The CII was launched on 6 May 2006 to improve the quality of life and living conditions for the Palestinian refugees in the twelve Palestinian refugee’s camps across Lebanon. Upon the request of the Lebanese Prime Minister UNRWA presented the GoL with a Medium Term Plan on the needs of the refugee population and its most urgent unfunded projects. The Prime Minister, on behalf of the Lebanese Government, held a meeting with the representatives of the principal donor countries to raise funds for the UNRWA plan.
The LPDC and UNWRA have worked to find ways of responding to the needs of Palestinian refugees and to ensure the improvement of their living conditions. This involvement by the GoL in improving the living conditions of Palestinians is based on the principle that a life of dignity for Palestinian refugees is paramount. Furthermore, improved living conditions does not equate to permanent settlement of the refugees or “tawteen”. The most prominent of the LPDC-UNWRA initiatives has been the (Camp Improvement Initiative (CII).
The CII’s main objectives:
► Improve the physical conditions in the camps;
► Improve the capacity of the Palestinian NGOs and youth centres in the camps;
► Improve livelihoods opportunities for the Palestine refugees;
► Improve the health and education services provided by UNRWA;
► Improve UNRWA’s capacity to efficiently plan, implement, monitor and report projects.
First Donors’ Conference
Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora held a meeting for the Ambassadors to Lebanon on May 5, 2006 at the Grand Serail to develop ways to cooperate and to find funding for the CII projects. The meeting was attended by representatives from 25 donor states. During the meeting, Prime Minister Siniora reiterated the commitment of the Lebanese Government to improve the living conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon until their return to their homeland. He called on the international community to help implement the list of projects. The response from donors was positive and as a direct result UNRWA was able to obtain over $22 million in funds for CII projects, almost half of the originally requested $50 million. Some of the major donors include the European Commission, Denmark, the US and Italy. With these funds, UNRWA embarked upon an extensive program for promoting humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian camps and ensuring that the needs of the communities were met. This meeting represented the first initiative taken by the Lebanese Government to actively raise funds with UNRWA for the Palestinian refugee population. The CII and infrastructure projects under it are coordinated with the PLO and the various ministries concerned.
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