HIGHLIGHTS
Under the International Youth Day (12 August) theme “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Production and Consumption” the UNRWA Gender Initiative from 7 to 14 August organized an advocacy campaign in cooperation with 20 partnering Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), targeting male and female youths to raise awareness on recycling and environmental issues such as urban agriculture, solid waste management or water and sanitation. The campaign started with a two-day training of 12 male and female youths with an educational background in environmental and agricultural; afterwards, the trained youths organized more awareness sessions, forums and discussions, for a total of 400 young persons (200 women and 200 men) in all areas of Gaza. The sessions were held at the CBOs and not only served to raise awareness, but also to listen to the experience and ideas of participants, particularly how recycling could be used for income-generation, given the strangled economy and high levels of youth unemployment in the Gaza Strip. In a closing event on 14 August approximately 100 youths from all across Gaza came together to share their thoughts and ideas and applied recycling work for solid waste. On the occasion of International Youth Day, the United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Mr. Robert Piper, issued a statement talking about the challenges and opportunities Palestine’s large youth population of around 1.44 million people presents: “While young Palestinians face challenges resulting from social, economic and political marginalisation and feelings of frustration and hopelessness prevail, they, if empowered and given access to productive employment and education, can become active citizens and leaders for change and development,” the statement reads.
On 28 August, UNRWA will start the scholastic year 2016-2017 in Gaza when over 263,220 students will return to their schools – an increase of 13,100 students compared to the last scholastic year. Over the past 12 months and during the summer holidays, UNRWA – through its construction activities – has ensured the maintenance of its school buildings, including improved access to water and sanitation, continuous electricity supply, and any rehabilitation of premises. In addition, UNRWA education staff such as area education officers, school principals and their deputies are currently undertaking the class formation exercise and concluding all interviews for new teachers and other school-based staff. Teachers will be required to report back to their school one week earlier on 23 August, to support all preparations. In order to welcome all students to a clean and healthy environment, the Education Programme in coordination with the Logistics Office will also organize a cleaning week to clean all 162 school buildings with the support of approximately 1,000 labourers hired through the Agency’s Job Creation Programme. In addition, on the first day of the new school year, each student will receive a stationery package including notebooks and pencils.
In cooperation with the Japan Gaza Innovation Challenge initiative(JGIC), UNRWA hosted a 2016 Entrepreneur Challenge contest for entrepreneurial youth. The contest consisted of a two-day workshop in the Khan Younis Training Centre, in southern Gaza, where around ten teams, each including five to six participants, had the opportunity to access and network with Japanese investors/social entrepreneurs and present their entrepreneurial ideas in the fields of health care, nutrition, water management, agriculture, education or manufacturing. Project ideas ranged from the development of a new environmentally-friendly and more economical bricks-mixture for Gaza’s construction and reconstruction efforts, to the showcasing of a 3-wheel stair climber to help carry heavy weights up the stairs. The Entrepreneur Challenge was the pilot project of the JGIC which aims to improve the means of livelihood in Gaza, particularly for Gaza youth through creating a scheme to incubate and/or to support start-ups for “life improvement” in Gaza. For UNRWA, the entrepreneurial contest was one of many interventions through which the Agency encourages the development of an entrepreneurial culture to overcome the difficulties and hardships of the dire socio-economic context in the Gaza Strip. Another such example is the Agency-supported GGateway (Gaza Gateway) social enterprise which focuses on the provision of Information Technology services for local and international companies and thereby attempts to create employment opportunities for youth.
After three weeks full of sports, arts and cultural activities, the 2016 Summer Fun Weeks (SFWs) came to an end on 11 August. To give the over 165,000 participating children a chance to show what they had learned and created during the SFWs, UNRWA organized closing ceremonies in all five areas of Gaza. On 15 August, a closing ceremony was held in the Al Zaitoun Preparatory Girls B school in Gaza city, including various dance shows and performances, as well as an exhibition of pieces produced in the recycling workshops implemented with the support of the visiting Belgian artist, Ms. Michèle Vanvlasselaer. The Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Mr. Bo Schack, attended the ceremony. Through the SFWs, UNRWA created more than 2,200 short-term job opportunities for registered refugees. As part of the Agency’s ongoing commitment to Palestine refugees, UNRWA continues to serve as a primary job provider in the poverty-scarred enclave. Through its Job Creation Programme (JCP) and with a particular focus on youth, the SFW positions varied from animators and clerks, to technicians, cleaners and administrative staff in the UNRWA Gaza Field Office. The activities were also a chance to boost local markets through purchasing large quantities of food and drink from Gaza suppliers for the students participating in the SFWs.
UNRWA has implemented the Summer Fun Weeks for refugee children annually in Gaza since 2009 (with the exception of 2014 due to the conflict) with a view to mitigating the psycho-social impact of conflicts and blockade on the lives of children, and to provide them with opportunities to play in a safe environment. This year, for the first time, each Gaza area implemented special activities under a specific theme – in addition to the regular arts and sports activities. Themes included democracy and child parliaments and the participating children had the chance to role play what it was like to be the United Nations Secretary-General, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and the Director of UNRWA Operations during simulations of UN bodies and agencies. Activities also focused on human rights, such as the right to play or the importance of non-discrimination, social inclusion and gender equality. To raise awareness about the importance of and right to safe and clean drinking water, three delegations of UNRWA student parliaments from the Middle Area, Khan Younis and Rafah had the chance to visit the desalination plant constructed by the Children’s Rights and Emergency Relief Organization UNICEF with the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities (CMWU). Further, to showcase the right to freedom of expression, many drawing arts sessions took place in all areas to encourage the children to express themselves and their thoughts. For students from grades four to six, a contest was organized under the topic “Draw your Dream for Gaza 2020” and the best drawings will be exhibited in Gaza in the coming weeks. In the Gaza 2020 report from 2012, the UN warns about the deteriorating living conditions in the Gaza Strip, particularly focusing on the scarcity of resources such as water.
During the reporting week, UNRWA launched the Gaza component of the Agency-wide Leadership Across Borders internal staff training programme, as a follow up from the Leadership Initiative which commenced in Gaza in spring 2015. The Leadership Initiative aimed at training and empowering senior and middle-management UNRWA leaders through theoretical and practical workshops, including personalized coaching sessions. The Leadership Across Borders training will run until September 2017 and is implemented in all five UNRWA fields of operations, with approximately 100 participants per field, and 50 from headquarters. A main focus is to improve the communications and negotiations skills of the participants to foster a more effective and dynamic work environment based on team work, respect and cooperation.