PALESTINE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY

Medical and social services agency of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) created in Amman in December 1968, to meet the medical care and sanitation needs of the Palestinian people. Established in the Palestinian territories, where it works with the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority and other nongovernmental organizations and in countries where Palestinians have taken refuge, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has adopted a program whose goal it is to affirm the national identity of its

people by giving it the means necessary to take charge of its sanitation, social, and humanitarian needs. The PRCS operates 15 hospitals, 130 ambulances, 69 public health clinics, and numerous other social service locations. It provides Palestinians with primary health care, emergency care, disaster assistance, clinical and rehabilitative medicine, and social services in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, and (until 2003) in Iraq. It also maintains offices in France, Italy, and Canada. Funding comes primarily through contributions from foundations, United Nations and foreign government aid organizations, humanitarian agencies, and similar sources. The PRCS is the largest Red Crescent organization in the Arab world, and is affiliated with the International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent (IFRC). It is headquartered in al-Bireh, near Ramallah. In 2004, the honorary head of the PRCS is Yasir Arafat's brother, Dr. Fathi Arafat. The president and acting director general is Yunis al-Khatib.

SEE ALSO Palestine Liberation Organization;Palestinian Authority.