les émissions de carbone et s’adapter aux effets du changement climatique. L’adoption d’un tel accord constituerait un pas important vers l’édification de sociétés résilientes face au changement climatique et vers un avenir durable.

Les ODD doivent achever le travail entamé par les objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement (OMD) et ne laisser personne à la traîne. L’année 2015 marque en effet la fin des OMD, qui avaient mobilisé la communauté internationale autour d’un programme commun pour s’attaquer de front au fléau indigne de la pauvreté. Les OMD ont fixé des objectifs mesurables et universellement acceptés pour éradiquer la faim et l’extrême pauvreté, prévenir les maladies mortelles bien que curables et étendre à tous les enfants les chances de recevoir une éducation, entre autres impératifs du développement.

Les OMD ont réalisé des progrès substantiels dans des domaines importants : pauvreté des revenus, accès à de meilleures sources d’eau, scolarisation au niveau primaire et mortalité infantile. Pourtant, l’extrême pauvreté fait toujours partie du lot quotidien de millions de personnes. Il nous reste une dernière ligne droite à parcourir pour en finir avec la faim, parvenir à la pleine égalité entre les sexes, améliorer les services de santé et scolariser tous les enfants. Nous devons à présent engager le monde sur la voie du développement durable.

Ce nouveau programme devra s’appliquer à tous les pays, promouvoir des sociétés pacifiques et inclusives, améliorer la qualité des emplois et s’attaquer aux défis environnementaux de notre époque - notamment au changement climatique.

HIGHLIGHT

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
UNFPA delivers 84,000 reproductive health and gender-based violence services to affected people in Damascus, Aleppo, Sweida, Lattakia, Tartous, Homs, Hasakah, and Hama.

LEBANON
UNFPA assesses outcomes of the livelihood programme conducted in partnership with INTERSOS and finalizes an assessment on the UNFPA-supported women safe spaces across the country. UNFPA also completes an assessment of the effectiveness of integrating awareness-raising on reproductive health and gender-based violence with ‘Cash for Work’ programme.

JORDAN
UNFPA provides 9,894 reproductive health services, and conducts 54 community-based awareness sessions targeting 835 Syrian refugees. UNFPA also expands the UNFPA-UN Women women’s centre in District 3 in Zaatari camp.

IRAQ
UNFPA provides 6,876 reproductive health services to Syrian women and reaches 2,574 women and girls with messages on gender-based violence and reproductive health related issues through 510 outreach sessions conducted in camps and in host communities. UNFPA also arranges recreational activities for 1,083 women and girls within and outside camps.

TURKEY
UNFPA provides gender-based and reproductive health services to 1,000 Syrian women and conducts reproductive health awareness sessions targeting 333 Syrian women in Urfa and Mersin.

EGYPT
UNFPA supports 12 sessions on health education, psychology, and sport and recreational activities for 35 Syrian girls in the UNFPA-supported safe space in 6th October City. Over 180 women and girls attend group sessions on early marriage, gender-based violence, and other relevant health issues. UNFPA supports 43 home visits by community health workers and distributes 800 copies of awareness brochures on reproductive health and gender-based violence.

2014 was marked by an increase in the number and intensity of non-international armed conflicts in different contexts and countries. These conflicts are taking a dramatic toll on civilian populations, forcing families to leave their homes or children to enrol as fighters. More than ever, dialogue with armed non-State actors (ANSAs) is necessary for the protection of civilian populations from the effects of armed conflict.

In 2014, Geneva Call worked in 16 countries and territories, engaging with 52 ANSAs and encouraging them to move towards compliance with humanitarian norms. Fourteen new Deeds of Commitment were signed by 8 ANSAs, leading to enhanced protection for civilians. Geneva Call also trained 801 political leaders, fighters, military instructors and representatives from local communities and authorities about broad international humanitarian norms. Furthermore, it accompanied and monitored the implementation of the Deeds of Commitment with each of the 30 signatory ANSAs that remain active.

