Economic and Social Council

Transcription

1 United Nations E/ICEF/2014/P/L.7 Eonomi and Soial Counil Distr.: Limited 15 April 2014 Original: English For ation United Nations Children s Fund Exeutive Board Annual session June 2014 Item 6 (a) of the provisional agenda* Draft area programme doument** Palestinian hildren and women in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republi and the State of Palestine Summary The draft area programme doument (APD) is presented to the Exeutive Board for disussion and omments. The Exeutive Board is requested to approve the aggregate indiative budget of $8,800,000 from regular resoures, subjet to the availability of funds, and $18,423,000 in other resoures, subjet to the availability of speifi-purpose ontributions, for the period 2015 to * E/ICEF/2014/5. ** In aordane with Exeutive Board deision 2006/19, the present doument will be revised and posted on the UNICEF website, along with the results matrix, no later than six weeks after disussion of the APD at the 2014 annual session of the Exeutive Board. The revised APD will then be presented to the Exeutive Board for approval at the seond regular session of (E) * *

2 Basi data (2012 unless otherwise stated) State of Palestine Palestinians in Syrian Arab Republi (2006) Palestinians in Lebanon (2011) Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Jordan d Child population (millions, under 18 years, male/female) 1.0/ U5MR (per 1,000 live births) Underweight (%, moderate and severe) (male/female, urban/rural, poorest/rihest) 4 (2010) /10, 11/9, 10/12 Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, adjusted) 64 (2010) 46 Use of improved drinking water soures (%) 82 (2011) 73 Use of improved sanitation failities (%) 94 (2011) 97 One-year-olds immunized with DPT3 (%) 97 One-year-olds immunized against measles (%) 98 d /5,..,.. d 0.3/ Primary shool enrolment/attendane (%, net male/female) 90/90 (2011) 98/98 95/97 98/98 Survival rate to last primary grade (%, male/female) 100/99 (2011) 98/99 94/97 88/85 Adult HIV prevalene rate (%, male/female) HIV prevalene among pregnant women (%) Child labour (%, 5-14-year-olds, male/female) 7/4 (2010) 2/1 9/6.. Birth registration (%, under 5 years) (male/female, urban/rural, poorest/rihest) 99 (2010) 99/99, 99/99, 99/100 GNI per apita (US$).. a a b /99, 99/99, 99/ /99,.., More omprehensive ountry data on hildren and women as well as detailed methodologial notes on estimates an be found at a The immunization figures reported in the above table are inter-ageny estimates prepared by WHO/UNICEF. Estimates disaggregated by sex are available from survey data, as follows: DPT3, male (99%) and female (98%); measles, male (97%) and female (97%), from the Palestinian Family Health Survey, b Estimated to be lower-middle inome ($1,036 to $4,085). This estimate is not from the standard soure used aross ountry programme doument (CPD) basi data tables for this indiator, due to a lak of data availability for this population. Thus, this estimate may not be diretly ompara ble with others. d Data from the United Nations Relief and Works Ageny for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are used here in the absene of representative data for this population. Estimates in this olumn have not been verified and are not o mparable with other estimates presented in this or other CPD basi data tables, where estimates are representative of the respetive populations. e A birth registration estimate for Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Jordan is not available. A ording to the latest Demographi and Health Survey in Jordan (2012), the national level of birth registration is 99%, and the level in amp s is 100%. e 2/15

