On April 19, 2011 UNRWA handed over the newly reconstructed homes to the first group of families in the first package out of eight packages of Nahr el-Bared camp. More families will return in several groups over the coming weeks, UNRWA stated in a communiqué.
Completion of the first block (N2) of Nahr el Bared camp marks the beginning of what the Agency expects to be a continuous, phased return of the displaced families from NBC throughout 2011.
Currently, reconstruction works are underway in both Packages 1 and 2 out of the eight packages of NBC. In addition, three of the six school complexes contained within the UNRWA Compound will be completed, equipped and ready for use by the beginning of the 2011-2012 scholastic year. These three complexes will house four separate schools and a vocational training centre.
Lack of funding, however, remains the major constraint to the reconstruction of the camp, UNRWA said. As of April 2011, only 40 percent of the funding needed for NBC reconstruction have been met, and the Agency still requires around US$ 207m in order to fully-fund the remaining packages and 3 more school complexes.
Residents and NGOs had protested several times during the past two years against the slowliness of the reconstruction work that was launched in 2009. On May 15 2009, hundreds of residents of the destroyed Nahr el-Bared camp had protested to speed up the reconstruction process. They say that the laying of the foundation stone on March 9 of that same year, which took place in the presence of media and many officials, was "nothing but a lie".
In May 2007, violent fights between the militant group Fatah Al-Islam and the Lebanese Armed Forces resulted in the destruction of the Nahr el-Bared camp (NBC), and the displacement of 27,000 refugees.
Refugee homes, commercial properties, mosques, NGO and community facilities in the camp lay in ruins, as did the UNRWA compound, which housed schools, health clinics and relief offices. All roads and water and sewerage networks were badly damaged or destroyed. The refugees were forced to flee and abandon their homes, and some of them remain displaced to this day.
Currently, reconstruction works are underway in both Packages 1 and 2 out of the eight packages of NBC. In addition, three of the six school complexes contained within the UNRWA Compound will be completed, equipped and ready for use by the beginning of the 2011-2012 scholastic year. These three complexes will house four separate schools and a vocational training centre.
Lack of funding, however, remains the major constraint to the reconstruction of the camp, UNRWA said. As of April 2011, only 40 percent of the funding needed for NBC reconstruction have been met, and the Agency still requires around US$ 207m in order to fully-fund the remaining packages and 3 more school complexes.
Residents and NGOs had protested several times during the past two years against the slowliness of the reconstruction work that was launched in 2009. On May 15 2009, hundreds of residents of the destroyed Nahr el-Bared camp had protested to speed up the reconstruction process. They say that the laying of the foundation stone on March 9 of that same year, which took place in the presence of media and many officials, was "nothing but a lie".
In May 2007, violent fights between the militant group Fatah Al-Islam and the Lebanese Armed Forces resulted in the destruction of the Nahr el-Bared camp (NBC), and the displacement of 27,000 refugees.
Refugee homes, commercial properties, mosques, NGO and community facilities in the camp lay in ruins, as did the UNRWA compound, which housed schools, health clinics and relief offices. All roads and water and sewerage networks were badly damaged or destroyed. The refugees were forced to flee and abandon their homes, and some of them remain displaced to this day.
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