Another major step in 2014 was the organization of the Third Meeting of Signatories to the Deeds of Commitment, which gathered 70 high-level representatives from 35 ANSAs in Geneva. This event was an important milestone in monitoring and discussing signatory ANSAs’ compliance with the Deeds of Commitmen

Alaa still remembers the day she was forced to flee Syria. “When I visualize the old days of violence in Kafr Battna, Damascus, I cannot believe I am still alive,” she says. “The walls of our house were tumbling down as we fled. It is like a nightmare.”

Like many other young Palestine refugees who ran from Syria to Lebanon, Alaa has had her education severely disrupted as a result of her prolonged displacement. She has missed two years of school and finds herself caught between the Syrian and Lebanese education systems. “I should be in the eleventh grade this year, but instead I have been forced to put on hold my dream of an education. I sat for the ninth-grade exam at an UNRWA school in Sidon (Lebanon). I passed, but it is not recognized by the Syrian Ministry of Education,” she says.

Due to the conflict, over 45,000 Palestine refugees have left Syria for Lebanon. They face uncertain legal status, discrimination and impoverishment. Palestine refugee children are frequently unable to access education services, in part due to financial circumstances, the remote location of some refugee settlements, and language difficulties. The Lebanese curriculum is predominantly taught in English or French and does not prepare students for Syrian curriculum exams.

To help students like Alaa maintain their education, UNRWA, with the support of the Palestine and Syrian embassies in Beirut, helped 143 young Palestine refugees return to Damascus to complete their ninth-grade exams in May 2015. These exams are an essential milestone for students who wish to continue on to secondary school and higher education in Syria. As part of the same effort, UNRWA and the General Administration for Palestine Arab Refugees (GAPAR) reached an agreement for ninth-grade students to leave the besieged area of Yarmouk in order to prepare and sit for the exams.

In total, 295 students boarded at the UNRWA Palestine Institute School, where they took part in catch-up classes provided by UNRWA teachers, as well as three hot meals per day, hygiene kits and transport to and from the exam centre. They were also given psychosocial support from trained UNRWA counsellors to help them cope with trauma and anxiety caused by displacement and ongoing conflict.

For 15-year-old Maher, sitting the exams is an important step towards his dream of becoming a news anchor. Maher fled Dera'a with his family three years ago and took refuge in al-Kharoub in Lebanon. Determined to complete his education, he has been working during the summer to earn enough money to buy books and school stationery and has completed his studies alone. "I studied my ninth-grade lessons without going to any school in Lebanon," he said.

Alaa too remains determined to work towards a brighter future. For now, she has completed a business course and works as a secretary to support her family. "I hope to continue my study to become a lawyer, but we face an uncertain future," she says.

By Julie Bell

June 4, 2015

WINNIPEG, Man. — In regions of ongoing conflict and tension, supporting peace and promoting dialogue between religious communities continues to be a fundamental mission for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

A CA$500,000 (US$402,150) grant from the Canadian government will allow MCC to enhance its peacebuilding work in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

In keeping with MCC’s approach to all of its projects, MCC will work with partner organizations in each country to undertake peacebuilding activities.

“I believe our peacebuilding efforts are most significant when they are actively working with networks that are already in place,” said Krista Johnson Weicksel, MCC’s peacebuilding coordinator. “This is the way to prevent violence from erupting.”

In Iraq, where the Ministry of Education has identified the prevention of sectarian violence as a priority, MCC will work with partner Iraqi al-Amal Association to change the civics curriculum in schools in Najaf, Baghdad and Erbil governorates. Nine hundred students and 250 teachers will receive training in cross-cultural communication, with emphasis on active citizenship and acceptance of other cultures and religious values. The Ministry of Education said if this project is successful, the curriculum could be used throughout the country.

In Syria, MCC will continue its long-term partnership with Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue. Young activists and community leaders will receive training on citizenship and inter-religious dialogue, and some will use provided funding for initiatives within their own communities. Up to eight local projects could take place in Homs, Damascus, Aleppo, Tartous and Latakia governorates.

