UPDATE FROM GAZA

Mahmoud is project coordinator for Norwegian People's Aid and it was a delight to finally meet in Gaza. As most you know, it is very hard to get out because of the occupation and blockade. Today he was one of the speakers about refugees.

It's a huge number of refugees in Gaza. The population is 1.8 millions and 1,26 og them are refugees.  Palestinian refugees are not covered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). UNRWA is funded by voluntary donations from member countries and has been under-funded for several years. The deficit for 2015 at 110 million USD.
Over half a million Palestinians were forced to flee from their homes during the war last summer. 

The humanitarian situation is becoming worse. The war against Gaza in 2014 was very brutal in terms of both the number of fatalities and injuries and with regard to material damage. 19 000 private homes were damaged and of these 12,000  destroyed completely to rubble, around 100,000 homeless. Not a single home that was completely destroyed have been rebuilt, only 2,000 homes with minor damage has been repaired.

11 schools and universities were completely destroyed and 253 damaged. The devastation affecting 559,000 pupils and students. 81 hospitals and clinics were destroyed. Government Buildings, Gaza's only power plant, mosques, factories, farmland and greenhouses have suffered the same fate. 35,000 meters of pipelines were damaged or destroyed. 20,000 people still have no access to water and sewage network. 90 million liters of sewage flows right out the sea every day. Electricity is only available part of the day.

The blockade has put a stop for reconstruction of Gaza from the outset. UNRWA estimates that it will take 17 years to reconstruct the damages from 2014. The blockade is the main cause of the delay, but some of the delays are caused by the split between The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank (PA) and Hamas in Gaza. 

Many of UN schools in Gaza have been filled by refugees, but this summer, some moved home to the ruins,,others have moved in with relatives and others have rented housing and has received guarantee to cover two months' rent of UNRWA. Schools were made ready to start school this autumn.
But the war's consequences does not stop when the bombs stop falling. The war last summer has meant that UNRWA hard-pressed budgets have been scraped. UN agency warned that if they did not get more fundings,  schools had shut down. 240,000 children would face closed doors.
Just before starting school, parents were notified that schools would  open after the holidays as normal, but the pupils  would increase to 50 pupils per class with one teacher in each class, and the number of teachers in total would be reduced. Understandably, this is a horror scenario for the pupils, parents and teachers. The kids are traumatized by the war (and wars before this) and many have behavioral problems and difficulties to concentrate, the quality of learning will dramatically reduce in overcrowded classrooms, and teachers who lose their jobs will go straight to an economic crisis that affects the whole family. Unemployment in Gaza is at 43 percent, and the ability to get other work is minimal.

Teachers and administrative staff in UNRWA therefore went on strike, and the kids could not start school on August 24 as expected.  However at last some good news. It has come some more funding, the strike was over yesterday.  UNRWA has put the plans on hold, 

p.s. Facts Figures are taken from UNRWA website.