HIGHLIGHTS
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To respond to questions from Gaza-based media, and to give an update on UNRWA’s services, the Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Mr. Bo Schack, gave a press briefing on 17 October at the UNRWA Gaza Training Centre. Around 25 media outlets were represented at the event, among them Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Donia Al Watan and Al Quds TV. During the press conference, the Director emphasized UNRWA’s achievements over the past months in terms of reconstruction and construction activities, education, health and other services. For example, he mentioned that to address the impact of the ever growing student population in Gaza, over the past year the Agency built between one and two new school buildings per month. A fact sheet on UNRWA’s operational achievements between January and September is attached. The Director also talked about the impact of the blockade on the people of Gaza, particularly its youth, and how the severe restrictions lead to more frustration, pessimism and, possibly, radicalization. He also answered questions from media on a wide range of topics, such as the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism or UNRWA’s role in addressing the unemployment situation.
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To build the capacity of vulnerable Gaza refugee youth, and to help increase their chances for employment in the local job market, the UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme (RSSP), in cooperation with the Gaza Training Centre, is implementing vocational trainings in multimedia and photography as well as in solar heating. The trainings will last for five months, from October to March 2017, targeting 20 female and 20 male youth coming from poor and large households. The photography and multimedia training will last for a total of 200 hours and will focus on designing advertisements, website interfaces and animated advertisements or how to use a camera and process photos; the solar heating workshop includes 175 hours of training and consists of modules such as basic metalwork operations, how to operate and design solar systems or how to operate and maintain boilers, washing machines or heaters. RSSP aims to empower Palestine refugees, focusing on the most vulnerable groups, by meeting their social and economic needs through community social interventions. It conducts activities through 14 Community-Based Organizations, seven Women Programme Centres (WPC) and seven Community-Based Rehabilitation Centres (CBRC) for persons with disabilities. Its Social Services Division contains five programmes which are: the Youth Programme, Elderly Programme, Orphan Programme, Women Programme and the Disability Programme.
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To further empower its front line staff and maintain closer community linkages, in 2010 UNRWA in Gaza set up its Chief Area Offices (CAO) in all five governorates of Gaza – North, Gaza, Middle Area, Khan Younis and Rafah. The Chief Area Officers have an UNRWA representative function at the area level and lead an area management team (AMT) in close collaboration with the Gaza Field Office. Over the past months, the UNRWA Operations Support Office (OSO) initiated the establishment of protection committees in each of the five areas, involving front line staff from the Agency’s health, education, relief and social services and mental health programmes. The committees are led by the CAOs – with support from OSO – and aim to support internal coordination, communication and response to protection concerns in the areas. Further, in September, the CAO in Rafah, southern Gaza, organized the tendering of almost 4,000 books for the public Rafah library, located inside an UNRWA school and completed by the Infrastructure and Camp Improvement Programme in August 2016. Four fresh graduates were recruited through the Job Creation Programme to work in the library, supported by two UNRWA teachers. Emergency preparations for the coming winter and its potential flooding or storms are well under way in all five areas; these include the preparation of the distribution of non-food items, quality controls, eligibility checks etc. In addition, in Gaza and North areas over the month of September the Health Programme undertook a survey to gauge the satisfaction of beneficiaries with health services in four health centres; the sample included over 600 refugees. The results are currently being analyzed and will be shared at the next AMT meeting.
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UNRWA has distributed dream bags – containing crayons, handmade toys and dolls, balls, pens, coloured towels and letters written by Japanese students - to dozens of Palestine refugee students across Gaza, thanks to a generous contribution from RKK- a Japanese organization. The bags are being distributed to 6,550 students from grades one to nine, in 267 schools across the Gaza Strip. This activity targets some of the most vulnerable students in UNRWA schools. The distribution lasted from 9 to 13 October 2016, and is part of a project that aims at strengthening the relationship between Palestinian and Japanese children, the same as the annual kite flying event in solidarity with Japanese earthquake survivors. Also this week, the UNRWA Education Programme in Gaza organized a colouring event to colour the famous Japanese Kumamon character, marking another expression of solidarity and friendship with children who have been affected by an earthquake (the one that hit the Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan in April 2016). The event was organized in cooperation with RESULTS Japan - a non-profit advocacy organization. The event was held at UNRWA Al-Amal Prep Girls School and Khan Younis Prep Boys B School located in the Japanese (Al-Amal) neighbourhood in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Here, Japan contributed to building house units for thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes due to past armed conflicts. RESULTS Japan will introduce the drawings of UNRWA students at Japan’s biggest international cooperation event called “Global Festa” held in Tokyo which is attended by more than 100,000 visitors every year. It will also organize an exhibition for the coloured drawings – from children around the world including those from Gaza - during the visit of Mr. Pierre Krähenbühl, UNRWA Commissioner-General, to Japan in October 2016.
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During a briefing in Gaza on 13 October, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, expressed concerns over the situation in Gaza, emphasizing that Israel’s policies add pressure on the enclave and only “escalate violence”, as media reported. Mladenov also stated that Israel was not doing enough to lessen the blockade on Gaza, and he stressed that the current “calmness” must be maintained by focusing on reconstruction and economic development in Gaza. The Special Coordinator furthermore unveiled that the UN Security Council would hold a special session next week to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, including bringing Israelis and Palestinians to meet over the reconstruction issue.