Executive Summary
This report presents the results of a needs assessment in the Palestinian gatherings of Lebanon funded by European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) and conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Premiere Urgence (PU).
The objective of the assessment was to identify the urgent housing, water and sanitation needs in the Palestinian gatherings of Lebanon.
PU and NRC also took the opportunity to have a more accurate understanding of the demographics of the gatherings, something that previously has not been covered to any degree of accuracy.
There are 12 official UNRWA camps for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon which accommodate the majority of the population. However, refugees also live outside of these official camps in what are often called "gatherings." There are no official statistics regarding Palestinian refugee populations living outside of the official camps. UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinians does not have a mandate to provide shelter or water and sanitation assistance in such areas.
There are 42 gatherings in Lebanon that match the definition of a gathering as introduced in the 2003 Fafo1 report.
For security reasons mainly, three gatherings were not assessed, leaving the final number of gatherings included in this assessment at 39.
- In Saida region, 11 gatherings were identified and nine assessed.
- In North Lebanon, 7 gatherings were identified and six assessed.
- In Bekaa, 7 gatherings were identified and assessed.
- In Tyre region, 12 gatherings were identified and assessed.
- In Beirut-Mount Lebanon, 5 gatherings were identified and assessed.
The assessment lasted 5 months from February to June 2009 with the majority of information compiled from surveys conducted by teams of trained investigators from NRC and PU. In addition door-to-door surveys and complementary information regarding expressed needs and land ownership were gathered through focus group discussions with the Popular Committees and specific population groups (women, men and young people).