Governments asked to make 'most generous efforts' to meet needs of Palestine refugee agency.

Governments have been called on by the General Assembly to make the "most generous efforts possible to meet the anticipated needs" of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In adopting 11 resolutions on 3 December relating to the situation of Palestine refugees, the Assembly also extended UNRWA's mandate - which would have expired on 30 June 1987 - until 30 June 1990. Other texts concerned guarantee of the legal and human rights of the refugees, their resettlement and housing, compensation for lost property, education, restoring the general ration, and financing of the Agency. Drafts had been acted on by the Special Political Committee on 4 November.

A financial report on UNRWA (A/41/13/Add. 1) forecast a 198 7 budget of $200.3 million, an increase of 4.8 per cent over the 1986 approved budget of $191.2 million. The increase reflected refugee population growth, mainly an increase in students at the Agency's 635 schools, the report said.

The current gap between 1986 income and estimated expenditure was $9 million. Of that, $2 million was in the General Fund - which provides the resources needed to operate the Agency's continuing major programmes - and $7 million in the Capital Construction Fund. Unfunded construction projects would be carried over into the 1987 budget.

By resolution 41/69 A urging generous contributions to UNRWA, approved by a recorded vote of 150 in favour to none against, with 1 abstention (Israel), the Assembly noted with "deep regret" that repatriation or compensation of refugees, as provided for in General Assembly resolution 194 (III), had not been effected, and that their situation continued to be a matter of serious concern; directed attention to the continuing seriousness of UNRWA's financial position; and reiterated its request that UNRWA headquarters be relocated to its former site in Beirut as soon as practicable. Agency headquarters are now located in Vienna and Amman.

By other resolutions, the Assembly:

* Urged the Secretary-General, in consultation with the UNRWA Commissioner-General, to undertake effective measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and human rights of the Palestine refugees in all the territories under Israeli occupation in 1967 and thereafter. The Assembly also held Israel responsible for the security of the Palestine refugees in Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and called upon it to fulfil its obligations as the occupying Power in that regard, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.

Israel was called on to release forthwith all detained Palestine refugees, including UNRWA employees, and to compensate UNRWA for the damage to its property and facilities resulting from the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The UNRWA Commissioner-General was urged to provide housing, in consultation with the Government of Lebanon, to Palestine refugees whose homes had been demolished or razed by the Israeli forces. (The vote on resolution 41/69 I was 121-2 (Israel, United States) -29.)

* Reaffirmed the inalienable right of all displaced inhabitants to return to their homes or former places of residence in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, and called upon Israel to take immediate steps for the return of all displaced inhabitants, and to desist from all measures that obstruct the return of the displaced inhabitants, "including measures affecting the physical and demographic structure of the occupied territories". (The vote on resolution 41/69 G was 126-2 (Israel, United States) -25.)

* Endorsed the efforts of the UNRWA Commissioner-General to continue to provide humanitarian assistance as far as practicable, on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure, "to other persons in the area who are at present displaced and in serious need of continued assistance as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities". Resolution 41/69 C was adopted without vote.)

* Called upon Israel to abandon its plans and to refrain from the removal, and from any action that leads to the removal and resettlement of Palestine refugees in the West Bank and from the destruction of their camps. (The vote on resolution 41/69 J was 145-2 (Israel, United States) -6 (Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, El Salvador, Liberia, Malawi, Zaire.)

* Reiterated its demand that Israel "desist from the removal and resettlement of Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and from the destruction of their shelters". (The vote on resolution 41/69 E was 146-2 (Israel, United States) -5 (Cameroon, Costa Rica, Liberia, Malawi, Zaire.)

* Asked the Secretary-General to take appropriate steps for the protection and administration of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel, and to establish a fund for the receipt of income derived therefrom, on behalf of the rightful owners. (The vote on resolution 41/69 H was 124-2 (Israel, United States) -28.)

