HV640.5.P36D54

- Chapter 1: introduction - Chapter 2: population - Chapter 3: health and health services - Chapter 4: education - Chapter 5: employment and working conditions - Chapter 6: household economies - Chapter 7: housing and environment - Chapter 8: social networks - Chapter 9: social participation - Chapter 10: putting the pieces together

The project aimed at mapping living conditions among Palestinian refugees living in camps in Lebanon or in areas locally called "gatherings". The Palestinian Authority wanted such information in order to obtain a more complete picture of the conditions under which the refugees were living in the various host countries in the Middle East. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) in Damascus was Fafo's partner on the project and conducted the interviews in the field. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) financed the project. The MFA was interested in the study as Norway provides substantial support to the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon both through the UN organization UNRWA and through non-governmental organizations in the country. The study was based on data from interviews with 3,620 households, which covered 19,200 persons. The sample was constructed to be representative for all the camps in Lebanon as well as for the clusters of Palestinian refugee families living in gatherings. The interviews were conducted in January and February 1999. The project's principal report, Difficult Past, Uncertain Future, has been translated to Arabic by Dr. Ali Zaghal at the Refugees, Displaced Persons & Forced Migration Studies Center at Yarmouk University, Jordan with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project is completed.