Transactions Template JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4, DECEMBER 2018 68 Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA Nabil I. El-Sawalhi, and Belal N. Alyazji Abstract—The sheltering and housing for special hardship cases families is one of main objectives of UNRWA. It contributes to alleviating the suffering of poor refugee families. There are many problems beyond non- interference in the process of housing, which negatively affects human dignity and the right to housing. This paper aims to improve the housing and intervention plans in UNRWA for families which classified under special hardship cases. The factors affecting the process of the intervention were identified. A questionnaire for a group of engineers and social workers from ICIP and RSSP who are specialist working in shelter at UNRWA in Gaza Strip was conducted. 105 questionnaires were distributed. A total of 85 questionnaires were received with a response rate of 81%. The results showed a breakdown of the social, technical, political, legal and economic factors, challenges and constraints that affect the intervention process by UNRWA. The most important social factors were the population density and number of family within the shelter. The severe defect affects the shelter stability and the numbers of existing rooms in the shelter were the most important technical factors. The type of shelter property for family and poverty level of the household are considered the most two important economic factors. Moreover, the most important challenges and constraints were the availability of funds and budget for the intervention process. Index Terms—Hardship cases, Factors, UNRWA, Intervention. I INTRODUCTION United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were mandated by the UN in 1949 to provide support to Palestini- an Refugees. UNRWA maintains a dedicated special support programme, which is Infrastructure and Camp Improvement Programme (ICIP) which provide support to the relief and emergency departments. There is an Agency’s Special Hard- ship Case (SHC) programme focus in providing a cushion support to the poorest families among the refugee’s popula- tion. Upon implementation, the SHC pogramme increased the amount of shelter, economical & social assistance to needy families. The Agency is aware that shelter needs are best addressed within an integrated approach to the human development of refugees. Over years, the Agency intends to enhance its capacity for implementation by building its own strategies and standards. There are objectives will be pursued within the framework of a comprehensive and inte- grated approach to shelter interventions, as Shelter rehabili- tation, re-construction & re-housing for SHCs. The SHC survey represents the first comprehensive attempt by the Agency to describe the socio-economic conditions of SHC families in the five fields of UNRWA operations [1]. Although most refugees have been able to make improve- ments and additions to their shelters over the years, the very poorest refugees often live in shelters that are now in ex- tremely in bad condition, wet, crumbling walls, leaking zinc roofs and rodent infestation cause additional social and health problems. UNRWA may be able to repair or recon- structed hundreds of shelters in coming years for beneficiar- ies who joins its waiting list each year for shelter rehabilita- tion. Social, Economic, Technical, and Political etc., factors can be interacted in the prototype and the housing schemes of SHC intervention or assistance. In order to provide excellent evaluation procedures, equi- ty and transparency for beneficiaries (SHCs), unified criteria should be applied for all cases. The parameters and its influ- ence in interventions and shelter assistance are in need for determination. However, often, the main four factors (Eco- nomical, Social, Technical and Political) intervened in shel- ter assessment. It is important to identify the important pa- rameters it in order to make unique sector in beneficiaries’ selection. This research aims to improve shelter and housing schemes and intervention for SHCs with related to its relia- bility and application. The specific objectives of this re- search are: to identify the factors affecting shelters assess- ment, identify the most parameters affecting in shelters in- terventions and check the logic and plausibility of the means-to-ends applied to existing intervention for benefi- ciaries. UNRWA believes that decent living conditions for refugees is fundamental to their human dignity and does not com- promise their right of return, so improving critically sub- standard shelters, especially for the most vulnerable refugees remains one of its goals. Priority will be given to the special hardship cases (SHCs). As a strategy, ICIP was developed for agency-wide shelter rehabilitation strategy in one of ap- proaches which provides a decent standard to refugees [2]. United Nations [3] reported that, UNRWA aims to achieve the human development goal of ensuring that Palestinian Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 69 refugees enjoy a decent standard of living through interven- tions by its Relief and Social Services Programme (RSSP), microfinance