3 Summary of the situation of hildren and women 1. In the State of Palestine, 2.7 million people live in the West Bank and 1.7 million in Gaza. Nearly three fourths (74 per ent) of the total Palestinian population resides in urban areas, 17 per ent in rural areas and 9 per ent in refugee amps. 1 About 68 per ent of the population in Gaza reeives assistane from the United Nations Relief and Works Ageny for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), ompared to 30 per ent in the West Bank. 2 The number of long-term Palestinian refugees in the three host ountries is 1.9 million in Jordan (33 per e nt of the ountry s population), 460,000 in Lebanon and 500,000 in the Syrian Arab Republi. 3 The Palestinian population is overwhelmingly young, with 45 per ent below 18 years of age and more than 20 per ent adolesents aged years (with some ountry-level variations). 2. The Palestinian Authority has made progress towards ahievement of the Millennium Development Goals. However, the daily lives of hildren and their families are framed within the ontext of the Israeli oupation, and ontinue to be marked by poverty and food inseurity disparities, restritions on the movement of goods and people, and lak of ontrol over and aess to natural resoures. Reforms in reent years have onsiderably strengthened national apaities to provide a range of soial servies to Palestinians, but hallenges remain regarding quality and aess. The ability of the Palestinian Authority to provide overage for the people of Gaza, Area C of the West Bank, and East Jerusalem has been severely urtailed. 4 Women and hildren are most vulnerable to the effets of these hallenges. 3. Aording to UNRWA in the Syrian Arab Republi, 5 70 per ent of Palestinians have been displaed, with many living in shools and publi failities, and 440,000 requiring urgent humanitarian assistane as a result of the ongoing risis. Vaination overage for hildren under 5 years of age, espeially infants under age 2, has dropped in many distrits. Fewer than half of the 23 UNRWA health entres are still funtioning. Almost two thirds of the UNRWA shools (76 out of 118) are losed due to damage or inseurity or beause they are being used for shelter In Lebanon, the arrival of additional refugees is exaerbating the resoures of ommunities, and strething the servies supported by the Government of Lebanon and UNRWA. Palestinian refugees are mostly hosted by the poorest ommunities in Lebanon. The average age of those registered with UNRWA is 25, and 51 per ent are women, 26 per ent are shool-age hildren and 15 per ent are infants. 1 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistis (PCBS), press release on the eve of International Population Day 11/07/ UNRWA figures, 2012: 3 UNDP, Human Development Report, 2013, The rise of the South. Please note that in the Syrian Arab Republi the situation of Palestinian populations is hanging rapidly. 4 Offie of the United Nations Speial Coordinator for the Middle East Peae Proess, State Building in the Oupied Palestinian Territory: Opportunities for reovery and development hallenges, downloaded 11 Marh Syria Humanitarian Assistane Response Plan, January-Deember ap/appeals/syria-humanitarian-assistane-response-plan-sharp-january-deember /15

4 5. In the State of Palestine, levels of poverty remain high (39 per ent in Gaza and 18 per ent in the West Bank lives below the national poverty line). 7 The proportion of food-inseure households inreased nationally from 25 per ent in 2011 to 34 per ent in 2012 due to the eonomi slowdown Children are exposed to various forms of violene. In the State of Palestine, 27 per ent of hildren aged 2-14 years were subjeted to severe physial punishment at home. 9 Some 83 per ent of Palestinian hildren in Lebanon are subjeted to violent disipline at home. Around 52 per ent of hildren in Jordan are exposed to both physial and verbal violene at shool In the State of Palestine, 40 per ent of women aged were married before age The rate of early marriage among Palestinian girls in Lebanon is 19 per ent 12 and in the Syrian Arab Republi is 22 per ent. 13 Among Palestinian refugees in Jordan, 20 per ent of females in amps marry by age 16, and 41 per ent marry between the ages of 17 and 20. Compliane with international juvenile justie standards is progressing at a varying pae, with legal reforms underway in Jordan and the State of Palestine. Children with disabilities have little aess to health, eduation and other development and welfare servies. 8. Progress towards ahieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 has been good in the State of Palestine. The under-five mortality rate in 2012 was reorded as 23 per 1,000 live births and the infant mortality rate as 20 per 1,000 live births in 2011, equating to a redution of almost half sine 1990, when under-five mortality was 43 per 1,000 and infant mortality was 36 per 1, The neonatal mortality rate 15 aounted for 61 per ent of overall infant mortality. Aidents are the leading ause of death for hildren aged 1-4 years, aounting for 24 per ent of deaths. 9. In the State of Palestine, the stunting rate is 12 per ent for boys and 10 per ent for girls. 16 Rates of exlusive breastfeeding for hildren aged 0-6 months remain low, at 17 per ent among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and 29 per ent in the State of Palestine and in the Syrian Arab Republi, 17 and 23 per ent in Jordan. 18 Aording to one survey, 41 per ent of the Palestinian refugee hildren aged 6-12 years from the Syrian Arab Republi now in Lebanon reported having onsumed only one meal the previous day PCBS, Palestine in figures 2012, Marh PCBS, World Food Programme, Food and Agriulture Organization of the United Nations and UNRWA, Soio-eonomi and food seurity survey, West Bank and Gaza, Palestine, PCBS, Palestinian family survey, The survey defines violent disipline as psyhologial aggression or physial punishment. 10 UNICEF Jordan, Violene against hildren study, PCBS, Palestinian family survey, MICS 4, Palestinians in Lebanon, Palestinians Living in Syria multiple indiator luster survey, United Nations Inter-ageny Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Data inluding 1990 baseline from: Levels and Trends in Child Mortality (2011 data), 2012 Report, IGME. 15 PCBS, Palestinian family survey, Ibid. 17 Data for Syrian Arab Republi is dated 2006, and progress on indiators has been negatively affeted by the onflit. 18 Jordan Demographi and Health Survey, UNRWA/World Food Programme survey in Lebanon, Otober /15

