TALBIEH REFUGEE CAMP

Talbieh camp was one of the six "emergency" camps set up in 1968 for 5,000 Palestine refugees and displaced persons who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Unlike the other camps in Jordan, Talbieh's inhabitants were mainly displaced persons.

Talbieh was set up on an area of about 130,000 square metres, 35 km south of Amman. Tents were donated by the Iranian Red Lion and Sun Society, who later replaced them with concrete shelters.

The Agency provides education, health and relief and social services through 12 installations operated by 120 UNRWA staff.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• There are 9,000 inhabitants, of whom 6,107 are registered refugees;

• UNRWA runs 4 schools for 4,222 pupils in 2006/2007, with a teaching staff of 68;

• The Agency's health centre is run by 1 doctor, 2/6 weekly dentist, 1/6 weekly Gynecologist, 9 nurses and assistants provide health care for about 135 patients daily;

• 95 families receive assistance through the Agency's special hardship case programme;

• The women's programme centre is run by a women's committee with financial and technical support from UNRWA; About 2,500 women benefit from the centre every year. The women's committee also runs a kindergarten which provides day care for 150 children.

• The camp's community rehabilitation centre provides day care facilities for about 227 refugees with disabilities and is run by the local community with financial and technical support from UNRWA.

There are also two sewing centres in Talbieh camp; one run by the Near East Council of Churches and the other by the Jordanian Family Care Society. The Government of Jordan runs a girls' secondary school in the camp.