Core Program, Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees, Gaza

The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) is a regional ecumenical organization and part of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) that was set up in the early 1950s to help Palestinian refugees with their newly acquired status following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The Department set up branches in five different regions: Gaza, Jerusalem and West Bank, Galilee in Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, with the clear mandate of working with the refugees, the poor, and the dispossessed.

Ongoing political problems reflect themselves sharply on the economic prospects and other life chances of Palestinians in all areas of operation of DSPR. With the latest stage of the occupation of Palestine by Israel passing three years, the costs are piling up alarmingly quickly.

Two-thousand-six-hundred-eighty Palestinians have died during the new intifada, and approximately 2,500 (including some 500 children) have been permanently disabled. Some $300 million in physical damage has been done, and closures, job losses, and other disruptions have led to a loss of between $3.2 and $10 billion, and have brought the unemployment rates in the West Bank to 48 percent and Gaza to 67 percent.

And now, the new wall being built by Israel is threatening to further consolidate the dispossession of the Palestinians. DSPR is particularly active in Gaza, where the need is greatest. The little that the DSPR offers in terms of health, education and vocational training, community infrastructure, water cisterns, and agricultural roads, as well as the other advocacy programs and activities, continues to be in great demand.

The services of the DSPR aim at enabling people to better organize their lives so that they can live with dignity in spite of the various difficulties and constraints that seek to inhibit them from "normal" living.

The following population groups are supported through the work of DSPR’s five area committees:

Over 70,000 Palestinians benefit from the health clinics in DSPR areas of operation, particularly in Gaza and Jordan;
Close to 500 young trainees benefit from the Vocational Training Centers and programs of DSPR in Gaza, Lebanon, and Jordan. Training is done in subjects such as carpentry, metal and aluminum works, secretarial studies, English, dressmaking, hairdressing, literacy, knitting, embroidery, and others;
Hundreds of participants in the different service areas of DSPR benefit from workshops and training sessions on matters pertaining to women's issues, youth, the disabled, environment, and other relevant topics;
Construction of water cisterns and agricultural road services that annually benefit scores of families and communities;
Training and self-help projects in Gaza, Lebanon, and Jordan that touch the lives of at least a hundred women directly as well as over 600 members of their families;
Kindergarten for refugee women in Lebanon that serves up to 40 families each year;
Community infrastructure activities help with building additional classrooms, hygienic utilities, community centers;
Refugee community centers that cater to youth and to their needs;
Hundreds of refugee children and their families benefit from a variety of activities geared to people with special needs or to children in the areas of operation of DSPR;
Loans for educational and business purposes that touch close to 800 applicants each year in Galilee (Israel); Jordan, West Bank, and Gaza.

The goal of this project is to provide core support to the administrative office of the DSPR, based in Jerusalem. The DSPR central office coordinates assistance programs.

Specific objectives of the DSPR's area units include: 1) to support the programming of the NECCCRW Gaza, including health, education, employment opportunities and vocational training, community development, and individual rehabilitation; 2) to support the programming of the ICC West Bank, including small-scale physical infrastructure, water cisterns, youth and children’s activities, and women’s development; 3) to support the programming of the ICCI Nazareth, including village development, employment opportunities, community development and organization, rural village development, civil society development, women’s development, assistance to abducted women, youth leadership, and vocational training; 4) to support the programming of the NECCCRW Jordan, including health education, educational opportunities, community rehabilitation, child-welfare and community development; 5) to support the programming of the JCC Lebanon, including women’s vocational training, computer courses, and agricultural training.

The Central Committee of DSPR is the board that reviews the progress done in all programs and activities and asks for indicators of success or lack of it in the various programs. The programs are continually assessed during two annual meetings of the Central Committee. In each of the program areas, the individual board also evaluates the projects and activities. All this information is communicated back to the staff of each of the areas for remedial and other pertinent action.

Support for Church World Service helps make this program possible.

Updated 10/18/04

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