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The project is co-led by researchers at the Institute of Global Health and Development (IGHD) of QMU, Edinburgh, and the United Nations relief and work agency for Palestine refugees in the near east ().

This research project is funded by Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises () Programme, which aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises.

R2HC is funded by the UK Department for International Development (), Wellcome, and the UK National Institute for Health Research ().

The study will directly inform UNRWA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Gaza and Lebanon. Findings on stressors and wellbeing, and resilience of communities, health and social care workers, and wider UNRWA systems, will be made available to decision-makers to inform contextually tailored pandemic responses. Findings on how trust in UNRWA relates to the effectiveness of both routine service delivery and COVID-19 response in the two settings will inform programming of UNRWA and other agencies operating in the region. The project will pay particular attention to the needs and outcomes of persons affected by chronic diseases, mothers and children and disabled populations. More widely, findings will contribute to ongoing debates on health system and community resilience, including on how best to nurture resilience capacities in other health systems globally.