Frequently asked questions

Palestine refugees registered with the Agency are eligible to access its services within the UNRWA areas of operations (Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip). However, not all registered refugees avail themselves of the Agency’s services. Reasons include - for example - having no need for assistance or having moved outside of UNRWA areas of operations. The annual UNRWA budget is based on the number of refugees accessing services, not the total number of those registered.

UNRWA basic education and primary health-care services are accessible to all Palestine refugees who seek them in UNRWA fields of operations, while other services like cash and food assistance or hospitalization support are provided based on eligibility criteria, which target those most in need. Eligibility for the receipt of UNRWA services is not contingent on lack of nationality. Eligibility for UNRWA services is a matter separate from conferral of refugee status or nationality under international or national law, issues that go beyond the scope of the Agency’s mandate.

In 2021, almost 545,000 children were enrolled in UNRWA schools (2021-2022 school year); Social Safety Net Programme assistance reached 398,044 beneficiaries; and 1.7 million received life saving humanitarian assistance. This includes those affected by conflict, blockade and occupation in the occupied Palestinian territory or the Syria conflict and Palestine refugees in Lebanon most impacted by the current crisis in the country.

UNHCR does not have a mandate over Palestine refugees within the UNRWA fields of operations (Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip). This is not a decision on the part of either UNRWA or UNHCR, but rather the result of decisions of the international community enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the UNHCR Statute (adopted by the General Assembly).

In 1949, the UN General Assembly established two different UN refugee agencies – the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – to respond to distinct refugee crises. The UN General Assembly provided these Agencies with complementary mandates to assist and protect refugees, as laid out in relevant instruments, including the Statute of UNHCR (adopted by a General Assembly resolution) and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (an international treaty). Neither UNRWA nor UNHCR can unilaterally change these instruments.

The UNRWA mandate extends to the delivery of services to Palestine refugees within its five fields of operations: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Therefore, Palestine refugees within these fields do not fall under UNHCR’s mandate. However, UNHCR has a mandate regarding Palestine refugees when they are outside the UNRWA areas of operations in certain circumstances.

Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle Palestine refugees and has no authority to seek lasting durable solutions for refugees. UNRWA is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide services to Palestine refugees in five fields of operations, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Palestine refugees within the Agency’s fields of operations are excluded from the mandate of UNHCR, which has a resettlement mandate. However, according to UNHCR, less than 1 per cent of refugees are resettled each year. 

It is worth noting that the protracted situation in which Palestine refugees live is not unique. Resettlement requires the consent not only of refugees, but also of the receiving state. UNHCR estimates that 78 per cent of all refugees under its mandate – 16 million refugees - were in protracted refugee situations in 2019. According to UNHCR data, of the 20.7 million refugees under UNHCR protection in 2020, less than 2 per cent of refugees (251,000) were repatriated  to their country of origin. Far fewer were resettled in a third country (34,400) or naturalized as citizens in their country of asylum (33,746). The vast majority remained refugees pending a solution to their plight.

No. Established by the UN General Assembly (as its subsidiary organ), UNRWA is a United Nations agency and humanitarian organization that operates based on the legal framework applicable to UN entities, including the United Nations Charter, and in accordance with the UN humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence.

The Agency is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide assistance and protection to Palestine refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services include education, healthcare, relief and social services, camp infrastructure, microfinance and emergency assistance to Palestine refugees. The finding of a just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestine refugees is a political matter and is not part of the Agency’s mandate.

Host governments allocate areas of land for use as refugee camps. Some of the land is state-owned, but the majority is privately owned. UNRWA does not own the land.

UNRWA has supported multiple generations of Palestine refugees with health, education and social assistance. Life expectancy of Palestine refugees at birth is similar to that of nationals of host countries. UNRWA primary health clinics provide a level of basic care that has reduced maternal and infant mortality among Palestine refugees to national levels, or even lower, in the host countries.

