Closing a Chapter: Our UNRWA EMR Journey (2023–2025)

In March 2023, our team at MEDx eHealthCenter B.V. embarked on one of our most ambitious GOVTECH initiatives to date — the design and implementation of a next-generation Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in partnership with a leading Jordanian health institution.

Together, we envisioned a digital health backbone to serve 3.5 million Palestinian refugees across 3 countries, with scale-up capacity for 3 million more over the next five years. Our solution aimed to manage 11 million medical visits annually, securely migrate 1.4 petabytes of historical health data, and ensure accessibility across 140+ clinics. With a consortium of trusted partners, we proposed a 5-year implementation budget of €13 million — grounded in resilience, security, and sustainability.

Over the past two years, we engaged in extensive technical rounds, collaborative reviews with stakeholders in both the Netherlands and Jordan, and a final submission to UNRWA in June 2023. This week, we were officially informed that the project has been awarded to another vendor under a more cost-competitive proposal.

While we are naturally disappointed, we are also deeply proud.

We thank our internal team, our partners, and the many experts who helped shape this project — your commitment to digital public infrastructure and health equity has made a lasting impact. Building trust in GOVTECH is not a short game. It requires patience, proof, and people.

This chapter is now officially closed — but our work continues.

The vision of MEDx remains rooted in delivering secure, inclusive, and intelligent health systems for the most vulnerable populations across borders.

Onward.

— The MEDx eHealthCenter B.V. Team