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Field Implementation Plan

UNRWA Syria Field Office

2012 –2013

This plan is one of a series of Field Implementation Plans (FIPs) and a Headquarters Implementation Plan (HIP) for the biennium 2012- 2013, developed in accordance with the UNRWA Medium Term Strategy for 2010 - 2015.

Field Implementation Plans

  1. Gaza
  2. Jordan
  3. Lebanon
  4. Syrian Arab Republic
  5. West Bank

Headquarters Implementation Plan

© UNRWA 2012

This Field Implementation Plan was prepared by UNRWA Syria Field Office.

UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 4.7 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, pending a solution to their plight.UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from United Nations member states.

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Contents

UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Organisation for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

1Introduction and Consultation Process

Introduction

Consultation and Coordination

2Situation Assessment

Progress on 2010-2011 plan

Needs Assessment (see also Annex 4)

Risk assessment

3Field Strategy

Scenarios for the 2012 – 2013 Plan

Strategic Priorities

Cross-cutting issues

4Field Plans

Goal One:A long and healthy life

Goal Two:Acquired knowledge and skills

Goal Three: A decent standard of living

Goal Four: Human rights enjoyed to the fullest

Goal Five: Effective and efficient governance and support in UNRWA

5Plan Implementation and Monitoring

Roles and Responsibilities

Monitoring, Evaluation and Data Management

Annex 1 : Objective Trees

Annex 4 – Needs Assessment

Acronyms and Abbreviations

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CBO Community Based Organisation

DTC Damascus Training Centre

EC European Commission

EU European Union

Fafo Norwegian Institute for Applied Social Science

FIP Field Implementation Plan

GAPAR General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees

GF General Fund

GFC Global Financial Crises

GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

HIP Headquarters Implementation Plan

HR Human Resource

IPR’s Iraqi-Palestine Refugees

MICS Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

MLA Monitoring of Learning Achievement

MTS Medium Term Strategy

NRP Neirab Rehabilitation Project

OD Organisational Development

SHCs Special Hardship Cases

UN United Nations

UNCT United Nations Country Team

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Organisation for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

USD United States Dollar

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1Introduction and Consultation Process

Introduction

Draft Syria Field Implementation Plan

28 April 2010

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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been undertaking a process of strategic reform in light of its Medium Term Strategy (MTS) (20102015) and has developed Field Implementation Plans (FIPs) for all its five fields for 2010-2011. These plans are updated biannually, on the basis of the current situation and the capacity of UNRWA to respond. This plan is UNRWA’s strategy for assisting Palestine refugees in Syria during 2012-2013.

UNRWA is responding to the challenges of an increasing refugee population, and continues to provide refugees with high quality and relevant services. UNRWA is the largest United Nations (UN) agencies in Syria, and employs 3562 staff (April2011). In 2010 it had a General Fund budget of approximately USD 45 million and facilitated nearly USD 12million from donors in direct project assistance. Organisational development and programme reforms are being implemented under the strategic guidance of UNRWA headquarters and in light of UNRWA’sSustaining Change strategy. UNRWA benefits from operating in an environment in Syria where Palestine refugees enjoy similar civil and economic rights as Syrian citizens.

At the time of writing (March-April 2007), the security situation in Syria has undergone unexpected changes which have led to the UNCT’s Security Management Team revising its security level for the country as a whole, with a corresponding effect on UNRWA’s ability to provide services to beneficiaries. The security level has been raised further for the cities of Dera’a and Latakia in particular, both of which are areas of operation for UNRWA. In addition, the events in the country over the past weeks are leading the international community to discuss possible sanctions against Syria. All these factors may have negative implications in the application of the FIP in 2012.

In 2010 the registered Palestine refugees represented 2.2percent of the population of Syria or approximately 476,801 people[1]. There are 13refugee camps in Syria, seven of which are located in Damascus, two in Aleppo and one each in Homs, Hama, Dara’a and Lattakia. Refugees are provided with education, health, microfinance and relief and social services. All registered refugees are entitled to have access to UNRWA services, regardless of their location in Syria. There are nine official camps and four unofficial camps in Syria. The population of Palestine refugees in Syria is largely concentrated in official and unofficial camps and gatherings. Approximately 75 percent of Palestine refugees live in and around the Damascus area. Up to 30 percent of Palestine refugees live in official camps and approximately 30 percent live in the Yarmouk residential area of Damascus.

Demographic location of Palestine refugees in Syria
Location / Registered Refugees* / Registered Persons** / MNR family members / Grand Total
Damascus / 374,614 / 13,149 / 2,401 / 390,164
South / 26,632 / 1,306 / 296 / 28,234
Central Area / 40,560 / 1,214 / 133 / 41,907
North / 34,995 / 631 / 39 / 35,665
Field Total / 476,801 / 16,300 / 2,869 / 495,970

Source: UNRWA, December 2010.

* Registered Refugees are those whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 according to UNRWA's definition.