More than 2.5 million Palestine refugees have graduated from UNRWA schools since the 1950s. UNRWA’s pioneering education programme is recognised as a significant educational force in the Middle East. The Agency has made a substantial and unique contribution to the human development of Palestine refugees and has earned a reputation for innovation and dynamism in its approach and commitment to education Literacy levels are high relative to regional comparators, particularly amongst women.  A 2016 World Bank report found UNRWA students broadly outperform their peers in public schools and achieve higher-than-average results in international assessments, findings reaffirmed in a subsequent 2021 UNHCR-World Bank report. The 2021 UNHCR-World Bank report also found that UNRWA schools provide a model example and strong foundational lessons for effective emergency responsiveness in refugee education, as well as provide the building blocks for cost-effective, quality education service delivery in resource-constrained environments. And in 2021, 45 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip and 14 in the West Bank were named winners of the prestigious International School Awards, an honour granted by the British Council to celebrate schools that are successfully preparing students to be responsible global citizens by embedding international education into their curriculums.

UNRWA also works towards improving the access of Palestine refugees to livelihood opportunities in host countries – with an emphasis on women, youth, those living in poverty, and other vulnerable groups. Palestine refugees form a reservoir of human capital in the region and globally. Despite exclusion and frequent limitations on opportunities, they have played an important, widely-recognized role in local and regional development over the past 70-plus years.

UNRWA improves access to livelihood opportunities primarily through nine technical and vocational training centres, which have graduated more than 123,000 young people as of 2021, all trained to match the needs of the local labour market. Additionally, UNRWA microfinance services have distributed over 571,003 loans since 1992 at a total value of over US$ 615 million. UNRWA temporary job creation programmes in Gaza and employment service centres in Lebanon help refugees overcome, even if temporarily, some challenges to livelihood opportunities in these areas. UNRWA itself plays an important role as an employer of around  28,000Palestine refugees and others, the majority of them teachers, and it creates significant livelihood opportunities through its construction projects across its fields of operations.

In addition, UNRWA works to improve living conditions in refugee camps, from ensuring access to water to the construction and maintenance of sound education and health facilities, as well as shelter rehabilitation for the poorest and those affected by conflict.

As part of the social safety net programme (SSNP), UNRWA provides in-kind food and cash assistance to abject poor and vulnerable refugees. In 2021, 398,044 refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan were assisted under this intervention, which makes the difference between going hungry and having food on the table.

The UNRWA response to the COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the Agency’s strength as a frontline service provider. The Agency’s ability to quickly and innovatively adjust  service provision such as telemedicine, home delivery of essential medicines and the use of self-learning materials and interactive computer-based learning to minimize the spread of disease. The Agency’s infrastructure, its long experience in working during emergencies and its decision to issue dedicated COVID-19 flash appeals contributed to a quick response to the pandemic.

As of May 2022, the timing and level of 2022 financial contributions remain unclear. UNRWA is forecasting a major shortfall against its programme budget and emergency appeals. Additionally, the Agency started the year with a carryover of US$ 62 million in liabilities on its programme budget due to insufficient financial contributions and increased needs due to the negative socioeconomic impact of COVID-19. Furthermore, UNRWA needs additional funding to cover financial gaps which have arisen in its in-kind food assistance operations in the Gaza Strip and Syria as a result of global supply chain disruptions and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Funds to cover the carryover need to be secured, in addition to the 2022 annual requirement of US$ 817 million for the programme budget and for life-saving emergency assistance. 

UNRWA is asking all donors to find ways to comprehensively address the Agency’s recurring shortfalls to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of critical services until there is a just and durable solution to the plight of Palestine refugees. Maintaining smooth and predictable operations, including the provision of emergency assistance, is of the utmost importance for the well-being, protection and human development of Palestine refugees, as well as for the stability of the region at large. 

UNRWA has its own Department of Internal Oversight, charged with providing internal oversight through:

• Independent, professional and objective internal audit, inspection, investigation and consulting services
• Promoting responsible administration of resources, a culture of accountability and transparency
• Improved programme performance

The UNRWA Commissioner-General is advised by the Advisory Committee on Internal Oversight which includes external members. UNRWA is also audited by the independent UN Board of Auditors (UNBOA) every year, which publishes its reports to the General Assembly. Since 2012, the UNBOA has consistently issued ‘unqualified’ reports, i.e. reports finding the Agency’s annual financial statements to be accurate, fair and in line with international accounting standards. These reports, together with the Agency’s audited financial statements, are published on the Agency’s website. The Agency is bound by the principles of best practice of oversight that apply to the United Nations system as a whole.