Regional Programme Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Middle East (REPAC V)

completed

The FC project Regional Programme for Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Middle East (REPAC) includes the structural planning and implementation of social and economic infrastructure in selected Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East in order to improve living conditions there. The programme builds on the activities of the Camp Improvement Programme (CIP), so that the individual activities are identified using a participatory approach at the level of selected refugee camps. The aim of the FC project is to improve access to and appropriate use of social and economic infrastructure for the population in and around Palestinian refugee camps. The total costs were estimated at EUR 30 million at the time of project appraisal and now amount to EUR 40 million. The aim is to make a rapid contribution to ensuring the basic needs of Palestinian refugees, whose humanitarian situation has been further affected by the conflicts in the Middle East region, are met. The FC measure REPAC was therefore adapted so that necessary measures that help meet the immediate basic needs of the affected Palestinian refugees (basic infrastructure, food security, basic education, health care, etc.) can be financed directly. This does not require the use of participatory processes (CIP). So far, EUR 19.87 million has been made available for the REPAC project in three phases via German FC. A further EUR 20 million is now to follow in a fourth phase. The funds are mainly intended for reconstruction in Gaza. The armed conflict in Gaza, which lasted almost two months in the summer of 2014, resulted in around 20,000 housing units being destroyed or uninhabitable, and around 80,000 were damaged. Over 100,000 people are still homeless as a result of the crisis (November 2014). The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) alone is currently housing 32,000 refugees in 18 schools. Given the high number of internally displaced persons, the severe overcrowding of existing accommodation facilities and the high demand for adequate accommodation, health care, basic education and everyday goods, UNRWA is reaching its financial limits. The additional FC funds will be used to create housing for around 500 Palestinian refugee families (approx. 2,750 individuals) and to pay temporary rental subsidies for around 3,200 Palestinian refugee families (approx. 17,400 individuals).