In Lebanon, where tensions between religious groups are growing, a series of workshops will develop strategies on mitigating and resolving inter-religious conflict. One hundred teachers and community leaders in Mount Lebanon and North governorates will participate. The strategies will be used at a local level to assist collaboration between groups. MCC will work alongside its partner, Permanent Peace Movement.

This peacebuilding work across the region culminates with a conference in Beirut, where participants from projects in the three countries will gather.

“They will come together to share stories, resources and curricula with one another and with religious leaders,” said Johnson Weicksel. “This will all lead to a statement about religious cooperation in the entire region.”

Johnson Weicksel calls MCC’s peacebuilding work an integral part of building healthy communities.

“War and conflict are costly,” she said. “By focusing on building peace and preventing violence, we are actually investing in a better, more sustainable future.”

The funding for these projects comes from the Office of Religious Freedom, which operates within the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.

Peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue have long been a major focus for MCC in the Middle East. MCC’s permanent presence in the region began in the late 1940s.

MCC also has been involved in ongoing relief work in the Middle East, including providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced people. Through the Syria and Iraq crisis response, MCC has provided more than US$30 million in support. This response includes food, non-food items such as blankets and hygiene kits, shelter, education and trauma healing.

To learn more about our work in Syria and Iraq, or to make a donation, please visit mcc.org/syria-iraq.

Mennonite Central Committee: Relief, development and peace in the name of Christ - END -

Situation Analysis

Access to safe water has been further improved this month with the completion of the rehabilitation of 112 different water sources and 5km of water supply network. Ensuring that water is safe for drinking when households have access to poor quality water sources is partly being managed through the use of filter devices. The effectiveness and appropriate maintenance of some of these devices has been questionable and the South sub-sector is investigating current practices and alternative options.

Environmentally friendly and safe disposal of wastewater is a huge challenge in Lebanon, especially for the majority of locations across the country that are not connected to functioning treatment plants. This is exacerbated in Arsal where security concerns have prohibited the provision of safe desludging services. The Akkar and South sub-sectors are currently reviewing the quantities, costs and disposal practices for collection and disposal of wastewater and sludge from collective sites. Practical and feasible solutions are required to minimise the impact on the environment and particularly water resources since proposed treatment facilities may not be implemented for many years. One partner is developing a compact, modular and mobile treatment plant as a possible solution.

Other small-scale treatment systems need to be proposed by agencies and donors for review by MoEW.
Almost 4,000 bins were distributed in April to assist municipalities in the collection of solid waste, half of these being larger than 200L. These collection facilities and other equipment being donated to municipalities are helping to keep households and communities free of litter. However, massive efforts are required for the environmentally safe treatment and disposal of all this collected solid waste.

Over 2,000 hygiene promotion sessions were conducted in April and over 8,000 hygiene kits were distributed. In conjunction with this more WASH Committees are being established or strengthened by agencies to operate and maintain facilities and ensure hygienic practices in communities. Collective Site Management and Coordination (CSMC) committees have been similarly established and the two approaches need to be reconciled to ensure WASH needs are fully addressed.

Despite the favourable amount of precipitation over winter there remains a high risk of water scarcity during the upcoming summer and autumn period. The sector is preparing by updating information and mapping of high-risk areas building on the experience of last year. It is also assessing the capacity of agencies to respond and support Water Establishments where the needs are most critical.

Highlights

• Syria: IOM developed the booklet “Self-help for Men Facing Crisis and Displacement”, a new IOM publication developed as an activity of the psychosocial support program in Syria and Lebanon.

• Jordan: IOM hosted three days of shows for children at Azraq camp to mark one year since camp opened. The shows were part of eight days of events organized by other agencies to mark the one year anniversary, including soccer games for refugees, Syrian music shows, and an open air cinema.

• Iraq: This month, 1,200 full NFI kits and 900 summarization NFI kits were distributed to non-camp Syrian refugees in Erbil governorate, benefiting 2,100 families (8,812 individuals). Additionally, 670 Syrians were transported from the Peshkhabour border crossing in to Guelam camp.

