As of June 1, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will start implementing a refined adjusted hospitalization policy according to which the percentage of the Agency's coverage for secondary care will be adjusted to 90 percent for government hospitals, 90 percent for private hospitals and 100 percent for Palestine Red Crescent hospitals.
The Agency will maintain the increased 60 percent coverage for tertiary care with the increased ceiling of US$ 5000 to help Palestine refugees cope with the trend of growing catastrophic health expenditures.
UNRWA also confirms that the Medical Hardship Fund that was announced on 26 February has been operationalized in line with the Agency’s pro-poor approach contained in its Medium Term Strategy for 2016 to 2021. This fund will subsidise the secondary copayment for those living in abject poverty to give them 100 percent in secondary care.
Commenting on this decision, UNRWA Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon Matthias Said: “The decision to increase the percentages came as a result of intense discussions with hospitalization experts which were guided by the strong concerns voiced by refugees about the cost-sharing element introduced at the beginning of this year. This is a significant improvement in a very resource-constrained environment. We are grateful for the support and advice Palestinian, Lebanese and UN leaders have given over these past few months.
"Given the needs resulting from enduring high rates of poverty among the Palestine refugees, we will now start a second phase of consultation with experts to explore ways to best implement further improvements in our health and hospitalization support work. And on the back of recent successful fundraising efforts linked to our Medical Hardship Fund, the humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees from Syria and the Nahr el-Bared reconstruction effort , we will also continue to mobilise resources for UNRWA services and programmes that are needed more than ever.”
With the changes introduced in January 2016, UNRWA brought a number of important benefits, including greater sustainability and increased support for tertiary care, which has been a long-standing request from Palestine refugees living in Lebanon.
The January announcement led to strongly-voiced concerns from refugees about the cost-sharing element and resulted in protests and forceful closure of UNRWA installations. UNRWA took the community concerns seriously and engaged in a meaningful dialogue process with the leadership of the Palestine refugees through a technical working group of experts to review the policy’s implementation. To ensure space for such dialogue, the Agency suspended the implementation of the cost sharing element of the hospitalization policy until end of May 2016. The current refined policy is based on the experts’ discussions.
Background Information
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA Programme Budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall, projected for 2016 to stand at US$ 81 million. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance .
For more information, please contact:
Christopher Gunness
Spokesperson, Director of Advocacy & Strategic Communications
Mobile: +972 (0)54 240 2659
Office: +972 (0)2 589 0267
c.gunness@unrwa.org
Sami Mshasha
Chief of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson
Mobile: +972 (0)54 216 8295
Office: +972 (0)2 589 0724
s.mshasha@unrwa.org
Zizette Darkazally
Public Information Officer - Lebanon Field Office
Mobile: + 961 (0)1 840 490
Office: + 961 (0)1 840 490
z.darkazally@unrwa.org