Including a LIVE Report From GAZA
May 15th, 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians known as “the Nakba” or “the Catastrophe”. About 750,000 people either fled from their homes or were forced to flee, creating one of the world’s longest-standing and largest refugee crises. This event led to the establishment of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which remains to this day the major provider of humanitarian assistance and health services to Palestine refugees.
This anniversary is a reminder that this population of over five million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA has been deprived of rights, dignity, and justice for such a long period. Across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, Palestine refugees face multiple threats to their health and access to adequate healthcare. Recent dramatic events in Gaza, where the majority of the population are refugees, also remind the world that acute health challenges created by chronic displacement are frequently compounded by acute crises and outbreaks of violence. Currently, UNRWA faces a major challenge in upholding its mandate and preserving key services for Palestine refugees.
Our panel of healthcare and human rights experts will discuss the impact of this long-standing refugee situation on the health and wellbeing of Palestine refugees, as well as the current mass casualties in Gaza, the blockade and occupation and UNRWA’s unprecedented financial crisis.
#ForPalestineRefugees
#FundUNRWA
#DignityIsPriceless
Director, IGHD & Prof. of Pop. & Family Health - QMU, Edinburgh & Columbia Univ., New York
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Background and objectives for the
side meeting
May 15th, 2018 marks the
70th anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians known as “the Nakba”
or “the Catastrophe”, an event which led to the establishment of the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA), which is mandated by the UN General Assembly. About 750,000 people
either fled from their homes or were forced to flee, creating one of the
world’s longest standing and largest refugee crises. This anniversary is also a reminder that this
population of over five million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA has
been deprived of rights, dignity, and justice for such a long period.
In the meantime, UNRWA
continues its humanitarian mission through the delivery of critical services
and robust advocacy, including comprehensive primary health care (PHC) for
Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank. UNRWA
health services are very important for Palestine refugees. Over the past 68
years, its services covered from the basic needs of survival through outpatient
medical care, maternal and child health services, and the most recent, on the prevention
and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health. UNRWA is
committed to universal health coverage.
Currently, UNRWA is facing a
major challenge in upholding its mandate and preserving key services for
Palestine refugees and is calling on the good will of people all over the world
to stand with UNRWA in solidarity and help #FundUNRWA to protect human welfare
and dignity #DignityIsPriceless. UNRWA launched a global campaign to keep its
operations open in 2018 and beyond. Through this campaign, UNRWA aims to
maintain its primary health-care operations, education, food assistance, water
and sanitation, and protection services so that the welfare and dignity of a
disadvantaged and venerable population is preserved.
Main Objectives:
1. Explain the impact of a long
standing refugee situation on the health and wellbeing of Palestine refugees;
2. Present the impact of this
year’s unprecedented financial crisis facing UNRWA on the services delivered to
Palestine refugees, including both their continuity and quality;
3. Present the impact of longstanding
conflicts, blockade, and occupation in the occupied Palestinian territory on
the health of Palestinians and Palestine refugees.
4. Emphasize that there is no
health without dignity for Palestinians and Palestine refugees.