PALESTINE:Communities protected from military and settler violence in the Holy Land

WHY: Violence and demolition of villages through the Israeli occupation leads to insecurity for Palestinian communities.

WHAT: An Israeli legal team representing more than 10,000 villagers intervened and protected communities through their presence.

RESULTS: The village of Susya was saved from demolition, and other villagers did not face expulsion from their lands.

In 2015, NCA partner Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) contributed to a reduction in military and settler violence against Palestinian civilians in vulnerable communities. Although full reduction of violence is not feasible until there is an end to the military occupation, the work of RHR contributes to lessen the violence while holding the Israeli authorities responsible to the rule of law. RHR’s legal interventions continued to have an often life-changing impact on the daily lives of the residents of the South Hebron Hills, Bethlehem and Hebron areas. Palestinian farmers face increasing land appropriation threats from nearby settlements and outposts. They are routinely subjected to violence and intimidation tactics from fundamental settlers who attempt to take over their lands, and who enjoy a great degree of impunity from the Israeli authorities. In 2015, RHR’s legal team continued to represent 27 villages in the South Hebron Hills, each with a population of about 450 people and covering around 1,750 acres of land. This includes the village

of Susiya, where 340 men, women and children reside, all of whom were threatened by demolition and forced transfer during the summer of 2015. With RHR’s legal intervention and effective coordi-nation with other organisations providing protective presence, the expulsion was halted. Additionally, in the Bethlehem region, RHR’s legal team continues to provide legal counsel to approximately 30 families with privately owned agricultural land amounting to around 1,000 acres. RHR successfully brought 350 volunteers into the occupied territories to protect and assist Palestinian farmers during the 2015 autumn olive harvest. They also assisted close to 40 Palestinian villages in the Northern West Bank either through fieldwork or through liaising with the army during the olive harvest or other seasonal agricultural tasks. During the winter months of 2015, RHR donated 1,300 trees to the Palestinian villages of Yassuf, Kusara, Jalud, Sinjil, Awarta, Burin, Yanoun and Farrata.

SELECTED RESULTS

u CHAPTER 3.1

Susiya, Palestine. Photo: Leif Magne Helgesen/Norwegian Church Aid

46 GLOBAL REPORT ON RESULTS 2015

Palestinian communities protected from military and settler violence

NORWEGIAN CHURCH AIDPALESTINE - SELECTED RESULTS

Arik Ascherman from Rabbis for Human Rights and spokesperson for the village Nasser Nawaj’ah in Susiya. Photo: Kirsti Næss/Norwegian Church Aid

PALESTINE: Palestinians receive specialised cancer care

WHY: Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Palestine. Treatment services within the West Bank, particularly in Gaza, are weak with shortages of facilities for specialised oncology care.

WHAT: Developed the capacity of medical staff at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem; upgraded AVH facilities; advocated for Palestinians living in Gaza to access AVH’s services and facilitated their visits for treatment. An external evaluation of the project Strategic Cancer Care Initiative was conducted in 2015.

RESULTS: AVH has met the increasing medical needs of all Palestinians to access tertiary oncology services, and strengthened the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem.

NCA has cooperated with a number of church-based and public health institutions in Norway for the past seven years to support AVH to become a national cancer care centre for all Palestinians, including those living in Gaza. The goal of the joint project has been to be able to provide patients with compre-hensive cancer care including radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy. An emphasis of the project has also been on developing AVH’s institutional capacity, since it is a Palestinian hospital strategically located in East Jerusalem in a context dominated by the Israeli occupation.

2015 saw the improvement of the quality of the cancer care services for Palestinians. This came as a result of a training programme for AVH health staff, facilitated over many years by the Norwegian Radium Hospital (part of Oslo University Hospital) and Betanien University College. In 2014-2015 the programme was attended by 36 nurses and lab technicians, who are now better able to respond to the changing needs in cancer care and have developed their awareness of relevant research. The surgical oncology department was also renovated

in 2014-2015, and this upgrading of technology and infrastructure means that AVH can offer patients safe and well-equipped facilities for diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer patients.

