Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) recently started providing winter relief to poor Palestinian families in Lebanon, with a total budget of $160,000 (QR582,000).
The initiative is part of the annual Warm Winter programme that helps many of the poorest families in needy
countries.
Funded by QRCS and implemented in co-operation with the Irshad & Islah Islamic Beneficent Association in Lebanon, the project involves the distribution of 10,000 jackets to students at UNRWA schools at a cost of $120,000 and 31,000 litres of heating oil (100 litres per family) at a cost of $31,000, in addition to logistical and administrative expenses.
Distribution has already begun in three schools of Beqaa as well as in four schools and one kindergarten in Tyre.
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon lack the basic needs and the situation becomes even more grim during the winter. “Every day, Palestinian deaths are reported due to the severe conditions inside camps, especially in the poorest and coldest areas. They are desperate for warmth and protection against freezing to death or frostbite amputation,” according to a statement.
Lebanon hosts more than 500,000 Palestinians, who face tough economic, environmental, health and social conditions, along with unemployment, poor living conditions and inadequate housing to withstand the rain and snow, the statement notes.
The aim of the project is to reduce the suffering of destitute Palestinians by securing heating in a way that preserves their dignity, alleviate the pain of patients and old/disabled people, promote solidarity and compassion and psychologically support the victims.
A large number of Palestinian refugee camps and communities are targeted in Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, Baalbek and Beqaa.
The beneficiaries were selected in co-ordination with the community leaders and Irshad & Islah local representatives.
The criteria of selection included Palestinian students at UNRWA schools, families in cold areas, people with disabilities and special needs, old men and women with no breadwinner, patients, and families with many children.
This project is part of QRCS’s Warm Winter campaign for 2015-2016, which is providing QR11 million worth of winter aid for more than 200,000 beneficiaries in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon (Syrian and Palestinian refugees), Jordan (Syrian refugees) and Kurdistan (Syrian refugees).