• Turkey: During the month of May, IOM and its NGO partners provided language courses for 1,685 Syrians in Mersin, as well as psychosocial assistance for 989 in Urfa community centre.

• Lebanon: On 20 April, IOM and the Lebanese High Relief Commission launched a project to register and profile Lebanese returnees from Syria. The registration exercise lasted until 31 May and 5,239 households were registered.

Baalbek, June 5, IRNA – Head of Iranian Red Crescent Society Amir Hossein Zia'ie delivered a new healthcare center here in eastern Lebanon on anniversary of Imam Khomeini's demise anniversary to his Lebanese counterpart after its opening ceremony.

Iranian Red Crescent opens new healthcare center in Lebanon The three-story healthcare center is constructed and equipped in a 1,200 square meter land and is inclusive of a physiotherapy hall, a pharmacy, a blood bank, a surgery room, a recovery hall and rooms exclusively for hospitalizing of children among the other medical services facilities in it.

The opening ceremony of the Iranian healthcare center in Baalbek was attended by the Head of the Lebanese Red Crescent Society Susan Oweis, members of a Norwegian Red Cross Society delegation, representatives of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Amal movements and local social and religious authorities.

Zia'ie said in the ceremony that the Iranian Red Crescent Society has established the healthcare center in Baalbek in accordance with pure religious and humanitarian beliefs.

He also appreciated the International Red Cross Society's contributions to the completion of the humanitarian project aimed at easing a part of the pains and sorrows of the Lebanese nation in that part of their country.

Construction of the center began in the year 2011 and its land was allocated by Baalbek Municipality.

Susan Oweis, too, said that the construction of the healthcare center was materializing of one of the dreams that region's people.

She appreciated the Iranian Red Crescent Society for initiating the idea and pursuing it till its completion, ensuring her Iranian counterpart that the Lebanese Red Crescent Society will permanently continue the good job that Iran has started.

Javad Fallah, the representative of the Iranian Red Crescent Society in Lebanon, too, said that the Baalbek Healthcare Center is a gift from the Iranian nation to their brother Lebanese nation and practical interpretation of the seven articles of the international Red Crescent and Red Cross societies' charter.

BEIRUT, June 5 (KUNA) ­­ The Kuwait­ based International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) handed out Friday at least 1,000 food quotas to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

In a statement to KUNA, IICO's Director General Salem Hamada said toys and gifts were delivered to children, adding IICO will rebuild two Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, which caught fire last week. He affirmed that Kuwait has been aiding Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the country's crisis, hoping that the aid would contribute to alleviating the suffering of refugees facing tough times.

This aid and the rebuilding of the two camps are part of Kuwait's policy aiming to support needy people all over the world, he said.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) wrapped up Friday its humanitarian campaign designed for vulnerable people in Lebanon.

Head of KRCS delegation to Lebanon Musaed Al­Enzi told KUNA that the society has distributed food aid to at least 1,000 Lebanese families in northern Lebanon, saying five batches of aid were handed out to cover 5,000 families living in different areas.

According to official statistics, Lebanon is hosting more than 1.2 Syrian refugees; mostly in Bekaa, northern Lebanon, Akkar, Tripoli and other areas.

Kuwait, through its institutions, is a major country that has been supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon since the outbreak of the crisis. (end) mah.hm

1. Introduction

Since the onset of the civil war in Syria, people have fled to neighboring countries. By the first week of January 2015, 1,148,844 Syrians have been registered with UNHCR Lebanon office. Refugees in Lebanon are living among the Lebanese population predominantly in urban settings.
In addition, Lebanon hosts around 15,200 refugees mainly from Iraq, Sudan, and Somalia.
The standard operating procedures (SOP) for referral care outline the policy and procedures and are applicable to all the UNHCR registered refugees in Lebanon excluding Palestinians who fall under the mandate of UNRWA.

However:

• Lebanese and Palestinian women/men married to refugees are not eligible to receive support for health care through UNHCR.

