heks

Some 400,000 refugees live in the 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Sixty per cent live in poverty, and forty per cent of the people are out of work. Life is extremely difficult, with a lack of jobs, no income, and having to cope with tiny apartments in dubious states of repair. The children are growing up in a violent environment, some of them in families which have been uprooted, and with resigned and frustrated parents.

The political tensions and armed conflicts in the refugee camps are putting the civilian population at risk. The 2006 and 2007 wars have caused further deterioration in the social and economic situation and have added to people’s sense of insecurity. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) only operates at a general level of basic relief, therefore additional and urgently needed support is provided by the local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They also uphold and claim the defence of human rights in the refugee camps.

Aims, points of focus, initiatives:

The HEKS partner organisations help refugee families to improve their circumstances through education and training and through integration in vocational and professional life. They take the children from disadvantaged families in their kindergartens and work on their social and personal development. Many children run the risk of being excluded from the UNWRA primary schools or have already been excluded. It might be because they do not have official refugee status or because they have to repeat a school year several times because of the gaps in their knowledge. These children have the opportunity to obtain remedial support and then return to mainstream education or to learn basic skills like reading, writing and arithmetic in an alternative class.

Vocational courses help young people to bolster their career prospects and to improve their chances on the job market. Courses in subjects like joinery, administration or photography are offered in the “Training and vocational integration” programme. The programme is supplemented by careers advice, apprenticeship placement services and support for microprojects. These services increase the young people’s chances of being able to find a paid job or start their own business. The HEKS partner organisations also work with the authorities and the refugees themselves to advocate the defence of human rights in the refugee camps, and they promote civil society initiatives.