R E F U G E E S

Deir El-Balah Refugee Camp

With a population of 42,703 Deir El-Balah Camp is one of the smallest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps. It is located on the Mediterranean coast in the central part of the Gaza Strip, west of the town by the same name. The name means "Monastary of the Dates," a reference to the abundant date palm groves in the area. Tents provided temporary shelter to the camp’s original 9,000 refugees. These were replaced by mud brick shelters and then, in the early 1960s, by cement block structures. Most of the original refugees were from villages in central and southern Palestine.

Population:

  • Today, it is population is 41,382 people (31 December 2008). Among them 20,753 are in the camp and 20,629 are living outside the camp.

  • The camp house 3.86 per cent of Gaza’s total refugee population.

UNRWA Education Programme:

  • UNRWA operates nine schools in five school buildings in the camp, six elementary and three preparatory. Four schools are run on a double shift basis.

  • Enrollments in the current academic year 2008/2009 totals 9042

  • The total number of class sections is 244 among them 166 classes in the elementary schools and 78 classes in the preparatory schools

  • The total number of teachers is 325, 186 female teachers and 139 male teachers

UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme:

  • A total of 1081 families (4722 people) residing in the camp are eligible for relief assistance under the Social Safety Net (SSN) programme.

  • The number of families classified as living in abject poverty and entitled to receive A Family Income Supplement is 427. There 3,237 people classified as living in abject poverty.

  • There is one distribution centre in the camp shared with Deir Al Balah Camp.

  • 127 shelters are being reconstructed under the SSN programme. Among them 72 are in the camp and 55 are out the camp.

  • The number of SSNP shelters that need to be repaired is 64 among them 51 are in the camp and 13 are out the camp

  • As part of its social services programme, UNRWA sponsoring one Women’s Program Center in the camp.

UNRWA Microfinance Programme:

  • Through its Small-scale Enterprise Credit Product, UNRWA has extended loans with a combined value of US$ 33,900.00 to five borrowers residing in the camp, among them manufacturers of furniture, cosmetics and shampoo and a carpenter.

  • Through its Solidarity Group Lending Product, which makes credit available to women using a group-guarantee mechanism, the Agency has made loans totaling US$ 2,102,068.00 to 3,027 women from Deir al-Balah.

  • Through its Micro-enterprise credit Product it has made US$ 673,437.00 in 806 loans available to owners of micro-enterprises.

  • Through its Consumer-Lending Product, the Agency has issued 39 loans valued at US$ 38,800.00

  • Through its Housing Loan product the Microfinance Department has issued 7 loans valued at US$ 38,000.00.

UNRWA Health Programme:

  • The Agency’s health centre in the camp was reconstructed in June 1993.

  • It is staffed by 43 health care workers assigned to a morning shift.

  • It provides outpatient, dental, maternal-child health, family planning clinics as well as a laboratory and pharmacy.

  • In 2008, an average of 17,091 consultations is held there each month.

UNRWA Emergency Programme:

  • The number of beneficiaries’ coupons/families is 9,843. And the number of individual beneficiaries is 48,253.

  • The number of staff members in Deir El-Balah Distribution Center is 13.

  • The number of staff members in the Emergency Office is 7

  • The number of Job Creation Programme staff in JCP Office is 3

UNRWA Environmental Health:

The Sanitation Office staffed by 15 employees, who take care of daily collection of refuse, cleaning of roads and alleys, transporting the refuse from the camp to municipal landfill sites and rodents and insects control, monitoring water supply through chemical and bacteriological testing, and operating petrol water pumps to pump storm water from flooded areas during the rainy season. This refugee camp is served with sanitary sewerage facilities.

UNRWA Engineering & Construction Services Department:

There are four maintenance offices in the camp that offer maintenance works for all UNRWA installations.