LONDON, Dec 13 (AlertNet) - After more than a year of renewed violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories, NGOs in the region have been forced to adapt their work to respond to the impact on the daily lives of their staff and the people they work with.

Agencies said they were having trouble reaching people, and in some cases conditions were so bad that humanitarian workers were unable to report to work.

"Many of our staff in Jenin and Ramallah can't leave their homes," said CARE International's country director, Earl Wall. "They’re living under official Israeli curfew and sometimes it’s just too dangerous to leave. Some of them are even beginning to run out of food. We may have to respond to that soon."

The peace process has spiralled into the distant past, and tit-for-tat attacks have become the norm.

At least 765 Palestinians and 233 Israelis have been killed since the latest Palestinian uprising (intifada) against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000.

Travel restrictions, road blockades and army checkpoints have been imposed by Israel. The limitations on the movement of goods and people have strangled the already ailing Palestinian economy.

Wall said some CARE workers were either working from their homes or in offices that are closer to their homes than the primary office is.

"These road closures lead to missed appointments and cancelled meetings. They also don’t allow for as much field travel," he said. "We don’t get to see our colleagues in Jenin and Gaza as much as we did previously, so we’ve had some problems with cohesiveness of operations."

Despite CARE’s difficulties in coordinating its projects, it has been able to keep all its programmes running.

"Sometimes we’ve had to stop for just a short time during particularly dangerous periods, but we always get back up and running," Wall said. "This has hindered our work, but it hasn’t stopped it."

TOWNS AND VILLAGES CLOSED

Aleksandra Matijevic, communications coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem, said the closure of Palestinian towns and villages had made it especially difficult to distribute medical supplies.

"The ICRC is working as an intermediary between Israel and Palestine to help ambulances get through the streets," she said. "We were able to help five people who needed dialysis treatment to be taken from Jenin to Nablus. They had been unable to travel because their permits were expired."

The ICRC also helped facilitate negotiations to get medical supplies delivered to clinics in Jenin.

UK-based agency Islamic Relief has experienced similar difficulties. "Our problem sometimes is getting to the people," said Usama Bastawy, regional programme manager. "We’re there. The money is there, and the needy people are there. It’s just hard to reach them."

Christian Aid is not implementing any programmes on the ground in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, but it provides financial support to 25 Palestinian and Israeli NGOs.

"The most significant problem our partners have faced is getting people where they need to be," said Sue Turrell, Christian Aid programme officer for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. "A lot of our partners provide medical relief. They’ve had trouble getting staff around and getting ambulances and doctors to the people who need them."

Turrell returned from visiting the region on December 11 and said the economic situation in the area had deteriorated terribly.

"I hardly saw any economic activity in Gaza or Bethlehem," she said. "All the shops are shut and the factories are closed." She said the only person she saw working was one man sweeping the street.

Despite the difficult conditions, the ICRC, Islamic Relief and CARE International have increased their operations since the start of the second intifada.

Matijevic said that the ICRC, active in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on a permanent basis since 1967, increased its staff after September 2000.

"Our objective is to help make the lives of people in occupied territories as normal as possible," she said.

NEGOTIATING WITH AUTHORITIES

The ICRC helped negotiate with Israeli authorities in Ramallah to allow Palestinian farmers to harvest their olives. The process was interrupted earlier in the season by increased fighting in the West Bank.

"Olive oil is very important in this region," Matijevic said. "It’s necessary for the household preparation of food. Selling olive oil on the market is also the only source of income for some people. That’s why it was so important that people have access to their trees."

Islamic Relief said that a significant percentage of its funds were going towards programmes specifically targeted at children.

Islamic Relief recently opened a new centre in Gaza to treat traumatised children and their families. It also furnishes school supplies for children in the region and provides food to serve in schools.

Islamic Relief is working with 654 orphans in the Palestinian territories. By the end of the year, it hopes to increase that number to 680 or 700.

"We have two different programmes that target orphans," Bastawy said. "One is a programme where people can sponsor an orphan in Palestine. The other is the Orphans General Fund, which allows people to sponsor activities and trips for orphans."

Bastawy said: "The capacity of our office wasn’t large enough to handle our increasing operations, but now we’ve increased our staff and equipment. We should be ready to face whatever comes our way in 2002."

CARE International works in three fields – community development, civil society initiatives and emergency medical assistance.

"For community development, we look at the local service provision," Wall said. "We work on things like improving school infrastructure, roads and water quality. We also offer training programmes for local councils."

As a civil society initiative, Wall said CARE has given out about 50 small grants to Palestinian NGOs for training school teachers and expanding day care centres.

Its emergency medical assistance programme offers support to the Palestinian Minister of Health, provides training in emergency medicine and works in rehabilitation services.

Wall said that CARE had seen some positive outcomes in the current situation

"Our staff has felt a real sense of satisfaction," he said. "We know we’re making a difference. Morale has increased as we’ve been able to respond effectively. Of course, there’s so much uncertainty for the future, but right now, we’re doing well."