5 10. Aess to safe, suffiient and affordable water ontinues to pose a major hallenge for hildren and their families in the State of Palestine. In Gaza, only 14 per ent of households have aess to safe drinking water and only a quarter of wastewater is treated. Due to the deterioration and ontamination of the oastal aquifer, desalination of sea water has beome the only viable option for safe drinking water supply for Gaza. The ability of the Palestinian Authority to transfer water to areas faing shortages is severely urtailed. 11. The high value plaed on eduation over several deades has resulted in high net enrolment and attendane rates and gender parity. Basi eduation is free and ompulsory for Palestinian refugees in Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republi, and they have aess to both publi and UNRWA shools. However, the urrent risis has led to stagnating enrolment rates and high dropout rates in the Syrian Arab Republi and among the reent Palestinian refugee populations in Jordan and Lebanon. In the Syrian Arab Republi, 47,000 Palestinian students of 66,000 were enrolled in 2013/ Young people drop out of shool in the upper primary and lower seondary grades. In the State of Palestine 16 per ent of students who enter grade 1 drop out before reahing grade 10. The reasons for dropping out are related both to the shool environment and to family soioeonomi situations. More boys than girls drop out at seondary and tertiary levels, but girls higher eduational ahievement does not always translate into better employment options. 13. In the State of Palestine, the national early hildhood development (ECD) strategy was endorsed by the Ministry of Eduation and Higher Eduation in Preshool lasses are being institutionalized in the formal eduation system. In Lebanon, aording to the 2011 multiple indiator luster survey (MICS), only 57 per ent of Palestinian refugee hildren aged months were attending preshool. Key results and lessons learned from previous ooperation, (a) Key results ahieved 14. New or enhaned poliies and legislation. The Palestinian Authority has integrated the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child into its relevant legal frameworks, inluding the amended Child Law, whih was enated in 2013, providing additional protetion for hildren. 21 With UNICEF support the juvenile justie strategi framework, the poliy of non-violene and disipline in shools, the soial protetion setor strategy and the national ECD strategy were finalized and adopted in Working with the Palestinian Authority and ivil soiety partners, UNICEF provided support for apaity development, tehnial advie, resoure mobilization and poliy advoay. 20 UNRWA Syria Regional Crisis Response January to Deember 2014, information downloaded 30 Marh United Nations, Report of the Seretary-General, Assistane to the Palestinian people (A/68/76-E/2013/65). 5/15