programme and ICIP, in collaboration with host countries and national and international partners. Inter- ventions under the ICIP prioritized families classified as absolutely or abjectly poor in Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank. In addition, work was initiated facilities, including schools, health centers and vocational training and community development centers, while work on solid waste disposal, drainage and water and sewerage systems was car- ried out to prevent the spread of diseases, without prejudice to the Agency’s position concerning the responsibility of host authorities to administer the camps. In Gaza Strip, un- der emergency assistance, so many families benefited from UNRWA shelter repair, construction and reconstruction pro- gramming. According to ICIP Plan for 2010-2011[4] that expanding the shelter rehabilitation sub-programme beyond special hard- ship cases in the assessment and planning to include other vulnerable groups living in unsafe shelters will be nullified and actually may further contribute to deteriorating the mac- ro situation if such Programme minimum capacity is not created at the field level. The Programme’s approach to shel- ter, housing and re-housing is guided by the right to ade- quate housing taking into account affordability, appropriate- ness and acceptability. II LITERATURE REVIEW A Shelter Rights ―Housing rights are seen as an integral part of economic, social and cultural rights within the United Nations, Europe- an, Inter –American, and African human rights instruments‖ [5]. In article 25 in Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that, ―Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control‖ [3]. UNRWA [6] defined shelter as a single family dwelling con- sisting of one or more than one room, including a kitchen and toilet, the shelter may be part of a shared dwelling (kitchens and sanitary units could be also shared), cottage / agricultural shelter; small shelters not exceeding 80 square meter in size, located in rural areas and not used as perma- nent residences and used primarily for leisure, makeshift shelter; a tent or shelter made out of corrugated iron sheets / wood or other scrap materials. Many international human right instruments such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognize housing as one of those rights to be granted by human be- ings. UN-Habitat agenda [7] mentioned that, one of main objective is a collaborative global movement towards ade- quate housing for all and improving housing for and the liv- ing conditions of slum dwellers. Its main objective is to as- sist member States in working towards the realization of the right to adequate housing. Upgrading of sub-standard shelters is an integrated approach which addresses multiple household-level needs faced by vulnerable families living in sub-standard buildings. It in- volves the provision of assistance to support permanent shel- ter and household-level WASH upgrades in exchange for security of tenure and rent reduction. The intervention ad- dresses the physical aspects of poor living-conditions whilst reducing the household’s rent-burden, reducing their eco- nomic vulnerability and provides them with more stability. It contributes towards an increase in the adequate housing stock in Jordan, the local economy and social cohesion through the clear investment in the host community [8]. Pothiawala [9] emphasize that shelter is a critical deter- minant for survival of the affected population in the initial stages of a disaster. It is essential to provide security, per- sonal safety, protection from the climate and to prevent dis- ease outbreaks. It is also important for individual human dignity and to enable affected population to recover from the impact of disaster. Eventually, the appropriate response will also be determined by the ability of the displaced population to return to the site of their original dwelling and start the recovery process. UNHSP [10] illustrated that, adequate housing must pro- vide more than four walls and a roof, a number of conditions must be met before particular forms of shelter can be con- sidered to constitute ―adequate housing‖. These elements are just as fundamental as the basic supply and availability of housing. For housing to be adequate, it must -at a minimum- meet the following criteria: Security of tenure, Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, Afforda- bility, Habitability, Accessibility, Location, Cultural adequa- cy. Detailed submission guidelines can be found on the author resources Web pages. Author resource guidelines are specif- ic to each journal, so please be sure to refer to the correct journal when seeking information. All authors are responsi- ble for understanding these guidelines before submitting their manuscript. B Sub-standard Shelter State of California [11] stated that, any building or structure, or portion thereof, including any dwelling unit, to an extent that they endanger the life, limb, health, property, or welfare of the public or the occupants thereof shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be substandard building, a) Inadequate sanitation shall include, but not be limited to, the following: b) Structural Hazards c) Dangerous Buildings and Structures Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 70 III FACTORS AFFECTING SHELTER INTERVENTIONS Bashawria et al. [12] stated that, the design factors define the performance of shelters and should be developed through consultation with the people affected by a disaster, government sectors, private sectors, and any other players involved in disaster recovery, such as volunteers and insur- ance organizations, to prevent against the environmental (Climate Variations, Recycling, upgrading, disposal, Hy- gienic (water and air)), economic (Type of shelters, Life- time, Livelihood), technical (Easy to Erect and Dismantle, Materials and Insulations, Classification of Hazards and Performance, Physical and Psychological Effects), and so- ciocultural (Cultural Difference, Dignity and Security and Communication). A Social Factors In general, where stigmatization remains unaddressed and social or community services are unavailable including so- cial housing persons with disabilities continue to face dis- crimination when seeking housing, or more general chal- lenges in securing the resources necessary for obtaining, adequate housing. Such challenges inevitably make them more vulnerable to forced evictions, homelessness and inad- equate housing conditions [10]. Adaptation activities could be assessed awareness and knowledge of adaptation activities, and expectation of future benefits [13]. Adaptation as for social obsolescence, it is defined as fashion or behavioral change in society that de- mands building adaptation [14]. B Technical and Physical Factors Patt [15]and Ting [16] proposed that, occupants’ satisfaction with existing public buildings could be measured using at- tributes like satisfaction with building qualities (interior de- sign or function), building conditions (structural defects or surface defects), building facilities, surrounding environ- ment and building services. Compared to general construc- tion, adapting existing buildings involves high levels of risks and uncertainty [17]. ―Obsolescence is the process of an asset going out of use‖. It determines the timing of building adaptation as housing obsolescence indicates the tendency of a building to become out-of-date [18]. In the building adaptation context, Langston et al. [14] have comprehensively classified hous- ing obsolescence into six categories: physical, economic, functional, technological, social and legal obsolescence. Buildings’ rental level drops as buildings age without continuous refurbishment; therefore, the building age can be a good indicator of physical obsolescence, Physical obsoles- cence can also be detected by its conditions expressed in the manner of structural defects or surface defects [19]. C Economic Factors Economic obsolescence can be assessed by attributes like rental income level, rate of return, and depreciation, changes in occupants’ requirements ―leads to possible functional change from the purpose for which a building was originally designed‖. The severity of functional obsolescence therefore can be assessed by studying building services like lifts, and examining the flexibility of the original design [20]. The economic development of a region is an important driving force for urban development. Economically growing regions have migration surpluses which increases the de- mand for built-up areas. Additionally, the demand for indus- trial areas and infrastructure increases [21]. D Political and Legal Factors Langston et al. [14] proposed that, the attribute of compli- ance to statutory requirements like revised safety regula- tions, fire regulations, building ordinances or environmental controls is an effective means used for indicating the level of legal obsolescence. The critical elements of the process by which housing and communities are constructed and recon- structed are considered to be such as local governance, land administration, housing construction system and practices, housing finance, and local infrastructure construction and operation [22]. IV SHELTER ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINE A covered floor area in excess of 3.5m2 per person will of- ten be required to meet these considerations [23]. Norwegian Refugee Council-Lebanon (NRC) [24] mentioned that, min- imum shelter standards as follows: 1. 3.5m² per person of living space (excluding kitchen and toilet) should be created when possible 2. Electrical works should provide at least 1 light fitting per room 3. Toilets should have a ratio of one per 15 people or better 4. Waste water and sewerage disposal should be by connec- tion to a septic tank, mains sewerage, improved pit la- trine or other recognised means. 5. Water storage tanks should hold a minimum of 70L and a maximum of 400L per person. 