Patients from Gaza and remote areas of the West Bank have been supported in accessing cancer care provided by AVH. This includes the almost 2,000 patients (60% women) who were assisted by the project’s Gaza cancer support and busing programme in 2014-2015. Without transportation services like this, Palestinians living in Gaza face major challenges in obtaining permits from the Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem and to stay for the entire period of treatment. Despite diffi-culties, AVH has managed to advocate for access and has covered accommodation costs for Gaza patients while in Jerusalem. AVH’s important role in facilitating the use of their hospital’s services by residents of Gaza, along with the hospital’s role in strengthening the Palestinian rights to East Jerusalem19 have been highlighted in the 2015 evaluation report as two significant results from the project.

u CHAPTER 3.5

DEVIATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNEDIn South Sudan, a change within the Health Pooled Fund saw NCA supported activities transferred to World Vision. This significantly reduced NCA’s engagement in direct service delivery. In Vietnam, activities focusing on the nexus between climate change, natural disasters and health have not progressed as much as expected since the start up in 2014. Strengthening local health clinics has been challenging due to lack of funds and constraints on NCA’s capacity. Despite this, the project has imple-mented activities under this programme including first-aid training for members of the Rapid Response Teams and the staff of Buddhist charity clinics.

An evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative project in Palestine identified a lack of preventive and early detection efforts, but documented a high degree of relevance for meeting medical needs of Palestinians. A further lesson from 2015 and the entire 2011-2015 strategic period is that mobilising faith leaders and making use of religious resources give results when it comes to challenging social, religious and cultural norms that uphold GBV and poor health conditions. NCA’s GBV and Reproductive Health programme in the new programme plan will build on these lessons learned and continue developing linkages and synergies.

19 Evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative (Phase I & II) Palestine, HERA, 2015.

86 GLOBAL REPORT ON RESULTS 2015

NORWEGIAN CHURCH AIDPALESTINE - SELECTED RESULTS

PALESTINE: Palestinians receive specialised cancer care

WHY: Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Palestine. Treatment services within the West Bank, particularly in Gaza, are weak with shortages of facilities for specialised oncology care.

WHAT: Developed the capacity of medical staff at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem; upgraded AVH facilities; advocated for Palestinians living in Gaza to access AVH’s services and facilitated their visits for treatment. An external evaluation of the project Strategic Cancer Care Initiative was conducted in 2015.

RESULTS: AVH has met the increasing medical needs of all Palestinians to access tertiary oncology services, and strengthened the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem.

NCA has cooperated with a number of church-based and public health institutions in Norway for the past seven years to support AVH to become a national cancer care centre for all Palestinians, including those living in Gaza. The goal of the joint project has been to be able to provide patients with compre-hensive cancer care including radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy. An emphasis of the project has also been on developing AVH’s institutional capacity, since it is a Palestinian hospital strategically located in East Jerusalem in a context dominated by the Israeli occupation.

2015 saw the improvement of the quality of the cancer care services for Palestinians. This came as a result of a training programme for AVH health staff, facilitated over many years by the Norwegian Radium Hospital (part of Oslo University Hospital) and Betanien University College. In 2014-2015 the programme was attended by 36 nurses and lab technicians, who are now better able to respond to the changing needs in cancer care and have developed their awareness of relevant research. The surgical oncology department was also renovated

in 2014-2015, and this upgrading of technology and infrastructure means that AVH can offer patients safe and well-equipped facilities for diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer patients.

Patients from Gaza and remote areas of the West Bank have been supported in accessing cancer care provided by AVH. This includes the almost 2,000 patients (60% women) who were assisted by the project’s Gaza cancer support and busing programme in 2014-2015. Without transportation services like this, Palestinians living in Gaza face major challenges in obtaining permits from the Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem and to stay for the entire period of treatment. Despite diffi-culties, AVH has managed to advocate for access and has covered accommodation costs for Gaza patients while in Jerusalem. AVH’s important role in facilitating the use of their hospital’s services by residents of Gaza, along with the hospital’s role in strengthening the Palestinian rights to East Jerusalem19 have been highlighted in the 2015 evaluation report as two significant results from the project.

u CHAPTER 3.5

DEVIATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNEDIn South Sudan, a change within the Health Pooled Fund saw NCA supported activities transferred to World Vision. This significantly reduced NCA’s engagement in direct service delivery. In Vietnam, activities focusing on the nexus between climate change, natural disasters and health have not progressed as much as expected since the start up in 2014. Strengthening local health clinics has been challenging due to lack of funds and constraints on NCA’s capacity. Despite this, the project has imple-mented activities under this programme including first-aid training for members of the Rapid Response Teams and the staff of Buddhist charity clinics.

An evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative project in Palestine identified a lack of preventive and early detection efforts, but documented a high degree of relevance for meeting medical needs of Palestinians. A further lesson from 2015 and the entire 2011-2015 strategic period is that mobilising faith leaders and making use of religious resources give results when it comes to challenging social, religious and cultural norms that uphold GBV and poor health conditions. NCA’s GBV and Reproductive Health programme in the new programme plan will build on these lessons learned and continue developing linkages and synergies.

19 Evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative (Phase I & II) Palestine, HERA, 2015.

86 GLOBAL REPORT ON RESULTS 2015

Palestinians receive specialised cancer care

PALESTINE: Palestinians receive specialised cancer care

WHY: Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Palestine. Treatment services within the West Bank, particularly in Gaza, are weak with shortages of facilities for specialised oncology care.

WHAT: Developed the capacity of medical staff at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem; upgraded AVH facilities; advocated for Palestinians living in Gaza to access AVH’s services and facilitated their visits for treatment. An external evaluation of the project Strategic Cancer Care Initiative was conducted in 2015.

RESULTS: AVH has met the increasing medical needs of all Palestinians to access tertiary oncology services, and strengthened the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem.

NCA has cooperated with a number of church-based and public health institutions in Norway for the past seven years to support AVH to become a national cancer care centre for all Palestinians, including those living in Gaza. The goal of the joint project has been to be able to provide patients with compre-hensive cancer care including radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy. An emphasis of the project has also been on developing AVH’s institutional capacity, since it is a Palestinian hospital strategically located in East Jerusalem in a context dominated by the Israeli occupation.

2015 saw the improvement of the quality of the cancer care services for Palestinians. This came as a result of a training programme for AVH health staff, facilitated over many years by the Norwegian Radium Hospital (part of Oslo University Hospital) and Betanien University College. In 2014-2015 the programme was attended by 36 nurses and lab technicians, who are now better able to respond to the changing needs in cancer care and have developed their awareness of relevant research. The surgical oncology department was also renovated

in 2014-2015, and this upgrading of technology and infrastructure means that AVH can offer patients safe and well-equipped facilities for diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer patients.

Patients from Gaza and remote areas of the West Bank have been supported in accessing cancer care provided by AVH. This includes the almost 2,000 patients (60% women) who were assisted by the project’s Gaza cancer support and busing programme in 2014-2015. Without transportation services like this, Palestinians living in Gaza face major challenges in obtaining permits from the Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem and to stay for the entire period of treatment. Despite diffi-culties, AVH has managed to advocate for access and has covered accommodation costs for Gaza patients while in Jerusalem. AVH’s important role in facilitating the use of their hospital’s services by residents of Gaza, along with the hospital’s role in strengthening the Palestinian rights to East Jerusalem19 have been highlighted in the 2015 evaluation report as two significant results from the project.

u CHAPTER 3.5

DEVIATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNEDIn South Sudan, a change within the Health Pooled Fund saw NCA supported activities transferred to World Vision. This significantly reduced NCA’s engagement in direct service delivery. In Vietnam, activities focusing on the nexus between climate change, natural disasters and health have not progressed as much as expected since the start up in 2014. Strengthening local health clinics has been challenging due to lack of funds and constraints on NCA’s capacity. Despite this, the project has imple-mented activities under this programme including first-aid training for members of the Rapid Response Teams and the staff of Buddhist charity clinics.

An evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative project in Palestine identified a lack of preventive and early detection efforts, but documented a high degree of relevance for meeting medical needs of Palestinians. A further lesson from 2015 and the entire 2011-2015 strategic period is that mobilising faith leaders and making use of religious resources give results when it comes to challenging social, religious and cultural norms that uphold GBV and poor health conditions. NCA’s GBV and Reproductive Health programme in the new programme plan will build on these lessons learned and continue developing linkages and synergies.

19 Evaluation of the Strategic Cancer Care Initiative (Phase I & II) Palestine, HERA, 2015.

86 GLOBAL REPORT ON RESULTS 2015

Augusta Victoria Hospital.Photo: Heidi B.Bye/Norwegian Church Aid