** Registered Persons are those who do not fully meet UNRWA's Palestine Refugee criteria. While registered for the purposes of receiving UNRWA services, Registered Persons include: Jerusalem poor, Gaza poor, frontier villagers, compromise cases, Kafaleh (adopted) children, and non-refugee wives. Married to non-refugee family members are also part of the Registered Persons category, but their numbers are separated for tracking and monitoring purposes.

Consultation and Coordination

The situation of Palestine refugees in Syria has been comprehensively documented by the Norwegian Institute for Applied Social Science(Fafo)since 2001 with the assistance of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, theGeneral Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic (GAPAR) and UNRWA in Syria. Their studies were the first of their kind in comparison to detailed information available for Lebanon, Jordan and the Occupied Palestine Territories. There was also a multiple indicator cluster survey III (MICS) undertaken in 2006.A previous needs assessment was undertaken by UNRWA in Syria for its FIP for 2010-2011 which provides a comprehensive breakdown of statistics from these reports. This included comprehensive discussions and consultation with refugees, donors, UNRWA staff and other key stakeholders. An updated assessment was undertaken for the FIP 2012-2013.

UNRWA has undertaken a participatory approach to developing its FIP 2012-2013 in Syria. This has included extensive internal coordination with departments and staff to develop FIP priorities for this period. The Government of Syria has also been consulted through the State Planning Commission and GAPAR. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) was also consulted in this process, as have been key donors and partners. Palestine refugees have been consulted as part of our programming activities, in particular for the Neirab and Ramadan camp initiatives. Refugees were consulted as part of the first Needs Assessment that was undertaken by UNRWA in Syria.

Draft Syria Field Implementation Plan

28 April 2010

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2Situation Assessment

Draft Syria Field Implementation Plan

28 April 2010

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Progress on 2010-2011 plan

In its FIP for 2010-2011, UNRWA in Syria sought achievement related to the following four human development goals for Palestine refugees:

  • a long and healthy life;
  • acquired appropriate knowledge and skills;
  • a decent standard of living; and
  • human rights enjoyed to the fullest extent possible.

These goals are based on the Agency’s mission to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development terms and on UNRWA’s four long term goals as outlined in its Medium Term Strategy2010-2015. The cross cutting issues of disability, gender, protection and youth have been mainstreamed into UNRWA’s programme activities in Syria. Of these, the highest priority is youth, reflecting the need to work to address the challenges facing their access to education and employability in Syria. UNRWA sought to increase its focus on the most vulnerable groups and to strengthen community participation in its initiatives. This situation assessment relates to the achievement of results under the four human development goals, however it is noted that UNRWA also sought achievements under its fifth goal, which relates to support services.

Goal 1 - A long and healthy life

The health outcomes for Palestine refugees in Syria have been maintained by UNRWA, and in some areas improved. UNRWA has been highly successful in Syria at achieving prevention and disease control, with vaccination rates for children below 18 months at over 99percent. Outpatient consultations per doctor per day have reduced, though they are still high – reflecting the demand for UNRWA’s services. Approximately 92 patients are seen per day by a doctor. There has been improved detection of late complications in patients with non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, reflecting the enhanced training that has been provided to doctors by UNRWA. The non-communicable disease detection rate among screened persons was 9.4 percent in 2010, as compared with 11.1 percent in 2009. There has also been an improvement in correct prescriptions being provided, and the antibiotic prescription rate has dropped substantively, in line with World Health Organisation standards. Contact time between doctors and patients has improved, which has assisted in the improvements related to correct prescriptions.

UNRWA in Syria has recently concluded negotiations with leading hospitals in Syria to provide services to refugees on behalf of UNRWA, resulting in savings to the budget. The costs of medical supplies have been reduced by cost effective local procurement of high quality drugs, guaranteeing supply and reducing delays due to customs controls.

With the support of the Japanese Government, UNRWA has introduced a Maternal and Child Health handbook that enables the systematic monitoring of development and growth of children. This is the first time that parents have had a handbook in Arabic with which to monitor the health progress of their children and which provides practical advice.

Goal 2 - Acquired appropriate knowledge and skills

UNRWA students have achieved very positive results, at both the elementary and preparatory levels. Recent achievements in state examinations show that in 2010, there was a 91 percent pass rate, as compared to 89percent in the last two years and a pass rate of approximately 70percent for Syrian schools. The overall percentage of UNRWA students that completed primary education in 2010 was approximately 92 percent. These findings have been reinforced by a recent European Commission review of UNRWA’s programmes, which found that UNRWA run schools in Syria performed better than pupils of Government schools in national exams and in quality control tests. UNRWA students performed well in the ninth grade national exams, with the average passing grade of boys being 86percent and that of girls 95 percent. UNRWA’s students in Syria performed best of all UNRWA Fields in the Monitoring of Learning Achievements testing conducted by UNRWA in 2009, however results revealed the importance of strengthening the critical thinking ability of students.