6. Water fittings should be specified. Guidelines for individual shelter rehabilitation on grant ba- sis-UNRWA [25] stated that, the following stated as archi- tectural space guidelines, where the space requirements are based on the size of the family as follows:  1-2 Persons 1 room + Kitchen + Sanitary Facilities  3-5 Persons 2 rooms + Kitchen + Sanitary Facilities  6 + Persons 3 rooms + Kitchen + Sanitary Facilities Space requirements should be provided by implementation of any one or combination of more than one of the speci- fied interventions. In the case of reconstruction space requirements are based on number of rooms with suggested areas as follows: Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 71  1-2 Persons 1 room + Kitchen + Sanitary Facilities+ 15% (for circulation and flexibility) = 32.2m2  3-5 Persons 2 rooms + Kitchen + Sanitary Facili- ties+15% (for circulation and flexibility) = 46m2  6 + Persons 3 rooms + Kitchen + Sanitary Facilities + 15% (for circulation and flexibility) =59.8m2 These calculations are based on room size 14m2 for the first room (main room) and12 m2 for the second and third rooms (secondary rooms), Kitchen 9m2, sanitary facilities 5m2 and 6m2 in case of three room’s shelters. An allowance of 15% for circulation space has been included in the above calculations to give the total net area entitlements. As every shelter is provided with an allowance for circulation, room sizes can be increased if circulation is minimized. Additionally, it was mentioned that, all developments should meet the following minimum space standards as shown in Table 1 TABLE 1 Minimum space standards Single story dwell- ing Two story dwelling Three story dwelling (Bedroom /persons) m² (Bedroom /persons) m² (Bedroom /persons) m² 1b2p 50 2b4p 83 3b5p 102 2b3p 61 3b4p 87 4b5p 106 2b4p 70 3b5p 96 4b6p 113 3b4p 74 4b5p 100 3b5p 86 4b6p 107 3b6p 95 4b5p 90 4b6p 99 A Intervention Scenarios Johnson and Wilson attempted to describe various building adaptation strategies in a map, and these strategies range from minor maintenance through renovation to restoration [20]. Building adaptation refers to ―any intervention to ad- just, reuse or upgrade a building to suit new conditions or requirements‖. Thus, building adaption potential can be de- fined as an indicator reflecting the potential that a building ought to be adapted [18]. Guidelines for individual shelter rehabilitation on grant basis-UNRWA [25] identified that, the type of interventions as follows: a) Reconstruction: requires demolition of all the existing shelter and the construction of a new shelter; b) Expansion/extension: the construction of a horizontal or vertical extension to the existing shelter, entailing addi- tional spaces; c) Partial- reconstruction: demolition of part of a shelter and reconstruction of one or more spaces, including structural works; d) Major repair and supplementary structure: comprehen- sive upgrading repairs (such as new windows, plumbing, and plastering) and installation of secondary structure such as columns to support new concrete roof slab; e) Minor repair: routine maintenance repairs (such as repair of windows, roof) and no structural works or demolition; f) Adaptation: adaptation of spaces to suit special needs of family (disability or age) but no reconstruction, repair or expansion. Shelter WG Jordan [8] clarified that; any intervention should target the most vulnerable families living in sub- standard accommodation that lack a combination of any of the following: a) Adequate privacy, dignity and protection from the cli- matic exposure (i.e. wet and cold); b) Adequate access to safe water and sanitation (therefore resulting in unhygienic conditions); c) Adequate connection to municipal infrastructure and services (e.g. electricity, water supply, waste-water col- lection, solid waste collection); or d) Expose the occupants to avoidable health and safety risks. UNHCR [26] mentioned that, one of priorities recom- mendations for the shelter response follow that to improve conditions of sub-standard shelters, through repairs, weath- er-proofing interventions and safety standards since there are many refugees rent accommodation types that are consid- ered sub-standard, such as unfinished houses with poor sani- tation, ventilation or lights, or shelters that lack minimum safety standards and put adults and/or children at risk, very often, shelters are not insulated to protect families against the elements. Upgrading refugee accommodation to reach basic standards and permit decent living conditions for refu- gee families is the minimum goal of any shelter intervention. V METHODOLOGY Literatures of the factors affecting shelters assessment, most affecting parameters in shelters interventions and their im- provements were reviewed. According to the literature re- view and after interviewing experts who are dealing with the subject at different levels, all the information that could help in achieving the study objectives were collected, reviewed and formalized to be suitable for the study survey and after many stages of brain storming, consulting, amending, and reviewing, a questionnaire was developed with closed ques- tions. The questionnaire included multiple choice questions. The variety in these questions aims first to meet the research objectives, and to collect all the necessary data that can sup- port the discussion, results and recommendations in the re- search. Several previous studies were used to select the factors such as: [2]; [4]; [5]; [7]; [10]; [12]; [14]; [19]; [15]; [16]; [18]; [22]; [23]. Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 72 A field survey, with a target population of 40 social workers, 40 site engineers, five social services officers, 8 area engineers and 8 managers were distributed on all zones of Gaza. All the members of target group are working in shelter and housing schemes for SHCs at UNRWA was con- ducted. A pilot study for the questionnaire was conducted by distributing the prepared questionnaire to one (1) manager, two (2) Area Engineers, two (2) Social services officers, one (1) site engineer and one (1) social worker. The two (2) area engineers and two social services officers, manager and so- cial worker were selected, also who have good experience in the field of Social and Relief Services Programs projects. The seven experts were asked to review the questionnaire and verify the validity of the questionnaire topics and its relevance to the research objective and give their advice. In general, they agreed that the questionnaire is suitable to achieve the goals of the study. Important comments and sug- gestions were collected and evaluated carefully. All the sug- gested comments and modifications were discussed with the study’s supervisor before taking them into consideration. The questionnaire was modified based on the results of the pilot study. The questionnaire was used to collect the required data in order to achieve the research objective. Fortunately, the response rate was 82 % for social work- er’s staff, 80 % for site engineers. 83 % for social services officer, 88 % for area engineers, and 75 % for managers. The relative importance index (RII) was used in the anal- ysis in addition to other approaches such as the one-way ANOVA and frequencies and percentiles. Likert scaling was used for ranking questions that have an agreement levels. The respondents were asked to give their perceptions in group of questions on ten-point scale (1, for the less im- portant to 10 for the highly important), which reflects their assessment regarding the factors affecting bidding process. V RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 2 shows the the social workers and site engineers re- spondents are more than 70 % of the population, in addition to that 62.4 of respondents have experience in UNRWA is above 10 years . Moreover, 95.3 % of the respondents did the field survey by themselves, that’s means the target group who are working in the field has more enough experience, practice and awareness in order to provide the best opinion about needs of shelter and housing schemes improvement. TABLE 2 Demographic data Demographic data Frequency Percent % Age Less than 40 years 35 41.2 40-less than 50 years 29 34.1 50 years and more 21 24.7 Gender Mal 67 78.8 Female 18 21.2 What is the nature of Social worker 29 34.1 your work Site engineer 32 37.6 Social services of- ficer 5 5.9 Area Engineer 7 8.2 Manager 6 7.1 Others 6 7.1 Academic education level Diploma - - Bachelor 63 74.1 Master 20 23.5 Ph.D. 2 2.4 What is your General Experience in (in Years) Less than 5 4 4.7 From 5 to less than 10 16 18.8 From 10 to less than 15 25 29.4 15 or more 40 47.1 Years of works in organ- ization (UNRWA) Less than 5 10 11.8 From 5 to less than 10 22 25.9 From 10 to less than 15 23 27.1 15 or more 30 35.3 Area North 15 17.6 Gaza 28 32.9 Middle 19 22.4 Khan Younis 9 10.6 Rafah 14 16.5 Did you join any as- sessment for special hardship cases Yes 81 95.3 No 4 4.7 A Social Factors Table 3 shows that the mean of item #5 ―Population density within the shelter‖ equals 8.45 (84.47%), Test-value = 10.51, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive, so the mean of this item is significantly greater than the hy- pothesized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to this item. The mean of item #3 ―The age of the shelter owner‖ equals 4.26 (42.59%), Test-value = -5.98, and P-value less than 0.05. The respondents disagreed to this item. The mean of the field ―Social Factors‖ equals 6.95 (69.47%), Test-value = 5.24, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive and the respondents agreed to field of ―Social Factors ". From the above points and the analysis of the data results shown in Table 3, the respondents pointed out and agreed that the social factors in general can affect UNRWA inter- vention, in addition to that what was mentioned in the litera- ture review about the density of the population inside the shelter was endorsed as an important factor affecting the standard human. This result is matching the results of [18] as the shelter density is the most importsnt criteria to make the beneficery eligible for intervenstion. Meanwhile, the age of the shelter owner has less importance since the intervention can be provided to needy people and not according to their ages which seems to be logic. Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 73 TABLE 3 Means and Test values for ―Social Factors‖ Item Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank The number of family members 7.81 2.82 78.12 5.92 <0.001 4 The difference in gender of the shelter owner 4.73 2.89 47.29 -4.05 <0.001 9 Age of the shelter owner 4.26 2.69 42.59 -5.98 <0.001 10 The gender-specific considerations 7.66 2.64 76.59 5.78 <0.001 5 Population density within the shelter 8.45 2.15 84.47 10.51 <0.001 1 Family members suffer- ing from various chronic diseases 8.32 1.97 83.21 10.80 <0.001 2 The number of married persons within the shelter 6.92 2.75 69.17 3.05 0.002 6 The social status of the shelter owner 6.29 2.99 62.94 0.91 0.184 8 The presence of a person with special needs is considered a "disable" within the family 8.28 1.96 82.82 10.73 <0.001 3 Demographic changes (a shortage or increase in the family in terms of marriage, death, birth ...) 