• Other groups, including migrants, third citizens and their spouses and families are not eligible for UNHCR assistance.

On 3 June, the Federal Cabinet decided to extend the Bundeswehr’s three deployments abroad in Kosovo (KFOR), Mali (MINUSMA) and Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Bundestag still has to give its approval.

Stable situation in Kosovo

The mission in the Republic of Kosovo (KFOR) is to continue unchanged; up to 1850 troops can be deployed there. Although the situation in the country is generally regarded as being stable, there continues to be a considerable potential for conflict in the Kosovo-Serb dominated north of the country. It is therefore still necessary for international troops to remain in order to ensure a safe environment.

Germany has been supporting Kosovo since 1999 and to date has provided development cooperation funds amounting to at least 480 million euros. This funding has made a valuable contribution towards the country’s social and economic development. For 2015, aid to the tune of 25.5 million euros has been earmarked to develop the country’s energy grid and to improve sewage and waste disposal.

Border management in Lebanon

The Bundeswehr is also to carry on participating in the UN-led mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). According to the Cabinet decision, up to 300 troops are to continue being deployed off Lebanon’s coast until 30 June 2016.

Their task is to safeguard Lebanon’s maritime borders and to develop the capabilities of the Lebanese navy so that the country is soon able to protect its own borders. Furthermore, UNIFIL is making a key contribution towards the normalisation of relations between Israel and Lebanon – both countries appreciate German’s efforts and are keen to see the mission continued.

Support in managing the refugee crisis

The civil war in Syria has resulted in more than one million people seeking refuge in Lebanon – that corresponds to one quarter of the latter’s population. Germany has provided Lebanon with around 247 million euros since 2012 to help it cope with the influx of refugees: among other things, the German Government is paying the school fees for 60 per cent of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon.

Stabilising security in Mali

The mandate for the Bundeswehr’s participation in the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has also been extended until 30 June 2016, with the number of military personnel involved remaining the same at up to 150 soldiers. The aim of the mission is to stabilise the security situation and the political process concerning the future of northern Mali and to help humanitarian organisations gain access to the country.

The deployment is part of the German Government’s wide-ranging commitment to Mali within the scope of a networked approach. This also includes development cooperation and crisis prevention funds, as well as the training of police and security forces within the framework of the EU Training Mission (EUTM).

Snapshot 3-9 June 2015

Yemen: 20 million people, close to 80% of the population, are estimated to need humanitarian aid. 500,000 people were displaced in May, bringing the total displaced since 26 March to more than 1 million. The escalation in the conflict has meant two million more people are food insecure, and six million more lack access to healthcare, and 9.4 million lack access to safe water.

Nigeria: The situation in the northeast is destabilising further. Boko Haram attacks killed more than 66 people over 4–7 June. Populations in parts of Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa states are expected to face Emergency food insecurity between July and September.

Sudan: In South Kordofan, 26,000 people were displaced by violence in May. Increased violence in South Sudan has brought 13,000 new refugees to White Nile and South Kordofan since the end of May. In Darfur, some 100,000 people are thought to have been displaced since the beginning of the year, but they cannot be reached and numbers cannot be confirmed.

Go to www.geo.acaps.org for analysis of more than 40 humanitarian crises.

Updated: 09/06/2015 Next Update: 16/06/2015

Global Emergency Overview Web Interface

l. Rationale

This strategy paper is issued by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and endorsed by the Advisory Board to set the general direction and programmatic focus of the Emergency Response Fund in Syria (hereafter “ERF” or “the Fund”).

It provides an overview of the allocation criteria, parameters and processes underpinning the project cycle (see workflow charts in section VI), meant to:

(i) guide implementing partners; and

(ii) Facilitate the role of OCHA, members of the Advisory Board, Review Bodies and sectoral experts.

The HC and the Advisory Board will revisit this strategy paper every six (6) months or more often as required to adjust the general direction and programmatic focus of the Fund, thereby ensuring its relevance and effectiveness over time as the humanitarian situation evolves.