* Emphasized the need to strengthen the educational system in the Arab territories occupied since 5 June 1967, including Jerusalem, specifically regarding the establishment of the proposed university at Jerusalem; requested the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary measures for establishing the University of Jerusalem, "Al-Quds"; and called upon Israel to remove the "hindrances which it has put in the way" of establishing such a university. (The vote on resolution 41/69 K was 152-2 (Israel, United States) -0.)

* Strongly appealed to all States, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to augment special allocations for grants and scholarships to Palestine refugees; to contribute generously to the Palestinian universities and towards establishing vocational training centres; and requested UNRWA to act as the recipient and trustee for such special allocations and scholarships and to award them to qualified Palestine refugee candidates. (The vote on resolution 41/69 D was 153-0-1 (Israel).)

* Requested the UNRWA Commissioner-General to resume on a continuing basis the interrupted general ration distribution to Palestine refugees in all fields. (The vote on resolution 41/69 F was 130-20-4 (Austria, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Spain.)

* Noted with approval the report of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA and requested the group to continue its efforts for another year. (Resolution 41/69 B was adopted without a vote.)

The Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA (A/41/702) endorsed the Commissioner-General's efforts to seek funding for construction from non-governmental sources as well as his efforts to persuade Governments to make special contributions for construction over and above their contributions to the General Fund. It noted that expenditure in 1987 was expected to be some 5 per cent higher than in 1986, and emphasized that special efforts would be necessary to secure the funding required to maintain services in 1987. The Working Group urged Governments to increase their contributions to UNRWA and to pay them as early as possible in the calendar year.

UNRWA: What It Is, How It Works

In 1948, nearly three quarters of a million Arabs became refugees during disturbances before and after the creation of the State of Israel in the former British mandate territory of Palestine. The refugees fled to Arab-held areas: the largest number to eastern Palestine, now better known as the West Bank (of the River Jordan); many to the Gaza Strip, subsequently administered by Egypt; others to Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic; and some to other countries.

Emergency assistance was provided promptly by international voluntary agencies supported by funds channelled through the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR). But as hopes for the immediate return of the refugees to their homes faded, the General Assembly set up the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which began operations on 1 May 1950.

The mandate for this relief Agency for populations dislocated by the Arab-Iraeli conflict was to be of limited duration in anticipation that solutions to the conflict might soon be found. But UNRWA's mandate has been extended 14 times and the Agency has evolved as a quasi-governmental operation providing health, education and welfare services to registered refugees, In the early 1950s, UNRWA's main programme was relief but today, education is the priority, taking almost two thirds of the annual expenditure. Health care takes about 20 per cent and relief the remainder.

UNRWA operates 635 elementary and junior secondary schools for 350,000 young refugees plus eight vocational and teacher training centres for 4,400 students; and it offers 350 university scholarships annually. The Agency's health care programme focuses on preventive medicine and mother and child care delivered through 98 health centres and provides balanced midday meals six days a week to some 40,000 children under six and others on medical recommendation.

The Agency's relief programme provides food rations, blankets, help with shelter repairs and token cash aid to 109,000 of the poorest refugees, who represent about 5 per cent of the registered refugee population. UNRWA also provides emergency relief to refugees during times of political upheaval and war. In 1986 alone, UNRWA mounted three emergency relief programmes in Lebanon to care for tens of thousands of refugees displaced by fighting.

Most Palestine refugees have become self-supporting over the years and two thirds of them live on their own in towns and villages of the Middle East. Only 750,000 of the 2.1 million registered refugees live in 61 refugee camps. UNRWA provides services to refugees living both in and outside camps.

UNRWA has no legislative or police powers and does not administer refugee camps. Local governments are responsible for law and order. The Agency has had to work with tight budgets and a growing caseload of dependents. Registered refugees not only include those uprooted from their homes and means of livelihood, but their descendents, who currently extend through almost four generations.

About one third of UNRWA's current funding comes from the United States, another third from Western European nations and the balance from other countries. The 1987 budget is $200.3 million.

UNRWA, headed by Commissioner-General Giorgio Giacomelli, has a small headquarters in Vienna and there are field offices in Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Jerusalem and Gaza. There are liaison offices in New York and Cairo.