6.79 2.71 67.88 2.68 0.004 7 All items of the field 6.95 1.67 69.47 5.24 <0.001 B Economic Factors Table 4 shows that the mean of item #4 ―The type of shelter property for the family equals 8.62 (86.19%), Test-value = 10.33, and P-value less than 0.05. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to this item. The mean of item #8 ―The amount of cash assistance provided to the family‖ equals 6.08 (60.83%), Test-value = 0.25, and P-value = 0.400 which is greater than the level of significance 0.05  . It is concluded that the respondents (Do not know, neutral) to this item. The mean of the field ―Economic Factors‖ equals 7.09 (70.94%), Test-value = 5.30, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive, so the mean of this field is significantly greater than the hypothesized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to field of “Economic Factors ". From the above points and the analysis of the data results in Table 4 the respondents point out and agreed that the economic factors in general can affect UNRWA intervention, in addition to that what was mentioned in the literature review about to whom the shelter intervention can be prioritized and unnerved, the analysis emphasize that type of shelter property as the most important factor affecting the intervention. That is having a detorerated shelter justfy giving assistance and indicator to the poverty. This result matching the result of [7]. On the other hand, the amount of cash assistance pro- vided to the family has less importance in shelter inter- vention since this assistance is provided for necessities of life such as food and clothes. TABLE 4 Means and Test values for ―Economic Factors‖ Item Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank The household in- come level 7.04 2.55 70.36 3.72 <0.001 4 The working condi- tion of the head of the family 6.94 2.57 69.40 3.36 0.001 5 The poverty level of the household by service classification 8.50 2.45 85.00 9.26 <0.001 2 The type of shelter property for the family 8.62 2.32 86.19 10.33 <0.001 1 The construction costs 6.29 2.84 62.89 0.93 0.178 6 Ownership of a piece of land by the family 7.18 2.69 71.79 4.01 <0.001 3 Receiving assistance from other parties 6.23 2.83 62.26 0.73 0.233 7 The amount of cash assistance provided to a family 6.08 3.01 60.83 0.25 0.400 8 All items of the field 7.09 1.89 70.94 5.30 <0.001 C Technical Factors Table 5 shows that the mean of item #6 ―Severe defect in the existing shelter affects its stability‖ equals 8.32 (83.21%), Test-value = 9.48, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive, so the mean of this item is significantly greater than the hypothesized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to this item. The mean of item #9 ―The location of shelter from the street, its accessibility and the presence of services in the area are factors influencing the intervention‖ equals 5.73 (57.29%), Test-value = -0.87, and P-value = 0.194 which is greater than the level of signif- icance 0.05  . It is concluded that the respondents (Do not know, neutral) to this item. The mean of the field ―Technical Factors‖ equals 7.49 (74.92%), Test-value = 8.31, and P- value less than 0.05. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to field of ―Technical Factors ". From the above points and the analysis of the data results in Table 5 the respondents point out and agreed that the technical factors in general has impact on UNRWA interven- tion, in addition to that what was mentioned in the literature review about to whom the shelter intervention can be priori- tized and unnerved, the analysis emphasize that the contribu- tion of UNRWA is affected in the event of a severe defect in the existing shelter which affects its stability as an important factor affecting the intervention and this well-known accord- ing to safety measurement. This result is matching the re- search of [15] and [16]. While the location of shelter from the street, its accessibility and the presence of services in the area factor has less importance in shelter intervention as the location or accessibility of the shelters for most refugees in Gaza Strip almost the same inside the camps. Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 74 TABLE 5 Means and Test values for ―Technical Factors‖ Item Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank Land area 7.87 2.45 78.71 7.03 <0.001 5 The existing building area 7.68 2.63 76.79 5.86 <0.001 6 Existing shelter type 7.94 2.25 79.40 7.84 <0.001 4 The chronological age of shelter 7.00 2.62 70.00 3.51 <0.001 10 The location of shelter 7.33 2.50 73.33 4.88 <0.001 8 Severe defect in the existing shelter affects its stability 8.32 2.24 83.21 9.48 <0.001 1 Slight defect in the existing shelter 7.02 2.37 70.24 3.95 <0.001 9 Key element is not appropriate in the shelter 7.96 2.21 79.65 8.19 <0.001 3 The location of shelter from the street, its accessibility and the presence of services in the area 5.73 2.88 57.29 -0.87 0.194 11 The exposure of shelter to floods contributes 7.49 2.45 74.94 5.63 <0.001 7 The number of rooms in the shelter 8.07 2.19 80.71 8.73 <0.001 2 All items of the field 7.49 1.66 74.92 8.31 <0.001 D Legal and Political Factors Table 6 shows that the mean of item #8 ―The sheltering pro- cess is an UNRWA objective‖ equals 8.53 (85.29%), Test- value = 9.87, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive, so the mean of this item is significantly greater than the hypothesized value 6. It is concluded that the re- spondents agreed to this item. The mean of item #3 ―Land authority laws‖ equals 7.20 (72.00%), Test-value = 4.23, and P-value less than 0.05. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to this item. The mean of the field ―Legal and politi- cal factors‖ equals 7.96 (79.62%), Test-value = 10.09, and P- value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is positive, so the mean of this field is significantly greater than the hypothe- sized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to field of ―Legal and political factors ". From the above points and the analysis of the data results in Table 6 the respondents point out and agreed that the Le- gal and political factors in general has impact on UNRWA intervention, in addition to that what was mentioned in the literature review about to whom the shelter intervention can be prioritized and unnerved, the analysis emphasize that the sheltering process in UNRWA is one of its objective and has high important factor where this is one of UN role, while land authority laws affect UNRWA's contribution has less importance in shelter intervention as the land authority regu- lation inside the camps are not followed by UNRWA. The reached result is fully agreed as what was mentioned in the previously studied such as United Nations [3] and UNRWA [2]. TABLE 6 Means and Test values for ―Legal and political factors‖ Item Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank Laws and strategies of UNRWA 8.51 2.19 85.06 10.54 <0.001 2 Political circumstances 7.72 2.84 77.18 5.59 <0.001 7 Land authority laws 7.20 2.62 72.00 4.23 <0.001 9 The municipal building laws and regulations 7.89 2.22 78.94 7.87 <0.001 6 The laws of human safety 7.45 2.57 74.47 5.20 <0.001 8 The closure of the cross- ing borders 8.02 2.46 80.24 7.57 <0.001 5 The availability of land title documents 8.34 2.23 83.41 9.49 <0.001 3 The sheltering process 8.53 2.36 85.29 9.87 <0.001 1 The human right to housing 8.04 2.55 80.35 7.35 <0.001 4 All items of the field 7.96 1.79 79.62 10.09 <0.001 E Challenges and Obstacles Table 7 shows that the mean of item #7 ―The availability of the budget‖ equals 8.86 (88.55%), Test-value = 12.28, and P-value less than 0.05. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to this item. The mean of item #10 ―The case of weakness and perhaps the absence of participation from eli- gible families in the preparation and implementation of the intervention‖ equals 5.95 (59.52%), Test-value = -0.14, and P-value = 0.443 which is greater than the level of signifi- cance 0.05  . It is concluded that the respondents (Do not know, neutral) to this item. The mean of the field ―Chal- lenges and Obstacles‖ equals 7.49 (74.94%), Test-value = 7.89, and P-value less than 0.05. The sign of the test is posi- tive, so the mean of this field is significantly greater than the hypothesized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to field of ―Challenges and Obstacles ". The above points and the analysis of the data results in Table 7 the respondents point out and agreed that the chal- lenges and obstacles factors in general has impact on UNRWA intervention, in addition to that it can affect to whom the shelter intervention can be prioritized and un- nerved, the analysis emphasize that the high important factor of this group availability of fund and as a matter of fact this is applicable, on the contrary the contribution of UNRWA is affected in the case of weakness and perhaps the absence of participation from eligible families in the preparation and implementation of the intervention has less importance in shelter intervention as this is almost not available where all the families waiting their intervention and willing to partici- pate. Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 75 TABLE 7 Means and Test values for ―Challenges and Obstacles‖ Item Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank The time taken to prepare families in need of assistance 7.09 2.38 70.94 4.24 <0.001 8 Donation terms 8.20 2.14 82.00 9.47 <0.001 2 The criteria for selec- tion according to the eligibility of families 8.05 2.08 80.47 9.07 <0.001 5 The total number of families eligible for intervention 8.14 2.32 81.41 8.51 <0.001 4 The satisfaction and acceptance of families due to the type of the intervention 7.92 2.33 79.17 7.52 <0.001 6 Completion of licens- ing procedures 8.19 2.14 81.90 9.40 <0.001 3 The availability of the budget 8.86 2.12 88.55 12.28 <0.001 1 The lack of structural and urban planning 6.92 2.46 69.17 3.41 <0.001 10 The lack of land granted by the Gov- ernment 