Refugee Assistance

During October, UNRWA released its Annual Report summarizing Agency operations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria during 2000-2001. The report highlights the continued importance of UNRWA’s regular and emergency programs for Palestinian refugees, not only on a day-to-day basis, but also in reference to the maintenance of regional stability and a future durable solution for refugee based on UN Resolution 194 and international law. UNRWA’s schools, for example,continue to lead in annual examinations set by host countries in its five fields of operations. The schools also enjoy gender parity. Graduates of the Agency’s vocational and training centers are also in demand with nearly 80% of graduates finding employment in 2000. Health standards of Palestinian refugees are also among the highest in the region.

Facts and Figures, 2000-2001 (Figures as of 30 June 2001)

Number of registered refugees 3,874,738 (3.5% increase)

Number of students enrolled in UNRWA schools 474,742 (1.67% increase)

Number of UNRWA schools 634

* Under existing exchange agreements between UNRWA and the host authorities to provide schooling for pupils in remote areas, 191,602 refugee students were reportedly enrolled at government and private schools at the elementary and preparatory levels. A total of 39,437 non-refugee students attended UNRWA schools at the two levels. UNRWA offered secondary level education on a limited scale in Lebanon to address low access of refugees to government schools and prohibitively high cost of private schools. Five secondary schools accommodated 2,474 students.

Number of students in vocational and technical training centers 4,700

Number of educational staff 16,246

Outpatient facility visits 6.1 million

Dental visits 500,000

Number of Special Hardship Cases (SHC) 217,388 (4.7% increase)

Number of SHC shelters rehabilitated 358

# of loans - microfinance and mircoenterprise program 10,083

Value of loans US$ 9.92 million

Funding Gaps

The 2000-2001 Annual Report also highlights, however, the continued difficulties faced by UNRWA in funding both regular and emergency programs. At the end of November the estimate for 2001 funding of the Agency’s regular budget only reached US$ 285 million against a budget of US$ 311 million. In December, UNRWA made an appeal for US$ 330.7 million to fund operations in 2002. While the figure is an increase of US$ 19 million over 2001, it represents a decline in relative terms when inflation and the rapidly growing refugee population are taken into account. During the annual donor conference in New York, the EU informed UNRWA that its contributions in 2002 would rise by 45 percent, bringing the EU’s annual contribution to around US$ 76 million.

“This responsibility [to fund UNRWA programs for Palestine refugees] calls for great resolve on the part of the international community – resolve that is essential if the refugees are to feel assured that the commitment of the international community to their well-being remains firm.” --Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Annual Donors Conference, December 2001

Top 13 Donor Contributions to UNRWA’s Regular Budget, 2000

Source	Total 2000 Contribution	% increase/decrease from 1999
United States	89,299,900	+ 10.0
EU	52,411,761	- 18.0
UK and Northern Ireland	27,549,362	+ 112.0
Netherlands	22,221,793	+ 105.0
Norway	12,731,278	- 2.4
Sweden	18,504,731	- 1.4
Canada	10,754,233	+ 6.8
Japan	10,324,147	- 60.0
Denmark	8,479,288	- 5.1
Germany	5,663,634	- 34.0
Switzerland	5,513,931	- 27.0
Italy	5,296,399	+ 51.0
France	4,809,559	+ 5.0

* Contributions from the top 13 donors represented 90% of UNRWA’s 2000 funding. Wide fluctuation in annual contributions may be related to domestic funding cycles. In general, however, UNRWA donor contributions need to increase by 5% per annum to keep pace with the growth in the refugee population.

In 2000-2001, Jordan reported expenditures of US$ 392.1 million for Palestinian refugees and displaced persons compared to UNRWA’s expenditure of around US$ 70 million. Syria reported expenditures of US$ 68.4, more than triple that of UNRWA.

Refugees themselves continue to make substantial contributions to UNRWA. In 2000-2001, refugees in Syria donated around one-half million dollars to the Agency’s emergency program in the occupied Palestinian territories. In all fields except Gaza, nominal contributions at prescribed rates were collected from pupils and trainees on a voluntary basis to improve facilities and equipment in schools and training centers. Total contributions exceeded US$ 1.3 million. Other forms of community support included donations of equipment, furniture, photocopiers, tape recorders, videos, overhead projectors, personal computers, printers and other equipment and supplies.

The vast majority of Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories continue to require emergency assistance from UNRWA, including employment, food, cash and shelter assistance, in order to cope with the impact of Israel’s ongoing military and economic siege. According to the latest survey (November) from the Graduate Institute of Development Studies – University of Geneva (IUED), 42% of respondents received help from UNRWA between July and November 2001. This constitutes an increase of 8% since January 2001.

In refugee camps 92% of the people in Gaza and 72% of those in the West Bank received UNRWA assistance. Outside camps UNRWA assistance is more widespread in Gaza (55%) than in the West Bank (24%) or Jerusalem (23%). The number of respondents receiving assistance from UNRWA in Gaza and West Bank refugee camps in November was slightly lower in November than in June 2001, but higher in general in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. UNRWA’s emergency assistance program continues to focus primarily on food assistance (76.3%), followed by financial aid (15.7%), non-financial aid (5.4%), employment (1.9%) and medication (0.7%).

Pledges to UNRWA's Third Emergency Appeal rose further during October, reaching 72 per cent of the US$ 76.9 million required under the appeal. Contributions actually received rose significantly during the month, but amounted still to only 31% of appeal requirements. Total confirmed cash and in-kind contributions for Agency emergency programs as of 15 November amounted to US$ 125,863,468, more than one-third of UNRWA’s regular budget for all areas of operation.

