Bedouin Health Project hold closing ceremony at AUB's Agricultural Research and Education Center in the Bekaa

27/09/2010

On July 17th, 2010, the Bedouin Health Project held its closing ceremony in AUB’s Agricultural Research and Education Center located in the Bekaa Plain. The ceremony marked the end of the project and was attended by members and heads of several Bekaa municipalities, as well as representatives of civil society and organizations like Amel and the Lebanese Family Planning Association. Staff of Community Development Centers affiliated to the Ministry of Social Affairs also attended the ceremony. Kab Elias Primary Health Care Center, our partner since the project began, was present as well. Finally, Bedouin leaders and members of the community who were involved since the early phases of our work attended. During the ceremony, the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), our field liaison staff member, and the partner health care centers, were given honorary shields.

Like most other marginalized communities, the Bedouin community in Lebanon suffers from the lack of basic human rights, in particular the right of nationality and citizenship and the benefits and advantages that come with it. The Bedouin Health Project was an EU funded research effort, implemented by Oxford University and the Center for Research on Population and Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), American University of Beirut. Its aim has been to evaluate the provision, access to, and utilization of health services by the Bedouin community of the Bekaa. The study has also explored the perception of the policy makers, and health care providers in relation to Bedouin health seeking behaviour.

The findings of the study revealed the lack of serious efforts targeted towards developing health policies specifically tailored for the Bedouin community. The lack of trust between Bedouin community members and the health centers was also evident, as a result of the marginalization and discrimination that the Bedouins felt they experienced.

The project was launched in 2007 with an audit of six health clinics in the Middle Bekaa, structured questionnaires with more than 100 Bedouin women using the targeted health centers, as well as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with different stakeholders including policy makers, health providers, health professionals, and local community members. These meetings emphasized the community’s participation and helped foster a trusting relationship between the researchers and the multiple stakeholders. A concerted participatory dissemination of findings programme also paved the way for the development of pilot interventions that followed. One such intervention was the training of Bedouin female CHVs on issues pertaining to first aid, reproductive health and child health. These volunteers represented a link between the local Bedouin community and the health care centers, and their role was to spread health knowledge and awareness, and to encourage people to visit t health care centers and utilize the services.

To ensure sustainability of this initiative, a local community-based organization was approached, Al Inmaa’ Wal Tajaddod, to take over responsibility for these CHVs and promote their activity in the coming years. FHS will continue to provide technical and scientific support and backup through its Outreach and Practice Unit during a year-long hand over process.

The project was linked to teaching at FHS which integrated topics reflecting the context and problems of the Bedouin Community into existing courses.