7.34 2.59 73.41 4.77 <0.001 7 The case of weakness and perhaps the absence of participa- tion from eligible families in the prepa- ration and implemen- tation of the interven- tion 5.95 3.06 59.52 -0.14 0.443 12 Weakness and lack of information 7.04 2.52 70.35 3.78 <0.001 9 The lack of availabil- ity of qualified tech- nical and scientific personnel in the evaluation process 6.41 3.19 64.12 1.19 0.119 11 All items of the field 7.49 1.75 74.94 7.89 <0.001 F All Groups Table 8 shows the mean of all items equals 7.41 (74.05%), Test-value = 8.62 and P-value less than 0.05. The mean of all items is significantly greater than the hypothesized value 6. It is concluded that the respondents agreed to all items of questionnaire. Also from Table 8, it is shown that, " Legal and political factors " was ranked in the first position by fields factors with RII of (79.62 %), ―Challenges and Obstacles " was ranked in the second position by contracting companies with RII of (74.94 %). On the other hand, the last position for main groups ―Social Factors ―with RII of (69.47 %) and ―Economic Factors " was ranked in the fourth position by contracting companies with RII of (70.94 %).‖ Technical Factors ―was ranked in the middle position by contracting companies with RII of (74.92%). It’s means that, legal and political factors are considered the most important factors affecting UNRWA intervention for SHCs as it is the first step of any intervention done by UNRWA, in the same way challenges and obstacles factors and technical factors are considered as important since any intervention cannot be provided with obstacles, moreover any shelter intervention needs the technical evaluation more than social evaluation. TABLE 8 Means and Test values for ―All items of questionnaire‖ Field Mean S.D RII (%) Test value P- value Rank Social Factors 6.95 1.67 69.47 5.24 <0.001 5 Economic Factors 7.09 1.89 70.94 5.30 <0.001 4 Technical Factors 7.49 1.66 74.92 8.31 <0.001 3 Legal and political factors 7.96 1.79 79.62 10.09 <0.001 1 Challenges and Obstacles 7.49 1.75 74.94 7.89 <0.001 2 All items of all items 7.41 1.50 74.05 8.62 <0.001 VII CONCLUSION The main factors affecting special hardship cases shelters’ interventions in UNRWA-Gaza strip were: Economic, So- cial, Technical and Political & Legal and obstacles and Challenges factors. In order to provide high-level evaluation procedures, equity and transparency for beneficiaries (SHCs), unified criteria should be applied for all cases. Often, the four main factors intervened in shelter assessment has been identified in addi- tion to sub-factors. This is led to transparent beneficiaries’ selection. This reseach concluded the most effective criteria that should be implement by UNRWA to improve the shelter intevesion and transpernacy in serving the needest Palestini- an refugees. The most important criteria are intrdused. The most important social factors affecting UNRWA inter- vention were: population density and number of family within the shelter, existing of family members suffering from various chronic diseases or presence of person with special needs, in addition to number of married persons within the shelter. The type of shelter property for family, poverty level of the household by service classification, ownership of a piece of land by the family and the household income level are con- sidered as an important economic factors affecting special hardship cases shelters’ interventions in UNRWA-Gaza strip. A severe defect in the existing shelter affects its stability, the number of rooms existing in the shelter, the kitchen or bath- room conditions or its availability in the shelter, and the shelter type are considered as an important technical factors affecting special hardship cases shelters’ interventions in UNRWA-Gaza strip. The sheltering process is according to UNRWA objective, laws and strategies, the availability of land documents and the human right to housing is considered as an important Nabil I. El-Sawalhi & Belal N. Alyazji/ Identification of Factors Affecting Special Hardship Cases Shelters’ Interventions at Gaza Strip – UNRWA/2018 76 legal and political factor in UNRWA's intervention. Also, several challenges and obstacles that facing the UNRWA staff through providing assistance shelter to bene- ficiaries were identified. The availability of the budget, do- nation terms, completion of licensing procedures, total num- ber of families eligible for intervention, the criteria for selec- tion according to the eligibility of families, the satisfaction and acceptance of families due to the type of the interven- tion, the lack of land granted by the Government, the time taken to prepare families in need of assistance, weakness and lack of information, were the most important obstacles and challenges noted. VII RECOMMENDATIONS The study recommended that there should be a determination by UNRWA to request the necessary funds, and to work effectively with the local governments and ask to provide the necessary land for the housing projects. Local government should accelerate the development plans for the camps; create a computerized program based on the priorities for the important factors. 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