UNRWA.

UNRWA 

United Nations aid to Palestine refugees began in 1948 when the General Assembly established the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine. The Assembly established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in 1949. Since May 1950, the Agency, supported by voluntary contributions, has provided relief, education, training and other services to Arab refugees from Palestine. In 1967 UNRWA's functions were expanded to include humanitarian assistance, as far as practicable, on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure, to other displaced persons in serious need of immediate assistance as a result of hostilities.

The Special Political Committee considered a number of reports on UNRWA's activities, among them, the annual Report of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA (document A/38/13). In it, Commissioner-General Olof Rydbeck reviews Agency activities between 1 July 1982-30 June 1983, a period marked by intense relief efforts in Lebanon following the invasion of that country by Israel in June 1982.

He reports that the situation in Lebanon had necessitated an emergency relief and reconstruction operation to meet the needs of some 177,500 Palestine refugees and to restore the Agency's own infrastructure, which was damaged or destroyed during the fighting.

Shortly after the invasion, the Commissioner-General issued an appeal to Governments and non-governmental organizations for contributions for emergency relief. The estimated cost from June 1982 to July 1983 for such relief was $52.7 million. Generous donations from Governments, the European Community, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations, and the drawing-down of existing UNRWA stocks of foodstuffs and materials enabled the Agency to almost cover the expenditure, the report states. The balance of some $1 million was to be provided from the regular Agency income.

Contributions strictly applicable to the year's programmes were significantly below those of 1982 at the time the Commissioner-General prepared the report. However, since cash had been received against pledges from previous years, a major financial crisis that could have threatened the continuation of priority programmes had not occurred.

Regarding UNRWA's emergency operation in Lebanon, Mr. Rydbeck reports that the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982 and its consequences "largely undid the Agency's work of 30 years in Lebanon and transformed the environment in which UNRWA carries out its mandate in ways that had repercussions well beyond that field.'

As for relief efforts for refugees in Lebanon, Mr. Rydbeck states that some 185,000 persons, of whom about 30,000 were completely destitute, would need welfare assistance at least until the spring of 1984. Apart from relief aid, an appeal was made in June 1983 for $13 million to cover the initial phase of emergency reconstruction of UNRWA installations, camp infrastructure and refugee housing.

The general distribution of foodstuffs to eligible refugees was suspended in September 1982, except in Lebanon, due to the emergency situation there, the report states. Before that, 830,000 refugees--less than half the number registered with the Agency--were receiving food aid. Former recipients protested the cancellation of the basic ration programme. The action was interpreted by many "as a sign of the abandonment of the Palestinians by the international community', the report states.

To alleviate the fear that suspension of the basic ration would deprive them of refugee status, UNRWA issued new registration cards to registered refugees. The new system provides one card for each person rather than one card per family. The former system inconvenienced individual family members who had to produce the card at different places at the same time. Distribution of new cards is to be completed by the middle of 1984.

The Agency committed 60 per cent of its $182.9 million expenditure in 1982 to education and training, the report notes. During the 1982-1983 academic year, 651 schools were operating, with 9,858 teachers for 336,207 pupils up to the age of 15. There were also eight vocational and teacher-training centres for 3,948 young people in vocational and technical courses and 1,310 in teacher training.

In the area of health, 98 general health units were in operation, as were 26 laboratories, nine maternity centres, 26 dental clinics and 1,432 hospital beds.

Relief activities outside the Lebanon emergency effort accounted for 17 per cent of UNRWA's expenditure in 1982. Assistance was provided to the poorest of the 1,957,061 registered Palestine refugees--a population increase of 1.6 per cent over the preceding year. The 89,110 hardship cases included widows, orphans and the aged, who received aid for food, clothing and housing.

Conditions in the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank, also caused the Agency deep concern. Repercussions from the political and military events in the Near East had affected the civilian population of occupied territories. UNRWA had tried to limit the interruption in Agency services and to secure the reopening of certain training centres and schools.

Mr. Rydbeck predicts the Agency would once again face a grave financial situation in 1984, unless income kept pace with increasing estimates of essential expenditure. He notes that "the Agency's programmes represent an element of continuity and security in an area of dangerous instability'. If they were put in jeopardy by a failure of income to meet essential needs in 1984 and thereafter, the interruption to services would "inject another major element of destabilization into an already troubled part of the world', he says.

The concern expressed regarding the financial situation of UNRWA in the Commissioner-General's report was reflected in the report of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA (document A/38/558).

The Group was established in 1970 to study all aspects of the Agency's financing and to assist the Secretary-General and the Commissioner-General in seeking solutions to the problems posed by the Agency's financial crisis. The Working Group was informed by the Commissioner-General on 28 September that the financial outlook for UNRWA in the future could be improved only by increased contributions from donors or by the planned reduction or elimination of its programmes, either uniformly throughout its operations or field by field.

The Group noted with concern that the financial outlook for 1984 gave rise to very serious concern. Projected expenditures for 1984 amounted to $233 million, an increase of $25 million over 1983. The increase was the result of expected inflation and additional costs associated with the annual increase in the refugee population served by the Agency. If income in 1984 did not exceed the level of 1983 there would be a shortfall of $66 million for the financing of the Agency's activities, the report states.

All concerned emphasized that UNRWA's educational programme should be assigned highest priority.

The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) has also reviewed the organization, budget and operations of UNRWA. It reported (document A/38/143) that helping UNRWA have the best possible management would reinforce the confidence of Member States in its effectiveness, improve its image and credibility and facilitate regular and stable financing.

The report examins operational difficulties and methods, budget and finance, personnel, structure and delegation of authority.

Although UNRWA was set up as a temporary institution, its perpetuation, through the renewal of its mandate, reflected the nature of the political framework in which the problem of the Palestine refugees was embedded, the JIU says. Its substantial accomplishments should be measured primarily in humanitarian terms, and its shortcomings should be judged against the background of the lack of prospects for a political solution and a just settlement of the question of the Palestine refugees, the report states.

The use of self-help projects should be encouraged in all fields when UNRWA funds are insufficient. Whenever possible, unsatisfactory rented schools should be replaced by schools constructed by UNRWA. All books cleared for use by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization should be admitted without question by the occupation authorities.

In the area of relief programmes, a new priority assistance category of refugees should be established. Food coupons should be introduced to replace distribution in kind. The annual ceiling on the number of refugees eligible to receive rations should be abolished.

Photo: For Palestinian refugees, documents are crucial Efforts are under way to provide individual identity cards for these persons.