Bloggers Unite For Refugees Day

The Feminist Peace Network is pleased to be participating in Bloggers Unite For Refugees Day.  This topic is particularly important to us because women and children tend to make up the majority of refugees both as a result of natural disasters and because of war and conflict.  Blog Catalog, which is organizing this event has a list of resources, one in particular that focuses on women and children, the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, much good information on their site and we are pleased to learn about their important work.

As we have noted on this blog before, one of the particular problems faced by women and children is the increased vulnerability to violence and abuse, often in the form of rape. The Lebanon Daily Star reports, women and children who have fled from fighting between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam are at risk of violence and abuse:

“Women and children who fled fighting at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp are at risk of violence and abuse from within their community, but United Nations agencies are failing to coordinate a response to the problem, a meeting heard on Thursday. The huge unemployment, poverty, and frustration caused by the exodus of people from the camp following fighting between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam, a militant Islamist group, has left the displaced population of the camp at greater risk of violence, both at home and in schools.

But the protection measures taken by UN agencies are not adequate to tackle the problem. The UN does not have the mechanisms in place to deal with the violence, both physical and sexual, against women and children within the displaced community, officials attending a co-ordination meeting in Tripoli said.

“We haven’t defined our protection mandate,” Emily David, from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said. “There is a gap with protection in UNWRA, and we are trying to fill that gap.”

She said that the organization had designated three main target areas in which to improve protection mechanisms across Lebanon, with the North of the country being used to pilot the schemes.

The first area to target is employment, David said, describing the issue as a “fundamental priority.” Many businesses and jobs were lost during the 14 weeks of fighting, which left more than 400 people dead. The resulting unemployment has caused major frustration and stress among the displaced population, which can manifest itself in domestic violence.

The second area that UNRWA is seeking to focus on is the welfare of children and youth who were forced to leave the camp. They are some of the most vulnerable members of the refugee population, along with the elderly and the disabled, delegates heard.

UNRWA is also seeking to improve its performance in dealing with the psychological scars that many refugees carry after the trauma of last summer’s fighting, as this burden can also cause violent behavior.”