HEALTH OF PALESTINE REFUGEES: 70 YEARS AFTER THE ORIGINAL DISPLACEMENT, THE “NAKBA”, NO HEALTH WITHOUT DIGNITY
22 May 2018
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has released its annual Health Report for 2017, which provides important information regarding the health situation of Palestine refugees in the Agency’s five fields of operation – Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and Syria, as well as the UNRWA health programme.
The annual report coincides with the 70th anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians known as “the Nakba” or “the Catastrophe”. This anniversary puts the spotlight on the world’s longest standing protracted refugee crisis, and is a reminder that the population of over 5.3 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA continue to live amidst conflict, violence and occupation, and aspire to a just and lasting solution to their plight.
The report charts 68 years of progress in the Agency’s Health Programme and its evolution to meet the changing health needs of Palestine refugees. In 2017, about three million registered Palestine refugees received health services free of charge at 143 UNRWA primary health care centres, which provided some 9.2 million medical consultations. “Protecting and promoting the health of registered Palestine refugees, is at the heart of our mandate, enabling them to achieve the highest attainable level of health until a just and lasting resolution of the Palestine refugee issue is achieved, based on UN resolutions and international law”, remarked Dr. Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health. “Our health services are literally life-saving in places like Syria, where the conflict has just entered its eighth year, as well as in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem, which saw the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation in 2017, and in Gaza which has now been under more than a decade of blockade”.
The report underlines UNRWA’s commitment to universal health coverage in its free of charge services made available to all Palestine refugees. It also shows that UNRWA continued to maintain strong maternal and child health indictors, such as vaccination coverage, early registration for preventive care and the percentage of pregnant women attending at least four antenatal case visits. Moreover, during 2017 screening and outreach activities for non-communicable diseases were strengthened.
In addition to sustaining our reform programme and the Family Health Team model, supported by our e-health system, UNRWA has expanded mental health and psychosocial support as well as hospitalization support to those who are in greatest need of these services.
Dr. Seita concluded, “The efforts to modernize UNRWA’s health services would not have been possible without the generous support of donor countries, host authorities, the World Health Organization, other UN agencies, and local and international organizations. On the top of all is the dedication and commitment of our staff to improve the well-being of Palestine refugees. UNRWA will continue to advocate for and protect the rights of Palestine refugees, including the right to dignified health services. We believe that there is no health without peace, justice and dignity.”
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. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. 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 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem 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)258 90724
s.mshasha@unrwa.org