MAP joins forces with UNRWA to improve Maternal & Child Health among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
Addressing the dire need among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, MAP has donated a stock of essential medical supplies to bridge an urgent gap in UNRWA’s provisions for Maternal and Child Health (MCH). The donation was a rapid emergency response to a profound shortage in vital items - a shortage likely to have a seriously adverse impact on maternal and child health among the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
MAP first heard about the problem from expectant and new mothers who were enrolled on our own MCH project and were failing to comply with maternal and reproductive health recommendations, particularly over family planning, birth spacing and diet. MAP discussed the issue with UNRWA, the largest provider of free health services to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who confirmed that an unexpected disruption in the supply chain had caused essential MCH supplies to fall to zero stock, asked for MAP’s support resolving this.
Collaboration between MAP and UNRWA on Maternal & Child Health services began in 2008 with the launch of MAP’s MCH project. Since then, MAP has been working alongside UNRWA to ensure that we complement rather than duplicate services in a context where the refugees’ ever-increasing needs far exceed the available resources and services.
MAP initiated its MCH project after the 2007 Nahr el Bared War caused the displacement of more than 30,000 people, most of whom ended up living in dire conditions in shipping containers, garages and unfinished buildings. Pregnant women and newborns were among the most vulnerable and the most affected by the overwhelming harsh conditions. MAP therefore chose to launch a project focussing on maternal and child health among this community in Lebanon. In the years that followed, the project was extended to cover two other densely populated camps where the vulnerabilities of new and expectant mothers were equally alarming.
To ensure that our work is as effective as possible, MAP signed a memorandum of understanding with UNRWA to join our efforts and achieve our common goals improving Maternal & Child Health. Through this collaboration MAP succeeded in bridging important gaps in UNRWA’s service provisions, resulting from the pressures of the refugees’ compelling needs on the Agency’s already-overstretched services.
MAP’s Maternal & Child Health programme has compensated for UNRWA’s very short consultation times by providing routine home visits from skilled midwives and nurses to pregnant and nursing mothers. The home-visits, lasting between 30 minutes and one hour, allow sufficient time for nursing care, health education, and psychosocial support.
MAP’s other contributions to UNRWA over our 6 years of collaboration include training midwives and nurses, and printing health education materials relating to pregnancy, nutrition, family planning, and infant care. MAP has also covered some of the costs of printing the MCH handbook, and donated equipment, supplies, and medications to cover shortages.
The success and effectiveness of this collaboration has encouraged MAP and UNRWA to combine our efforts in other areas; for example, contributing to the cost of life-saving surgeries for Palestinian refugees from Syria, and setting up ‘child friendly spaces’ at UNRWA clinics where recreational and psychosocial support activities are conducted. In this way we can work together to maximise our impact and ensure that Palestinian refugees receive as much support as possible.