UNRWA has worked to address the issue of drop out in schools, through school counselors conducting a broad campaign in cooperation with local community leaders to address this issue and by implementing support classes as preliminary step to prevent students from dropping out. The current drop out rate is 0.4 percent at the elementary level and 2.9percent at the preparatory level. A key priority for UNRWA has been to support students with Special Education Needs andit has undertaken a partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to train all head teachers and undergraduates in supporting students with learning difficulties. Through theEngaging Youth project, supported and recently expanded by the European Union, UNRWA has provided support classes for over 250teachers to be trained in Inclusive Education and to address the learning needs of students. The pilot initiative provides support classes for 1000students with additional learning needs. Six school buildings were constructed in 2010 to accommodate the growing educational needs of Palestine refugee children in Syria and to replace dilapidated buildings. As part of education programme reform, a class teacher approach has been implemented up to Grade Four, and Syria has been the lead UNRWA field in piloting this approach.

Goal 3 - A decent standard of living

UNRWA has some significant results in assisting Palestine refugees to attain a decent standard of living through training and skills development, targeted relief and social services interventions, access to financial services and camp improvement. UNRWA has realised comprehensive achievements in training and skills development through UNRWA’s employment program for youth, supported by the European Union, and the work of the Damascus Training Centre (DTC). Achievements include establishing five employment centres registering 3,012 job seekers (52percent of whom were women) and a network of 496 employers;achieving a 100 percent employment rate for select courses and achieving an average employment rate among persons who have been to seek guidance from the five employment centresof 44 percent in Damascus and 50 percent in the governorates. The Engaging Youth project will see a future expansion of these achievements.

As part of programmatic assistance through the Relief and Social Services Programme, UNRWA has assisted nearly 34,000 people with food assistance and/or cash subsidies and 2088 families to cope with small-scale emergencies. In addition, 2220peoplewith disabilities were assisted through either direct service or referral.

UNRWA’s assistance through its microfinance department saw 14,336 loans financed valued at USD10.37million, with 89percent of businesses loans financing enterprises in the informal sector, 55percent financing loans to low-income clients and 49 percent financing women microentrepreneurs and consumers. Microfinance has a significant breadth of outreach as well as reaching quite deep into marginal socio-economic segments, particularly low-income clients, women, youth and the poor. Since 1991, the microfinance department has disbursed in Syria 43,323 loans valued at USD30.58million through three loan products that meet the small and micro-business needs as well as the consumption needs of the poor, women, youth, Palestine refugees, microentrepreneurs, informal enterprises and low-income clients.

The Neirab Rehabilitation Project (NRP) aims at redeveloping a refugee camp which has deteriorated over 60 years of uncontrolled development. Built on the area of a former World War Two army camp, the camp (600 by 250 metres for 10,000 refugees) is made up of a central area, the so-called barracks area, where living conditions are slum-like. In addition there are a number of shelters outside this barracks area which are in a comparable state. There was a critical preparatory phase of moving 300families from Neirab to another camp. The NRP has been operational in Neirab camp near Aleppo, since September 2008. After more than one year of preparation and design, implementation commenced and 2010 was a year marked by dramatic changes in the physical composition of the camp. The first housing units were constructed and completed (60families were provided with new units). The entire process is guided by a camp improvement master plan, which governs the future rehabilitation of the camp. The implementation was and is based on a comprehensive, complex and at times difficult participatory process with beneficiaries, which includes the processing of 224 appeals and the conclusion of 258 preliminary designs (at an average of 4.2 meetings per beneficiary family). Units for another 174 families were under construction by the end of 2010. In the same calendar year, the NRP also embarked on an ambitious pilot process for community involvement in local socio-economic development; it completed the construction of a sanitation station and started the construction of a four-story fully equipped school building. The project has also undertaken comprehensive activities to strengthen skills in the community.

Goal 4 - Human rights enjoyed to the fullest extent possible

UNRWA provides comprehensive assistance to support the human rights of Palestine refugees in Syria. This assistance ranges from the registration of refugees, to curricula based activities in schools with a focus on child rights with the support of UNICEF and the direct support of Iraqi-Palestine (IPR’s) living in Syria. Under this goal UNRWA sought to ensure that refugee registration and eligibility was carried out in accordance with relevant international standards.

The capacities of community based organisations have been supported through capacity assessments, training on financial management and community based service delivery. The community based organisation’s activities have included activities focusing on community empowerment (4421 women were provided with marketable skills, legal and social counselling), life skills training (1301adolescents were included in these activities) and access to microfinance services (1523 loans were issued through the indirect lending scheme/community managed fund).

Through the assistance of UNICEF over the past ten years, UNRWA has been supporting child rights education in schools in Syria. Activities include student and teacher training courses, workshops and summer camps. Parents and local communities are engaged in the process, and awareness raising is conducted. The concept of human rights has been integrated within the Syrian curriculum, and implemented by UNRWA. UNRWA also facilitates human rights training in school parliaments and protection activities.