West Bank camps, disappointed with UNRWA, take coronavirus initiatives
A civil defence worker in protective gear disinfects the streets of the refugee camp of Aida, West Bank, 16 March 2020
Aziza Nofal reports in Al-Monitor:
Soon after a state of emergency was declared in the Palestinian territories March 5, an emergency committee was formed in the Balata camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. Young people, leaders and institutions operating in the camp started working to put together an emergency plan to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Ahmed Zawkan, a member of the emergency committee in Balata and member of the Executive Office of Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank, said that like in the Balata camp, residents of other camps in the West Bank used their available capacities to fight the virus themselves since the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is responsible for the camps, was not playing an active role.
The Balata camp committees submitted demands to UNRWA, including extending contracts of contractual cleaners, providing tools and supplies needed to disinfect the camps and extending work hours in clinics that serve refugees in camps and surrounding villages.
Zawkan added, “Ever since the state of emergency was announced, we contacted UNRWA and called for boosting the [capacities] of camps. They promised us to take some measures, but there was a 20-day delay.”
To deal with this slow response, internal committees were formed in each side of the camp to carry out cleaning operations, raise awareness among the inhabitants and coordinate with municipalities to empty garbage bins. The responsiveness of the Refugee Affairs Department of the PLO was helpful, as it expedited budget spending for service committees to move swiftly.
In the Jalazone camp in the central West Bank, the situation was not much different. Mohammad Safi, a member of the camp’s emergency committee, told Al-Monitor that the committee did not even make any demands to UNRWA or bank on its help. The committee was formed seven years ago to bridge the gap in UNRWA’s work after UNRWA’s budget and programs in the West Bank were reduced