Top 13 Emergency Donor Contributions as of 15 November 2001, Compared to Top 13 Donors in 2000 Regular Budget. Emergency Funds include 4 October 2000 Flash Appeal, 8 November Emergency Appeal, February Emergency Appeal, and June Emergency Appeal. Includes value of in-kind contributions.

Donor Country	Received (USD)	Outstanding (15-11-01)	2000 Regular Budget
US/USAID	28,117,047	8,000,000	89,299,900
EC/ECHO	14,958,590	13,872,727	52,411,761
UK	19,307,584	0	27,549,362
Netherlands	13,624,004	0	22,221,793
Islamic Development Bank	0	5,000,000	-
Italy	1,387,082	3,521,292	5,296,399
Switzerland	2,721,522	0	5,513,931
Germany	325,368	1,859,245	5,663,634
Denmark	1,841,424	0	8,479,288
Norway	1,759,032	0	12,731,278
Ireland	1,415,510	0	839,801
Belgium	261,386	1,126,789	2,177,951
Finland	1,135,712	0	1,807,007

2000 Top 13 UNRWA Regular Budget donors who are not in the top 13 of donors contributing to UNRWA’s emergency fund include Canada, Japan and France.

During 2000-2001, 9 of 23 members of the League of Arab States contributed to UNRWA’s regular budget, comprising 2.3% of total contributions. The largest contributor was Saudi Arabia followed by Kuwait and the UAE. The figure is substantially lower than the figure (7.8% of the total regular budget) to which Arab states committed themselves under Resolution No. 4645 (1987) adopted by the Arab Council of Foreign Ministers.A level of 7.8% would have required contributions of $22,878,005 in 2000-2001.

Austerity Measures

Lack of adequate funding continues to force UNRWA to implement a number of austerity measures affecting its regular and emergency programs. UNRWA schools continue to run double-shifts (74% of schools in the five areas of operation) with the highest rate of double-shifting in Jordan (93%). Double shifting has not decreased despite an increased program of school construction since 1993. Classroom occupancy rates average around 43.5%, with some fields reporting a rate of over 50 students per class. In addition, funding shortfalls mean that teacher’s salaries are not keeping pace with inflation resulting in increasing difficulties retaining and recruiting the best qualified staff who seek better paying jobs elsewhere.

Due to funding shortfalls in 2000-2001, UNRWA was not able to extend the educational cycle from 9 to 10 years in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in keeping with changes introduced by the Palestinian Authority. In Jordan, the Agency was only able to offer computer science at the 10th grade while courses were introduced in government schools from grades 8 through 10. UNRWA was also unable to introduce new or expand the capacity of existing courses in 2000-2001 in the Agency’s vocational and technical training centers without reducing old courses. The Agency remains unable to support its scholarship program through its regular budget, which was cut in 1997/98.

In the field of health, medical consultations in the Agency’s health centers exceeded 100 patients per day per doctor with higher rates in the Gaza Strip. Owing to funding constraints the average health expenditure per refugee in 2000-2001 was maintained at US$ 13.50, a fraction of the current level of expenditure by other health care providers in the Agency’s operations.

It is estimated that 11,100 Special Hardship case (SHC) families are in need of selective cash assistance but existing allocations will only enable UNRWA to respond to acute crises. Available resources for shelter rehabilitation continue to fall short of identified needs. Some 14,000 SHC case families, comprising some 54,000 persons, still live in housing that does not meet minimally acceptable standards for structural soundness, hygiene, ventilation and space relative to family size. An estimated USS 12 million is needed to repair these shelters, compared to the US$ 2 million spent for shelter rehabilitation in 2000-2001. The average caseload of social workers during 2000-2001 was around 316 cases per year, well in excess of the recommended 250 cases per year.

As regards emergency programs, UNRWA relief activities were able to pick up in September 2001 with the arrival of new consignments of food in the Gaza Strip, enabling food distribution to recommence. Food assistance had come to a virtual standstill in the summer due to funding constraints.In the West Bank, mobile clinics returned to service in October, in co-operation with Palestinian non-governmental organizations. These medical teams visited 77 villages and treated a total of 9,737 patients.

Employment Assistance

In the Gaza Strip, as of the beginning of November, a total of 9,116 refugees had benefited from the emergency employment program since January 2001. Approximately one-quarter were women. In the West Bank some 3,198 refugees had obtained temporary employment under the emergency program. Over 35% of refugees who obtained temporary employment in the West Bank were women.

Food Assistance

Nearly 60% of food aid in the occupied territories comes from UNRWA. According to the November IUED survey, UNRWA delivers food in camps to an average of one resident of every two. Food distribution by UNRWA was more widespread in Gaza (64% in camps, 37% outside) than in the West Bank (32% in camps, 6% outside).

In the Gaza Strip, the food distribution cycle recommenced in late September. As of November,UNRWA had distributed a total of 674,613 food rations to 123,974 families in the Gaza Strip. During October food packages were also issued to non-refugee families at the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis/Rafah, where a tight military closure has been imposed. In the West Bank, UNRWA distributed food rations out of residual stocks in September and October to families in Jenin, the old city of Hebron, ‘Aida and Nur Shams refugee camps, and the villages of Deir Sudan, Beit Rima and Burqa. Families in these areas were particularly hard hit due to curfews, road closures and incursions by Israeli forces that limited severely freedom of movement.

The November IUED survey found that, in general, Palestinians have reduced consumption of dairy products, meat and even carbohydrates as a means of coping with the severe economic situation. The reduction in consumption of these products is more pronounced among families from refugee camps (10-15% more).

Cash Assistance

According to the November IUED survey, around one-fifth of Palestinians received financial assistance throughout Gaza and West Bank refugee camps. People living outside camps in the West Bank (9%) and in Jerusalem (2%) received less financial assistance. Financial help is almost 3 times higher among refugees than in the rest of the population.