6 15. Evidene and knowledge. One of the main ahievements of the area programme was the prodution and dissemination of studies and surveys, inluding on equity and disparities, to failitate better targeting of servies and poliies. The 2010 Palestinian Family Survey was finalized and the MICS5 was initiated with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistis PCBS. The national survey on mironutrients and anaemia, the first survey of suh magnitude to be onduted by the Ministry of Health, was ompleted in The study will provide a baseline for mironutrient defiienies and will inform Ministry of Health strategi plans as well as ommuniation strategies for behaviour hange. In Jordan, the Department of Statistis, in ollaboration with UNICEF and other partners, ompleted the 2012 Population and Family Health Survey, whih provides omprehensive hild and maternal health data, inluding on Palestinians. In Lebanon, a MICS was onduted in amps and gatherings in 2011 and launhed in Deember UNICEF and partners have generated data on the situation of Palestinian hildren in detention. The study on Palestinian Children in Israeli Military Detention was released in early 2013 following a proess of verifiation and engagement with multiple stakeholders. The study reviewed the treatment of Palestinian hildren from the West Bank in Israeli military detention. It offered pratial measures to uphold hild rights and support improvement of justie and protetion of hildren aording to international standards. The subsequent engagement and dialogue on the issue resulted in the deision of the Government of Israel to pilot test the use of summonses in lieu of night arrests, starting from February A study on hildren in detention in the Palestinian Authority justie system has also reently been ompleted. Ations in this area will be dealt with as part of ongoing UNICEF work supporting justie for hildren. In Jordan, a youth national survey, whih also overed Palestinian youth, helped inform the national youth strategy ation plan. 17. Systems strengthening. Tehnial support was offered to assist governments and partners to build apaities of servie providers to deliver high-quality servies aligned with international standards. In the State of Palestine, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Health in developing and adopting the first national marketing ode for breast-milk substitutes, whih will be the main regulatory tool to ontrol the loal and private market for these substitutes. In addition, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Soial Affairs to strengthen the 13 multidisiplinary hild protetion networks and to develop a national protool for the referral of hildren in need of protetion. In Jordan, UNICEF supported the introdution of U-CAN (UNICEF Change Agents Network), an innovative tool to promote the partiipation and ivi engagement of youth. U-CAN and other youth organizations were key to the suess of the November 2013 immunization ampaign, whih reahed over 1 million hildren. Furthermore, a hild protetion ase management servie system was operationalized in the Marka amp and repliated in other amps. 18. Humanitarian ation. In the aftermath of the hostilities that esalated in Gaza in late 2012, UNICEF provided medial supplies and non-food items, supported the repairs of water supply networks, rehabilitated damaged shools, and arried out a mine risk eduation ampaign. Teams were deployed to provide psyhosoial support to hildren impated by the hostilities in Gaza, and identified through the UNICEF-led rapid psyhosoial assessment. UNICEF ontinued to lead the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and eduation lusters and the Child Protetion 6/15

7 Working Group. In efforts are being made to build the apaity of loal authorities in these areas. 19. In Lebanon, UNRWA and UNICEF provided primary and seondary health servies to more than 330,000 Palestinian refugees (280,000 from Lebanon and 50,000 from the Syrian Arab Republi) through 27 UNRWA health entres. As part of the winter response in Lebanon, UNICEF provided approximately 250,400 Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian hildren with winter lothing, lothing vouhers, supplies and heating in In the Syrian Arab Republi, UNICEF and partners reahed over 19,500 adolesents through UNRWA adolesent-friendly spaes in Palestinian amps and UNRWA shool lubs. (b) Lessons learned 20. The quality of programmes improved as a result of efforts invested in expanding partnerships and in improving oordination in the identifiation of gaps, establishment of priorities, and defining indiators to assess progress. 21. The evaluation of the adolesent development and partiipation (ADAP) programme 22 highlighted the benefits in helping adolesents beome more empowered and to at as agents of positive soial hange. As demonstrated in the State of Palestine, it is important to tailor programmati approahes and strategies to the different needs of adolesent boys and girls. Furthermore, work with adolesents has to be omplemented by efforts to promote an environment that is reeptive to and enouraging of partiipation by young people. The area programme, (a) Summary budget table (In thousands of United States dollars) Programme omponent Regular resoures Other resoures Total Eduation State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan Child protetion State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan UNICEF Middle East and North Afria Regional Offie, The Right to Partiipation Adolesents: Agents of positive hange, /15

