Annual Report of the Department of Health 2010 - Unrwa

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT
UNRWA’s environmental health sub-programme monitors the quality of water and sanitation and controls
rodents and vectors in refugee camps. These services are provided to approximately 1.4 million Palestine
refugees residing in 58 official camps.
In 2010, the standards of sanitation and general environmental health in the Palestine refugee camps Agencywide
were maintained. This was achieved even during difficult circumstances such as the closures of the Gaza
Strip and the infrastructural damage that followed the war. The sub-programme continued to focus on
maintaining acceptable standards of water and sanitation in refugee camps in the five Fields of operations. The
services were provided either directly by UNRWA, or in close collaboration with local municipalities or through
contractual arrangements. As of 2010, almost all refugee camps shelters had access to water, and 99.8% of
them to sanitation facilities.
In Jordan, the Host Country Authorities have historically played a major role in camp development and
integrated the camp infrastructures for water, sewerage, and drainage within municipal systems, except in a
few situations where camps are located in areas where no such systems exist. Unlike Jordan, the environmental
conditions in Gaza Strip and West Bank are generally poor and UNRWA had to assume a major role in camp
development. All camps in the Gaza Strip are connected to the water supply network either from an UNRWA
water source or from a municipal water source. The Special Environmental Health Programme (SEHP) is responsible
for the operation and maintenance of the ten water wells: five in Jabalia, three in Beach Camp, one in Khan
Younis and one in Rafah. It is worth mentioning that following the decentralization policy inherent to the
Agency reform, the management of the environmental health programme in Lebanon and Syria was moved to
other departments and/ordivisions. The Health Department in those Fields is still responsible for some
activities related to water quality and vector control.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
UNRWA’s approach to camp development was devised in the late eighties when several development projects were
implemented in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the context of the Expanded Programme of Assistance to the
oPt. This approach was further refined after the establishment of the Special Environmental Health Programme
(SEHP) in Gaza Field in 1993, which played a key role in carrying out camp-by-camp needs assessments, preparing
detailed feasibility studies, identifying projects, preparing technical designs for the construction of sewerage and
drainage systems, and rehabilitating water networks in refugee camps and nearby municipal areas. The Programme
has also assisted in the review of feasibility studies and technical designs for development projects in the refugee
camps in West Bank.
THE GAZA STRIP
The Special Environmental Health Programme aims to develop and enhance the sewerage systems in the refugee
camps in Gaza Strip by:
- Increasing the number of refugee shelters connected to the sewerage systems;
- Upgrading existing sewage pumping stations or constructing new ones;
- Upgrading the water supply systems, connecting all camp shelters to them and monitoring the quality of the water
provided;
- Developing the solid waste collection and disposal system including its mechanization;
- Developing of the storm water drainage system through the pavement of roads and alleys and the construction of
culverts;
- Enhancing the implementation of the rodent and insect control campaigns; and
- Developing Capacity building within the SEHP.
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