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EU Ambassador visits EU projects for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
The Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Lebanon, Ambassador Patrick Laurent, visited on Friday 27th April 2007, school and medical structures managed by UNRWA, in order to take note of the projects financed by the European Union targeting the Palestinian refugees.
The Head of the Delegation, accompanied by the Director of UNRWA in Lebanon, Mr. Richard Cook, has mainly met the managers of the most recent programme relative to the education sector modernisation (€ 15 million) and intended for the improvement of the quality of teaching in the 87 schools of UNRWA. This programme aims at facilitating the Palestinian refugees' access to employment and at guaranteeing better living conditions. The Head of the Delegation also visited clinics run by UNRWA, kindergartens managed by Palestinian NGOs as well as infrastructures recently renovated thanks to European financing.
The European Union is the major donor to UNRWA, while contributing annually to the UN agency general budget (€ 66 million in 2007). In Lebanon, almost € 80 million have been allocated since 2000 for humanitarian projects concerning food security, sanitation, education, health, psychological support and human rights. A part of these funds is managed by ECHO, the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission.
Following this visit, the Head of the Delegation declared: "I am impressed by the efforts made by UNRWA and the other active actors in the camps, in a very complex working context. The European Commission has always provided its support to the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon under precarious conditions. Our efforts have, nevertheless, limits, and the Commission underlines the importance of facilitating access to employment. Moreover, the registration of about 2 or 3 thousand unregistered Palestinians by the Lebanese authorities remains a matter of key importance."
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