Literacy: 92.4% UNDP Report 2006 (Adult rate, age 15 and older)
Under 5 Mortality Rate (per 1000 live births): 23 (UNICEF, 2005)
Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesSituation Overview2008 marks the 40th anniversary of occupation and uncertainty for people in the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some families have been refugees since 1948. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza currently face conditions of crippling poverty. Human rights violations are a serious concern, as is the lack of basic infrastructure such as sewerage systems and access to clean water. In 2002 Israel began building a 721 kilometre wall to separate the West Bank and Israel. The wall restricts Palestinian movement, trade, water access and employment opportunities. The internationally-proposed 'Road Map for Peace' of 2003 has failed, despite huge efforts on all sides. In the 2006 elections the Islamic militant group Hamas won 76 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament. Many international donor governments suspended direct aid to the Hamas-led government which has led to deepened economic problems and resulted in, for example, the inability to pay public servant salaries. |
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Our work in the occupied Palestinian TerritoriesAustcare has been coordinating and supporting humanitarian aid and development projects in the occupied Palestinian Territories since 1980. Our current Neighbourhood Corners project focuses on increasing the capacity of local community based organisations (CBOs) to implement development activities that respond to community needs. Austcare is also working with the CBOs to increase access by the community to essential services including health and education. Austcare is providing these CBOs (currently Bethlehem university and Asala Microfinance Institute) with small grants so they can deliver the program. This Neighbourhood Corner model of community development helps increase self-reliance of refugee and non-refugee women and youth in the West Bank by promoting their active participation in community affairs. Highlights- Austcare recently established seven Neighbourhood Corners, which have provided safe local spaces for after-school literacy and numeracy support sessions for school students. - 5,705 students attended after-school classes at the Neighbourhood Corner sites. This activity was one of the most popular since it responded to the needs of youth due to increasing problems in education. - 160 women have received loans (all of them for the first time) and have been able to start small businesses, including grocery stores and fruit and vegetable markets that serve local communities, which reduces the time spent waiting in long queues to pass checkpoints on the way to the shopping centre. - 114 women attended ‘How to Start Your Own Business’ workshops. - 319 CBO members participated in training in Lobbying and Advocacy, Institutional Management and Project Cycle Management. - 25 young women received training in aerobics instruction and are now conducting weekly aerobics classes with an average of 50 women in each class. This activity has had a huge impact on the quality of life of the women who participate, especially as women had previously not had access to these kinds of activities. - In February and April 2007, youth in the Jenin Refugee Camp (West Bank) participated in a program of creative writing and photography hosted by The Freedom Theatre. The program taught important values and life skills and helped the young people to express feelings of anger, fear and frustration in a non-violent way. The focus of the program was the production of a bi-lingual (Arabic and English) publication – an imaginative history of Jenin Refugee Camp. |
Rabea Mohammad Ahmad Hamyad
Rabea is one of hundreds of Palestinian children who has spent time in an Israeli prison. Now 21, she was imprisoned from the age of 15 to 20 by Israeli Authorities after attacking a soldier. Rabea participated in Austcare’s Youth Leadership Training program two months after she was released. “After the isolation and psychological and physical suffering I had experienced in an Israeli prison, this was an opportunity for me to merge back into society. The topics I most benefited from were the self reassurance, and communications training, which left a really big impact on how to deal with others. “This training helped us make a lot of our dreams come true, through courage in presentation and determination to achieve them.” |
