Aid, health services and education

•••

by Kjersti G. Berg, Olaf Knarvik and Mezna Qato

Today there are 5.8 million registered Palestinian refugees, and 58 official – as well as many unofficial – Palestinian refugee camps interspersed throughout the region, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Most of them were set up after the war in 1948. High population density, poverty, poor living conditions and weak infrastructure are commonalities between the camps. One out of three refugees live in camps, and most UNRWA programs take place in camps.

Since the 1950s, aid, health services and education have been UNRWA’s most extensive programs. Today more than half a million children attend 711 elementary schools. UNRWA offers basic health services through 143 camp health clinics.

In the 1950s, all registered refugees received food rations, but today only the poorest of the refugees – just over 255,000 persons, qualify to receive aid. In addition, there are programs for micro-credit loans, aid during war and crises, and re- habilitation of housing in camps.

Across these programs, we might see UNRWA as divided in two: on the one hand, as a quasi-welfare state providing education, health and social services to the refugees; and on the other, as a humanitarian aid organisation during war and crises.

The images in this section illustrate a selection of the most central activities run by UNRWA in and around the camps, and in general may be seen as examples of the photographer’s assignment to document the humanitarian need of the Palestinians in the camps. They cover the basic motifs of aid work: food shipments as well as sustenance work in the form of tree planting to cultivate the land; medical assistance and health clinics; food stations; educational services in the form of both primary school teaching and vocational training such as embroidery, weaving, wood- and metal work.

Palestinian refugees on the Gaza strip, carrying sacks of flour sent by UNRWA, from boat to shore.

Palestinian refugees transporting sacks of flour from a ship onto the beach as part of UNRWA’s relief work. Gaza Strip, May 1957.

Palestinian refugee planting Eucalyptus trees to cultivate the sand dunes as part of an UNRWA program. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Palestinian women and children gathering outside the UNRWA Milk Distribution Centre. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Young woman feeding a child in a dining room.

Young woman feeding a child in a food distribution centre. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Girl holding a sleeping child in a refugee camp on the Gaza Strip

Girl holding a sleeping child in a food distribution centre. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Children in line to get food in a canteen.

Children in line in a food distribution centre. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Nurse with a child and a group of women.

A child being examined by a nurse in a health clinic. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Dormitory for women in a health clinic. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Mothers and children waiting in health clinic. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Dormitory for women in a health clinic. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Health personell on the bedside of an elderly female patient. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Male Patient, with male employee dressed in white in a Hospital on the Gaza Strip.

Health personell and male patient. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Nurse caring for a man in hospital bed. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Primary school girls in line outside a school run by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, March-May 1957.

Primary school girls in a classroom as part of UNRWA’s educational program. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

A group of girls in a classroom, looking in the camera with serious faces. On the desks in front of them are open books.

School girls in Shajara secondary school in Homs. Syria, April-May 1959.

A group of boys in a classroom, open books on the desks, one boy is looking in the camera with a serious face

School boys in Shajara secondary school in Homs. Syria, April-May 1959.

School children in a classroom with an area map. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

A female teacher and female student standing in front of a blackboard, they look at each other. The teacher holds a sheet of paper, the student writes on the board.

A teacher and a student in a classroom. A portrait of Nasser hangs above the blackboard. Homs, Syria, April-May 1959.

School teaching in a camp for Palestinian refugees. A portrait of Nasser hangs above the blackboard. Dekwaneh, Lebanon, April-May 1959.

Palestinian girls embroidering as part of vocational training provided by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Embroidery at Fundamental Education Centre - Maghazi Women. Gaza Strip, May 1957.

Palestinian girls and women embroidering as part of vocational training provided by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Young men welding at vocational training provided by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

Carpentry workshop as part of vocational training provided by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.

A boy in a workshop as part of vocational training provided by UNRWA. Gaza Strip, April-May 1957.