8 (In thousands of United States dollars) Programme omponent Regular resoures Other resoures Total Adolesent development and partiipation State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan Health and nutrition State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan Water, sanitation and hygiene State of Palestine Soial poliy and evidene State of Palestine Cross-setoral State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan Total State of Palestine Lebanon Syrian Arab Republi Jordan (b) Preparation proess 22. The APD has been developed following onsultations with the Palestinian Authority and key ounterparts based on their development priorities and strategies. The APD was informed by reommendations from programme evaluations and studies that were important to guide strategy development and refinement of priorities. In Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republi, onsultations with UNRWA and national partners were held and agreement on priorities was reahed, taking into aount the analysis and priorities outlined in the Syria Humanitarian Assistane Response Plan and the Regional Response Plan. In the State of Palestine, a range of evaluations and studies and a omprehensive situation analysis were ritial inputs to the establishment of priorities. 23. UNRWA is a key partner for UNICEF in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republi. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with UNRWA to support reently displaed Palestinian refugees from the Syrian Arab Republi as well as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The memorandum will further strengthen 8/15

9 oordination of interventions and the monitoring of results. In Jordan, the ollaboration with UNRWA is foused on a range of programmati initiatives in Palestinian refugee amps at both strategi and servie delivery levels as well as improved monitoring systems. () Programme omponents, results and strategies 24. The overall goal of the area programme is to improve aess to basi servies, the protetive environment and soial inlusion for Palestinian boys, girls and women. This will be ahieved through (a) apaity development of national and ivil soiety partners, with a fous on legislation and soial servie systems strengthening; (b) researh that ontributes to knowledge and evidene informing soial poliy and soial protetion for hildren; () interventions that diretly address barriers to equity for vulnerable and marginalized ommunities; and (d) support to both sustain and enourage resiliene to address vulnerabilities. 25. Soial inlusion will be advaned in the key setors of eduation, hild protetion and adolesent development and partiipation. Speifi interventions in the health and nutrition setor will also be arried out. In the State of Palestine, WASH and soial poliy will also be addressed as priority areas. 26. This two-year programme will build on ongoing suesses and lessons learned. It will also respond to the speifi vulnerabilities of Palestinian refugee hildren affeted by the onflit in the Syrian Arab Republi, Lebanon and Jordan, with an emphasis on aess to basi servies. The programme design has taken into onsideration both development and humanitarian needs, with a speial fous on the rights of the most vulnerable and exluded hildren. Eduation Outome 1: Vulnerable hildren benefit from improved aess to learning opportunities from preshool to ompletion of basi eduation. 27. The eduation omponent will fous on boys and girls from early hildhood (4 to 6 years of age) through adolesene (up to 18 years). Throughout the area, the programme will fous on early hildhood learning and aess to basi eduation and learning opportunities. In the State of Palestine and Jordan, it will provide tehnial support to inlude hildren with disabilities in eduation and promote a violene - free environment. 28. UNICEF will support these initiatives by introduing innovative methods and tools for remedial eduation and aess to basi formal eduation. It will provide high-level tehnial expertise to improve inlusive eduation, in partiular targeting the most vulnerable hildren and those with disabilities. Gender equality will be promoted by taking into aount gender-speifi issues in the design of interventions. 29. In the State of Palestine, this omponent will fous on strengthening apaity. Support to teahers and shool administrators will ensure that preshools and primary shools welome hildren with disabilities. It will also provide guidane for the implementation of the poliy of non-violene and disipline in shools. Within the ontext of the reently adopted ECD strategy partners will be monitored and trained in order to inrease the servies available for preshool-aged hildren (4-6 years). In addition, apaities will be strengthened to plan and monitor quality 9/15

