The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) trains youth volunteers to provide emergency care and food and medical deliveries when areas of the west Bank and Gaza Strip are placed under curfew by the Israeli Occupation Forces. Despite international laws offering protection to these emergency medical teams who should be provided freedom of movement to carry out their duties, the volunteers are often prevented from reaching patients, detained at checkpoints, arrested, beaten and in some situations they have been murdered by the soldiers.

Mission

UPMRC seeks to improve the overall physical, mental and social wellbeing of all Palestinians, regardless of racial, political, social, economic or religious status. Our comprehensive programmes focus on the needs of the most vulnerable members of Palestinian society; women, children and the poor in rural villages, refugee camps and urban centres. We pursue out mission of Quality Health for All in over 400 communities throughout Palestine. Our permanent health care facilities include 25 community health centres in towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip and 15 specialised centres including physiotherapy centres, an optometry centre, youth and community centres and medical equipment loan centres. At these locations and in mobile clinics throughout the country we conduct comprehensive Primary Health Care programmes including women’s health, child health, community-based rehabilitation, school health and speciality services. Our dedicated and professional staff include physicians, community health workers, nurses, midwives and other health professionals, many of whom volunteer their services. Our staff and many of their colleagues at other NGOs and in the Ministry of Health receive first-rate training in the practice of community-based Primary Health Care at our School of Community Health.

Vision

UPMRC follows the principles and practices of prevention, curative and promotional health sevices. Therefore, participation and involvement of local communities, as well as values of volunteering, are core value and cornerstones of each of our programmes. Our staff of physicians and community health workers focuses on health education, screening, awareness raising, and training as central components of quality health care provision. It is our belief that health is the entry point for community development and involves itself in all aspects of community development, especially by working with young people and supporting community institutions. Ultimately we seek to mobilize communities to take responsibility for their own development and empower individuals to take control over their own overall health. This holistic approach to health and development has allowed UPMRC to improve the lives of Palestinians for over 20 years.

Heritage

UPMRC is a grassroots, community based Palestinian health organisation. It was founded in 1979 by a group of Palestinian doctors and health professionals seeking to supplement the decayed and inadequate health infrastructure caused by years of Israeli military occupation. It is non-profit, voluntary, and one of the largest health NGOs in Palestine. UPMRC’s national health programmes emphasize prevention, education, community participation, and the empowerment of people.

The Day Baha Took The Bullet – Nablus - 22 Sept 02

Fourteen year old Baha was a committed friend and guide to international peace activists on the West Bank. And then one Israeli bullet ended his life. In her third dispatch to SQUALL, Ewa Jasiewicz describes the day she felt a bullet whizz by and end the life of her new found teenage colleague. Read the full story

“The occupying power (Israel) must ensure and maintain the medical services…and ensure that medical personnel of all categories can carry out their duties” Article 56, IV Geneva Convention

There is no humanity, only orders

A group of 26 international volunteers with 6 Palestinian UPMRC medics broke the curfew to walk with essential food and aid to the Balata Refugee Camp after a UN and Red Cross convoy had been refused passage by the Israeli military., on the return walk they were detained and beaten by Israeli soldiers. Afterwards when one of the volunteers, a retired French man, asked a young soldier where his humanity was the soldier replied; “There is no humanity, only orders.”