BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

66
Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
Table 2.12: Illiteracy (%) in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria
Age Group
Lebanon Jordan Syria
M F M F M F
15–19 26 15 5 2 12 9
20–24 23 18 6 4 11 8
25–29 23 22 6 5 9 8
30–34 26 28 4 6 8 14
35–39 23 29 4 12 9 16
40–44 16 41 8 30 11 22
45–49 21 50 11 49 10 29
50–54 25 71 12 63 12 43
55–59 34 87 18 82 14 62
60–64 53 93 38 89 28 84
65–69 65 98 50 98 45 89
70–74 – – 52 99 58 92
75+ – – 67 100 60 96
Sources: On the Margins: Migration and Living Conditions Among Palestinian Refugees in Camps in Jordan, FAFO: Institute for Applied Social
Science, 2000; Difficult Past, Uncertain Future: Living Conditions Among Palestinian Refugees in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, FAFO:
Institute for Applied Social Science, 2003; Statistical Yearbook of Palestine 4, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2003. Figures for Lebanon
and Syria include camps and “gatherings” (defined as a community outside a camp with 25 or more households).
In the former Palestinian territory, 93.6% of the refugees are literate (96.7% for males and 90.4% for females). 74
Literacy levels among Palestinian refugees are generally higher than for the Arab states as a group. 75 This is especially
the case for refugee women. In Lebanon, however, there are high levels of non-literacy among refugees compared to
the national population. There is little difference between refugee and non-refugee Palestinians in the 1967-occupied
Palestinian territory. Palestinians in Israel have a literacy rate of 94.4%. However, this rate is lower in the south of the
country (where it drops to 85.2%) and among females in general (91.3% compared to 97.3% for males). 76
Among persons classified as special hardship cases, 16.6% are illiterate, with the highest rates being in the West
Bank (25%) and Syria (22%), and the lowest in the Gaza Strip (12%) and Lebanon (15%). 77
2.8 Health
The health status of Palestinian refugees is in transition from a developing to a developed stage. The health of
women and children has improved dramatically over the course of the last five decades. The best reported health
outcomes are in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory, Jordan and Syria. Armed conflict, ineffective protection,
and insufficient assistance leave refugees in Lebanon the most vulnerable to health problems. Between 30,000 to
40,000 Palestinians were killed during the civil war and the Israeli invasion in Lebanon in 1982. During the first
intifada in the OPT, more than 73,000 Palestinians were killed or injured, while the number of casualties and
injured in the current intifada stands at 35,000. 78
Food insecurity and vulnerability are about 40% and 12% respectively among refugees in the OPT. 79 The refugee
population living in camps has the least food security (45%), which also indicates that food insecurity is highest
in the Gaza Strip. Food aid has become increasingly significant as a source of food as agricultural areas (Qalqilya,
Tulkarem, and the Jordan Valley) are affected by closures and Israeli military and settler movement, as well as
restrictions on access and trade.
Around 42% of households affected by the Wall in the occupied West Bank are separated from health services