10 and inlusive eduation and to implement the shool management information system and improve oordination. 30. In the Syrian Arab Republi, UNICEF and partners will jointly roll out a selflearning programme, whih aims to inrease aess to basi eduation for the most vulnerable hildren. Tehnial support will be provided to inrease aess to ommunity-based ECD servies for Palestinian hildren in the ountry. 31. In Lebanon, UNICEF will support aess to quality ECD servies through provision of supplies and apaity-building of the staff of non-governmental partners who provide the servies. Remedial lasses for hildren will be offered at UNRWA shools and at entres supported by other partners. UNICEF will also support the skills building of staff who supervise remedial learning for Palestinian refugee boys and girls in grades 1 to In Jordan, with tehnial assistane from UNICEF, UNRWA and the Ministry of Eduation will implement an ation plan for providing quality and inlusive eduation in UNRWA ommunity-based rehabilitation entres and shools. The plan will use a disability-related situation analysis in all offiial and unoffiial amps as a basis for designing and implementing appropriate and effetive responses by different stakeholders. To address high dropout rates, partiularly of girls, UNICEF will also support violene-free shools in amps and ondut behavioural hange ampaigns on prevention of early marriage and orporal punishment. Child protetion Outome 2: Girls and boys inreasingly benefit from improved hild protetion systems for prevention of and response to violene, abuse, exploitation and neglet. 33. This omponent overs the entire geographi area of the programme. UNICEF will work with national and subnational partners to ensure that more hildren are proteted from violene through improved apaity of partners and servie providers to detet, prevent and respond to ats of violene against hildren. It will also engage with ommunities to raise their understanding of how to prevent violene. Prevention of violene against hildren will require strong ross-setoral ollaboration, involving authorities and experts on eduation, health and adolesene. For example, ollaboration between hild protetion and health offiials and their ministries will be needed, where a poliy and subsystem are to be developed to detet, refer and report ases of violene and abuse against hildren. 34. A fous in the State of Palestine programme will be on developing national apaities to provide hild protetion servies. This inludes strengthening psyhosoial servies, building on good praties already being implemented. UNICEF will support implementation of the amended Child Law and inrease apaities to legislate, plan and operationalize oordinated approahes to hild protetion. UNICEF will also support implementation of the Juvenile Protetion Law to protet hildren in onflit with the law. Violations of hild rights will require ongoing support to multiple partners to doument grave violations against hildren and to protet them from armed onflit. 35. In Lebanon, UNICEF will strengthen response and preventive interventions in hild protetion and gender-based violene servies. Child protetion systems in the amps will be mapped and ase management and referral systems established. Capaity-building support will be extended to UNRWA and Palestinian 10/15

11 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to manage and refer ases involving hild protetion abuses and gender-based violene. UNICEF will involve a range of ommunity members in providing psyhosoial support servies. 36. In Jordan, the programme will support students, teahers, prinipals, parents and members of the wider ommunity, inluding in Palestinian refugee amps, to transform their shools to beome more inlusive, safer and free of violene. This will involve a programme of apaity development. Partiular attention will be given to hanging soial norms on violene against hildren in shools through a ommuniation for behaviour hange ampaign. It will build on lessons from the Ma An ampaign against shool violene. The programme will ontinue to strengthen the apaity of UNRWA to assess and respond to vulnerable Palestinians needs for protetion by repliating the suessful model for multidisiplinary ase management teams, whih was previously implemented in the Marka amp. Speial attention will be extended for protetion and rehabilitation of abused hildren, hildren deprived of parental are and hildren in onflit with the law. 37. In the Syrian Arab Republi, a two-pronged approah will be adopted involving both prevention and response to the most pressing protetion needs by raising awareness and building apaity. UNICEF will provide psyhosoial support to Palestinian hildren by supporting the establishment of fixed and mobil e hildfriendly spaes and training young ommunity volunteers in psyhosoial support. For prevention, a hild protetion awareness ampaign, whih will also reah out to Palestinian hildren and ommunities, will address gender-based violene, hild reruitment and prevention of family separation, among other issues. In partnership with UNRWA, the mine risk eduation module will be introdued in UNRWA shools and other shools attended by Palestinian hildren. In addition to UNRWA, UNICEF will partner with the Palestinian Red Cresent and other Palestinian NGOs. Adolesent development and partiipation Outome 3: Adolesent girls and boys are enabled to ontribute to ommunity and national development and make a produtive transition to adulthood. 38. This programme omponent, whih overs the entire geographi area of the area programme, aims to further develop poliies and partnerships that reognize the importane of onstrutive engagement with adolesents (primarily aged 10 to 19 years). An important aspet of the programme is to help them aquire skills and ompetenies for positive partiipation in their soieties and to provide opportunities that support the transition to adulthood. 39. UNICEF will ontribute to promoting youth and adolesent empowerment and partiipation through innovative means of ommuniation and apaity-building. The latter will inlude support to youth-led initiatives and those aimed at building entrepreneurial and life skills. In Jordan and State of Palestine, a strong ommuniation for development effort will be undertaken to promote greater aeptane of and engagement by poliymakers with young people. 40. In the State of Palestine, adolesent programming will build on the ahievements from the previous yle. It will shift the fous to provide adolesents with opportunities to be empowered to make deisions that will influene their transition to adulthood. The programme will, in a gender-sensitive manner, use innovative approahes inluding soial media and the arts to promote healthy 11/15

