Infrastructure and Camp Improvement

What gave rise to the idea of camp development?

• Over the last six decades, urban improvement and community development in refugee camps saw no or very little planning and participation of the camp residents. Camps developed from temporary tent cities to hyper-congested urban sprawls characterized by extreme poverty, rapid population growth and overcrowding.

• Recent surveys, most notable by the University of Geneva (IUED), have shown that living conditions has clearly deteriorated and that camp residents were increasingly suffering hardship due to their physical and socio-economic environment.

Will the Department of Infrastructure and Camp Improvement contribute towards making the camps permanent?

• No. At the Geneva Conference, all stakeholders, including UNRWA, the Arab League, the host countries and Palestinian organisations agreed that the time has come to improve refugee’s living conditions based on the assumption that ‘living with dignity’ is a human right.

• Any improvements to the camp do not pre-empt or preclude any political decision regarding the refugee’s right to return. As the participatory approach is the major driving force in identifying the needs, no improvements will be undertaken without the communities’ consent.

What steps have been undertaken since the Geneva Conference?

• The Infrastructure and Camp Improvement programme was started at UNRWA’s headquarters in Amman, Jordan in 2007.

• To launch this new programme, a European Commission-funded pilot project was initiated in three West Bank Camps (Deheisheh, Amari and Fawwar) in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart. The project examined the spatial, physical and socio-economic conditions of camp residents in order to better understand how refugees use the space, their social networks, institutions and coping strategies.

• UNRWA then piloted the implementation of the community-driven planning of Fawwar camp near Hebron in the West Bank. The process allowed residents to work out their own planning vision, including the use of public places, better access and infrastructure, for example.

• As a follow-up to the first pilot project, funding was received from the German Ministry for Cooperation (BMZ) to implement this new approach in Deheisheh camp (Wets Bank) Talbiyeh Camp (Jordan), Neirab Camp (Syria) and Nahr-el-Bared camp (Lebanon).

What are some examples of concrete changes on the ground?

• In Fawwar camp, UNRWA is upgrading a public square for use by the residents as a safe playground and for wedding celebrations, as well as improving the roads leading to this space.

• In Neirab Camp, UNRWA upgraded sub-standard housing following a design worked out jointly by UNRWA and the camp residents, as well as building a public space, again following a participatory design.

• In Nahr El Bared Camp, the European Commission has funded the establishment of the assessment and planning unit for the camp’s reconstruction. This unit successfully guided the camp residents in the participatory process to develop the Master Plan for the reconstruction of the camp that now has the full ownership of the community.