KALANDIA REFUGEE CAMP

The Kalandia camp was established in 1949 on .353 square kilometres of land, 11 kilometers north of Jerusalem. The main Jerusalem-Ramallah road runs through the camp. The camp’s original residents came from 52 villages in the Lydd, Ramleh, Haifa, Jerusalem and Hebron areas. Like other West Bank campus, it was established on land UNRWA leased from the government of Jordan.

The Israeli authorities consider this area as part of Greater Jerusalem, and the camp was thus excluded from the redeployment phase in 1995. Kalandia camp remains under Israeli control today.

All shelters are connected to public water and electricity infrastructure. Most units are also connected to a sewerage system that was only designed for liquid waste and is thus unsuitable for refugees’ needs. Since people often make the connection to the sewerage system themselves, it often leaks. The Jerusalem Water Company replaced the network without coordinating with UNRWA in 2007, thus destroying paved roads and worsening camp conditions overall. The shelters lack venalation.

Registered Refugees

• Total: 10,981 (December 2007)
• Average family size: 5.1
• Poverty rate: 17.4%; 9.5% in absolute poverty
• Unemployment rate: 18.1%
• Average monthly income: NIS 1,305
• Average Age: 23.2
• Demographic Profile

UNRWA Education Programme

• Schools: 4 single-sex elementary/preparatory schools
• Pupils: 1870

UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme

• Food distribution centre: 1
• Social Safety Net (SSN) Programme beneficiaries: 232 families
• Only one garbage dumpster is in the camp, used by 60-70% of refugees, including butchers and shopkeepers. Other residents dispose of their trash in plastic bags along the roads. A contractor picks up garbage and disposes of it in a canyon 100 metres from the camp.
• 1 shelter affected by Israeli army incursions into the camp. UNRWA provided assistance in its reconstruction.

UNRWA Health Programme

• UNRWA health centre: 1, with 2,019 active family files
• 1 physiotherapy unit
• Other health centres: 5, all private, including 2 dental clinics; 1 additional laboratory and 1 pharmacy

UNRWA Emergency Programme

• · 2,311 families receiving emergency food and cash assistance

Community Services

• 1 Community based Rehabilitation Centre

• 1 youth activity centre

• 1 children’s center

• 1 health center

• 1 Camp cooperative society

• 3 kindergartens

• 1 women’s programme centre

• 2 mosques

• 1 library

• 1 playground

• 1 football field

• 2 basketball/volleyball courts

• 2 theatres

• 6 wedding/solidarity halls

• Several local and international NGOs are active in the camp.