OPT Monthly Update (April 2010) incl. food security survey of herding communities – UNICEF Newsletter

April Highlights

Overview

The Oslo II Accords signed in 1995 established the Palestinian Authority (PA) and divided the West Bank into three administrative areas known as "A", "B", and "C". Though the interim arrangements were to lead to a gradual transfer of power to the PA, Area C, which makes up 60 per cent of the West Bank, remains under Israeli security and administrative control.

The dwellings of approximately 150,000 Palestinians are either partially or totally built in this area. The construction of the barrier, expansion of Israeli settlements, and displacement of Palestinian communities over the past decade, combined with drought, have forced herding communities in Area C to rely on bought fodder and tankered water. Poverty and disease rates among the Palestinian herder and Bedouin families of this area are higher than in the rest of the West Bank, especially among children.

Although the PA is responsible for service provision, difficulties in obtaining permits from the Israeli Civil Administration for the construction of schools, health clinics or water and sanitation infrastructure, along with severe restrictions on access and movement around Area C, significantly impedes its ability to deliver services.

Throughout the survey, data from herding households in Area C is compared with the West Bank average as a whole, in order to illustrate the extent of exclusion and vulnerability.

Area C herding communities survey findings

Snapshot of poverty: Average monthly incomes among the herding communities in Area C have shrunk to NIS 1,024 (US$277), less than half the average West Bank monthly income of NIS 2,554 (US$690).

Sixty-five per cent of the households surveyed live in caves or makeshift dwellings made of concrete cinder blocks, metal sheeting or cardboard. Twenty-five per  cent live in tents. By comparison, 96 per cent of all West Bank Palestinians live in houses or apartments.

Forty-one per cent of household surveyed have no electricity compared to just one per cent of all families in the West Bank without electricity.

 At most, 68 per cent have a kitchen and of these only 20 per cent have running water compared to 97 per cent of West Bank households which have kitchens and piped water.

While nearly all West Bank families have a bathroom with piped water, at most 66 per cent of Area C households surveyed have a bathroom and of these only 20 per cent have running water. Between 59 and 70 per cent have a toilet and of these, only 20 per cent have running water.

Food security

Seventy-nine per cent of Area C herding families are food insecure, meaning they live on less than US$4.70 per adult equivalent per day. This is more than three times the proportion of the overall West Bank Palestinian population (25 per cent) who are food insecure and higher than in Gaza (61 per cent).

Families who live in the “Seam Zone”, caught between Israel’s barrier to their east and the 1949 Green Armistice Line to the west, are the most vulnerable with 88.5 per cent classified as food insecure.

Bedouin and Palestinian herders in Area C spend 62 per cent of their household budget on food.

Food insecure families said their main problem was difficulty accessing water (73 per cent).

Nutrition

Forty-three per cent of families rely on bread, rice, potatoes, sugar and oil to sustain them each day. They eat vegetables four days in seven and animal products are rarely consumed. Just 10 per cent of West Bank families overall eat like this.

Area C children are three to five times more likely to be malnourished. Six per cent aged between six and 59 months are wasted, 15 per cent are underweight and 28.5 per cent are stunted compared to West Bank averages of two per cent, three per cent, and eight per cent respectively.

Thirty eight per cent of children aged six to 17 months are stunted. WHO guidelines warn that stunting rates between 20 and 40 per cent are serious and levels above 40 per cent are critical.

Area C children are three to four times more likely to contract diseases related to poor nutrition and poor hygiene. Forty-four per cent of children aged 6-59 months had suffered diarrhoea compared to 11.5 per cent across the West Bank.

Further, 48 per cent of Area C children had, at least once, contracted an acute respiratory infection (ARI), one of the five leading causes of deaths among young children in oPt.

Ninety three per cent of Area C children do not eat the recommended five meals per day. Forty one per cent eat just two meals a day.

The introduction of complementary fluids to almost half (48.8 per cent) of infants 0-6 months old instead of exclusive breast-feeding as recommended by WHO and UNICEF, coupled with challenges in accessing safe water, pose immediate and long-term health risks for children. Almost half of mothers, 46.2 per cent, said they stopped breast-feeding because they were pregnant.

About 13 per cent of infants receive fluids and foods in their first three months and the introduction of complementary foods escalates sharply after that. Only 42.6 per cent of the infants received complementary foods (fluids and soft foods) at the appropriate age of 6-8 months.

Coping mechanisms

Herder and Bedouin families in Area C are accustomed to enduring hardship. Seventy-two per cent and 63 per cent respectively said that when their child had diarrhoea or coughing, hospital services were not needed.

Between 94 and 97 per cent said hospitalisation was unnecessary when someone broke a bone. Seventy-eight to 80 per cent said follow-up health care was unnecessary a week after contracting a chronic disease.

Up to 63 per cent said vaccination was unnecessary, 70 to 85 per cent said maternal health check-ups weren't needed and 85 to 96 per cent said access to health services for family planning was also unnecessary.

Yet many households are now reporting they don¡¦t have enough money or food. A massive 93 per cent of surveyed households in Area C are in debt. Eighty-two per cent rely on credit of which 60 per cent use it to buy food compared to 47 per cent of West Bank families. Nearly a third has sold productive assets to fund food purchases.

Parents say they are cutting rations to give children more. Eighty-one per cent report spending less on food; 94 per cent are buying poorer quality food; 86 per cent are cutting the quantity they are buying; and 93 per cent have cut their consumption of meat.

Forty per cent had not paid utility bills (water and electricity) for six months. More than 50 per cent of households said they had cut health and education spending so they can eat.

UNICEF 2010 Nutrition Programme

UNICEF works with government, national and international agencies, and civil society to support equitable access to nutrition services, and targeted assistance to vulnerable groups and those with special needs. Programmes focus on an integrated package of low-cost, low-technology and high impact interventions such as micronutrient supplementation, and the promotion of improved breast-feeding and hygiene practices within households.

 In oPt, UNICEF supports MoH efforts to scale up capacity and coverage through technical assistance at household, community and health facility levels. During 2010, UNICEF will:

Marginal Lives

Five-year-old Amamah Tourkman lives in a tent without electricity or running water in the remote rocky West Bank mountains bordering the Jordan Valley. Her mother says that she hasn’t been vaccinated, and neither have her seven siblings, because the clinic is too far and there’s no public transportation. Next year, when she turns six, she will walk the 12 kilometres to and from the nearest school.

A Long Walk to School

Students walking home from school near Wadi Shobash, in Jenin. Learning conditions are an increasingly urgent priority for the marginalized and vulnerable communities living in Area C. Many school structures, including tents, tin shacks and crude cement buildings, fall far short of basic safety and hygiene standards, with little protection from either the heat or the cold.

Rebuilding Lives in Gaza

Around 250 children and 50 caregivers come to the Ajyal Al-Mostaqbal family centre in Rafah each day for psychosocial support, learning and recreational activities in a protective environment. For many of them, it has been a long road to recovery since “Cast Lead”. The family centre is one of 20 set up across Gaza by UNICEF and Save the Children Sweden to provide a broad range of support to children and caregivers. To see a photoessay of a day inside the Ajyal Al Mostaqbal family centre visit http://www.unicef.org/oPt/6086.html

End Notes

± PCBS uses two measures of poverty: Deep Poverty (absolute) and Poverty.

^*The Deep Poverty line reflects a budget for food, clothing and housing only. For a family of six the deep poverty line in 2006 was NIS 1,837. The Poverty line adds other necessities including health care, education, transportation, personal care and housekeeping supplies; raising the line to NIS 2,300 for a family of 6. Thus, the percentage of households in Poverty includes those in deep poverty.