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Press Release, UNRWA
The Electronic Intifada
Greeted by community representatives, the Head of the Middle
East Section at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
in Ottawa, Ms. Lise Filietrault arrived in Ein el-Tal camp on 6
December for a hand-over ceremony of 40 housing units to Palestine
refugee families who have been living in World War II Army barracks
in Neirab camp, Aleppo for nearly 56 years.
"Thanks to our donors and the strong support of the Syrian
Government, UNRWA can help the refugees in Neirab camp with better
accommodation and also raise the overall standard of living for the
Palestine refugee communities both in Ein el-Tal and in Neirab",
Director of UNRWA Affairs in Syria Panos Moumtzis, told the audience
which included the Director- General of the General Authority for
Palestinian Arab Refugees (GAPAR) Ali Mustafa, donor representative,
UNRWA staff and the Palestine refugee community.
The families, who started the final finishing works of their
new houses on a self-help basis, were presented with a symbolic
olive tree plant to mark their move to the new homes by Lise
Filietrault, Ali Mustafa, and Panos Moumtzis.
The 40 new shelters are part of the Neirab rehabilitation
project which addresses the problems of 1,300 families still living
in the Neirab barracks area. The project will directly and
indirectly improve the living conditions of over 20,000 Palestine
refugees.
UNRWA is managing the project in two phases, in close
collaboration with GAPAR, gradually moving families from Neirab camp
to Ein el-Tal before redesigning and rehabilitating Neirab. The
total project budget for the first phase is approximately US $7
million which does not include infrastructural contributions made by
the Syrian Government at about US $5 million.
"We are happy to be here today and see first hand the hard
work you have done", said Ms. Filietrault. CIDA is the largest donor
to the project's first phase with a total contribution of almost US
$5.4 million.
Ali Mustafa stressed that the project reflects the
cooperation among the Syrian Arab Republic, UNRWA and donor
countries to provide better services to Palestine refugees until a
just and durable solution is found to their plight, in accordance
with relevant UN resolutions.
UNRWA is a humanitarian relief and development agency
providing basic services - education, health, relief and social
services - to over 4.3 million registered Palestine refugees in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab
Republic. UNRWA also provides emergency relief in times of crisis
and operates a microfinance and microenterprise programme. In Syria,
the Agency provides assistance to over 430,000 Palestine refugees,
30,000 of whom live in the Aleppo area.
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