12 lifestyles and learning opportunities. Partner apaities will be developed to implement the ation plan for national standards for adolesent and youth entres. 41. In the Syrian Arab Republi, the apaities of partners, inluding loal NGOs, will be enhaned to provide lifeskills programming to adolesents and promote their partiipation in developing and delivering ommunity initiatives. 42. In Lebanon, UNICEF will make speial efforts to inrease engagement of the most marginalized and vulnerable adolesents. Together with UNRWA, UNICEF will sale up and institutionalize suessful initiatives in the amps, and provide opportunities for volunteerism and internships. 43. In Jordan, the programme will offer expanded ivi engagement and leadership opportunities to Palestinian youth and adolesents in the amps, espeially to the most marginalized and vulnerable. The programme will roll out the lifeskills manual in adolesent-friendly spaes, UNRWA shools and ommunity-based organizations. Ongoing support for networking among adolesents will be expanded through the U-CAN network, in whih adolesent hange agents will partiipate in planning and evaluating programme ativities through soial media and other means. Health and nutrition Outome 4: Women and hildren, espeially the most vulnerable and marginalized, inreasingly use improved maternal, hild health and nutrition servies, and apply improved health praties. 44. Aross the area programme, this omponent will aim to inrease provision of and aess to maternal and hild health servies and promotion of appropriate infant and young hild feeding praties that inorporate breastfeeding, as well as healthy nutrition, espeially in early hildhood. 45. UNICEF will support apaity development interventions targeting health professionals from ministries of health and/or NGOs, UNRWA and other loal partners. It will also aid ommuniation for development initiatives aross a range of ommunities and refugee amps and among displaed populations in Jordan, Lebanon, the State of Palestine and the Syrian Arab Republi. 46. In the State of Palestine, a fous on ommuniation for development will be applied to strengthen home-based are as part of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and neonatal health are servies established during the previous yle. Behavioural hange and ommuniation interventions targeting vulnerable ommunities and marginalized areas will be used to address non-ommuniable diseases and injury and aident prevention. Tehnial assistane will be refoused to support systems and apaities to ensure that supply hains are funtioning. The objetive is to omplete the final phase of handing over the prourement proesses for the national Expanded Programme on Immunization. 47. In the Syrian Arab Republi, the fous will be on improving aess to health servies to internally displaed Palestinian families living in Syrian host ommunities and to refugees living in amps, by building the apaity of loal partners inluding NGOs and promoting servie delivery. Preventing malnutrition among young hildren and raising families awareness of the importane of breastfeeding and proper omplementary feeding for young infants will be a key emphasis. 12/15

