Water Access, Health, and Education Transformation in Palestine refugee Camps in Lebanon

Since their creation some 70 years ago, the Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon have remained confined to the same restricted areas. As the infrastructure has deteriorated and the population increased – notably fleeing Syria in the recent years -, the quality and quantity of water accessible to the camp communities had become increasingly at risk. This has multiple reinforcing impacts in health, livelihoods, educational attainment, psychosocial wellbeing, and security in the camps, and is also further aggravated by Climate change.In addition, UNRWA today provides education services to over 35,000 Palestine refugee students. An excessively high number of schools are not purpose-built, but rather poor and obsolete facilities in a state of disrepair, suffering from overcrowding, and a lack of green spaces. This poses a serious threat to the rights of children to benefit from safe and healthy learning environments. Moreover, high maintenance and running costs of such installations come in addition to the prohibitive high rental costs.

In line with France’s strategy against fragility, fighting vulnerabilities and responding to crises are one of AFD’s strategic priorities by 2022. In the Middle-East, AFD’s Peace and Resilience MINKA Fund supports multi-year initiatives increasing the resilience of communities affected by conflict and forced displacements.