Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The UNRWA 2022 Emergency Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is divided into three strategic priorities (SP):

Under SP1, UNRWA will continue to provide emergency food and cash assistance to Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank.

Under SP2, UNRWA will maintain access to critical services – health, education, shelter rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), protection and environmental health – to ensure Palestine refugees are protected from the most severe impacts of the crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

Under SP3, UNRWA will maintain effective coordination and management of its emergency response in Gaza and the West Bank.

Expected results

SP1: Crisis-affected Palestine refugee households in Gaza and the West Bank facing acute shocks have increased economic access to food (over 1,4 Mio. individuals in Gaza and over 0,7 Mio. in the West Bank).

SP2: Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank maintain access to critical services and are protected from the most severe impacts of the crisis (continued primary, secondary and tertiary health care, Education in Emergencies, protection, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), shelter rehabilitation and reconstruction).

SP3: Effective coordination and management of the emergency response (Gaza and West Bank), including emergency preparedness.

Target group / Beneficiaries

The un-earmarked Austrian contribution may contribute to one or more interventions under the UNRWA 2022 Emergency Appeal for the oPt and may therefore reach different categories of beneficiaries. Exemplary, it may benefit approximately 35,000 eligible Palestine refugees in Gaza who will receive in-kind food parcels in 2022; or approximately 257 MHPSS school counsellors to be sustained for 2-3 months in 2022. Location: Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Activities

As un-earmarked contribution, the Austrian donation may contribute to any of the interventions included in the 2022 Emergency Appeal for the oPt. The EUR 1,000,000 contribution could enable UNRWA to:

- Provide approximately 35,000 eligible refugees in Gaza with in-kind food parcel during one food round in 2022, with an average estimated food parcel value of around US$ 29; or

- Sustain the provision of MHPSS services for students enrolled in UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip by covering salaries of 257 school counsellors for 2 or 3 months (approx. one counsellor per school), with an average monthly salary of around US$ 1,500 per counselor.

Context

The humanitarian situation in both Gaza and the West Bank significantly worsened during 2021.

The land, air and sea blockade of Gaza, which entered its 15th year in June 2021, with its restrictions on the movement of people, goods and trade, continues to severely undermine Gaza's socio-economic situation and has precipitated a humanitarian and economic crisis that is jeopardizing the lives and dignity of all Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. This dire situation was compounded by the May 2021 hostilities, the most intense Gaza has experienced since 2014. The UN Secretary-General described the situation as follows: “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza today.” In addition to the loss of lives, the injuries and trauma, the May hostilities damaged buildings, hospitals and health centres, water and sanitation facilities, and transport, energy and communications networks.

In 2021, unemployment in Gaza reached 50.2 per cent. Chronic electricity shortages and lack of access to clean water supplies are also impacting on the economy and disrupting people's daily lives.

The Palestinian National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Gaza started on 7 March. However, insufficient quantities of vaccinations and community hesitancy has resulted in a slow implementation – only 334,917 people had been fully vaccinated by the end of October 2021.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the situation is characterized as a protracted protection crisis. The impact of the Israeli occupation continues to be felt on a daily basis by over 877,000 Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA, as well as by the entire Palestinian population. In 2021, the security situation deteriorated dramatically. In the first nine months of 2021, Israeli Security Forces' (ISF) operations led to 7,125 Palestinians injuries and 71 fatalities, of whom 26 were Palestine refugees, including four refugee children. Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, homes and livelihoods, including refugees living in rural areas, also reached the highest levels since UN monitoring commenced.

Exposure to conflict-related violence has detrimental impacts on the physical and mental health of Palestine refugees in both Gaza and the West Bank. This, coupled with the impacts of COVID-19, has disproportionately exposed women, children and persons with disabilities to greater risks of domestic abuse and violence, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the socio-economic situation in the West Bank and, while affecting the whole population, this has had the greatest impact on vulnerable refugee families.