13 48. In Lebanon, UNICEF will strengthen the apaity of UNRWA, as the primary provider of health servies to Palestinian refugees, to address the bottleneks in improving the quality and overage of immunization and nutrition servies to hildren and women living in the amps. This will be done by expanding provision of vaines and immunization supplies, vitamin A and oral rehydration salts. To address the ritial issue of anaemia and malnutrition among newborns, UNICEF will support the UNRWA supplementary feeding programme for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. It will also organize information sessions for pregnant and latating Palestinian women about breastfeeding, hild feeding and are praties, and anaemia. 49. In Jordan, emphasis will be given to targeted apaity-building of health providers based in refugee amps, emphasizing the integrated management of hildhood illness for hildren under 5 years of age. Capaity development will inlude establishment of guidelines for infant and young hild feeding and maternal and hild health. Pregnant women and mothers will improve their knowledge of the benefits of breastfeeding and learn about proper hild feeding praties and better parenting approahes. WASH Outome 5: Children and their families inreasingly benefit from aess to safe and affordable water and sanitation and adopt improved hygiene praties. 50. Implemented only in the State of Palestine, this programme omponent aims to support national apaities in planning, budgeting and managing the equitable delivery of safe water and sanitation systems. This will be done through three areas. First, ontinued support to ahieve the optimal effetiveness of the Palestinian Water Authority s water information system for water and sanitation management. Humanitarian oordination funtions will ontinue to be transitioned to national authorities for both sudden- and slow-onset rises involving aess to safe water and sanitation. UNICEF will ontinue to advoate for environmentally sustainable approahes for inreasing aess to water. 51. Seond, the suessful WASH in Shools initiative will be extended into a seond phase. Evidene on suessful praties and lessons learned on WASH in shools will be obtained from a planned evaluation of the projet and from a study on knowledge, attitudes and praties study on WASH in Shools. 52. Third, the large-sale sea water desalination projet in Gaza, supported by UNICEF and partners, will omplete phase one and potentially expand into phase two. Behavioural hange ommuniation and hygiene awareness will ontinue to be integrated into all infrastruture ativities. Soial poliy and evidene Outome 6: Children inreasingly benefit from an improved poliy environment based on researh and data. 53. This programme omponent will be implemented only in the State of Palestine, with a fous on building the apaities of authorities to legislate, plan and budget for inlusive soial poliy and soial protetion for hildren. UNICEF will ontinue its role as tehnial advisor to the Soial Protetion Setor Working Group as well as the lead ageny for the UNDAF soial protetion theme group. Through 13/15

14 ooperation with the Ministry of Soial Affairs, key donors and implementing agenies, this omponent will engage in and influene poliy dialogue and advoay related to UNICEF programming interventions. 54. The strong partnership with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistis will ontinue to be pivotal. The fous will be on inreasing the apaity of the Palestinian Authority to manage researh and analysis related to priority issues affeting hildren. Cross-setoral 55. Despite the small geographi area overed by the area programme, the omplexities of the politial and operational environment, in terms of the ongoing oupation and regional politial instability, require strong ross-setoral support. Heightened fous on seurity is ruial in a ontext in whih major and minor onflits threaten the safety of staff and assets. Cross-setoral osts also over supply management, routine administration, finane and human resoures and support for information and ommuniation tehnologies. Relationship to national priorities and the UNDAF 56. The APD is aligned with the first UNDAF for the State of Palestine ( ). The Palestinian National Development Plan is a key referene, as is the 2013 situation analysis prepared by the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development and UNICEF. The outomes inluded in the relevant UNDAFs enompass several priorities of the UNICEF Strategi Plan, : health, eduation, nutrition, WASH and protetion of hildren and women. The area programme has been informed by key priorities outlined in relevant setor strategies and programme working groups. 57. Aross the area programme and espeially in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republi, the situation requires a dual fous on development and humanitarian approahes to meet immediate needs. The 2014 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan and the Regional Response Plan were important referenes in this ontext. Relationship to international priorities 58. Programme priorities are informed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Disrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Millennium Development Goals and Millennium Delaration. Where relevant they are also informed by Seurity Counil resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009) and 1998 (2011) on hildren affeted by onflit. Major partnerships 59. UNICEF maintains strong partnerships with the Palestinian Authority and national authorities, and with UNRWA aross the area programme. Both the United Nations ountry team and the humanitarian ountry team in the State of Palestine are forums for further promoting partnerships in pursuit of important results. Other key stakeholders inlude Red Cresent soieties and a range of NGOs and ivil soiety and faith-based organizations. 14/15

15 Monitoring, evaluation and programme management 60. Eah ountry offie will monitor the performane of its omponent of the area programme by developing monitoring and evaluation plans foused on measuring progress towards the ahievement of its outomes. Joint studies and evaluations will be onduted as appropriate. In Lebanon a number of innovative monitoring to ols have been developed for failitating monitoring and reporting in the ontext of humanitarian interventions, and these an be adapted to the development ontext for use by other ountry offies and partners. These tools inlude online partner traking and monitoring and data olletion using tablets and smartphones to enhane rapid data entry and analysis for quik ation. 61. Considering programmati synergies aross the area, there are opportunities for loser ollaboration among the four offies, ranging from joint efforts on ommuniation for development ampaign materials to resoure mobilization and fundraising efforts. The APD also offers a ommon platform for reporting and onduting joint ommuniation and advoay efforts. 15/15