The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

The Millennium Development Goals
UNRWA is committed to the Millennium Development Goals. The fourth
goal aims to reduce child and infant mortality by two-thirds of its 1990
rate by 2015. Infant and child mortality among Palestinian refugees is
declining steadily, because of close to 100% vaccination coverage, a
tight network of surveillance and control of communicable diseases. As
the Palestinian refugees’ life expectancy has increased to about seventythree,
the demography has changed. About 50% of the refugees are
still under eighteen years of age, but there is also a growing elderly pop -
ulation. Thus, an increasing number of refugees find themselves in the
least active phases of life. Generalized poverty and unemployment aggravate
the economic challenge presented to families by these devel -
opments.
Promoting long and healthy lives in Gaza
As a result of years of socio-economic decline, conflict and closure, the
health sector across the Gaza Strip has suffered from a lack of adequate
physical infrastructure, insufficient training opportunities, overstretched
facilities and frequent interruption of services due to power cuts. At the
same time, the health of the population is increasingly at risk. Food insecurity
and rising levels of poverty have meant that most of the population
do not receive their daily caloric requirements, while over 90% of
the water in Gaza has been deemed unfit for human consumption.
Through twenty health centres across the Gaza Strip, UNRWA offers
comprehensive primary health care to cover 1.1 million Palestinian refugees
from birth through to active aging. Since 2007, the Agency has promoted
excellence in its health care to improve the quality of health care
services provided to refugees. In recent years, the Agency has prioritized
improving psycho-social support to a population in need and raising
aware ness and acceptance of family planning.
Quality health services
Despite the Agency’s impressive achievements in health care, there has
over the past few years been a sharp rise in the number of visits to health
clinics. The Agency is addressing this by focusing on such areas as im-
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