Executive Summary
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has provided basic services, including education and health, to Palestine refugees1 in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza for over 63 years. The Agency has also responded to the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestine refugees in times of conflict and extreme hardship. The current regional crisis, triggered by the war in Syria, is one of the most trying challenges UNRWA has faced since it was created to assist Palestine refugees after their original dispossession and dispersion throughout the region in 1948.
Without faltering in its core work of providing assistance to further the human development of a population of over 5 million Palestine refugees across the region, and despite chronic financial constraints, UNRWA is now responding to the critical needs of Palestine refugees affected by the conflict in Syria. This includes the Palestine refugee population inside Syria, as well as those who have fled to Lebanon and Jordan, and the small number who have reached Gaza. Many Palestine refugees have sought safety in Egypt, Turkey and further afield. While these countries are beyond UNRWA’s area of operation, the Agency is actively advocating for them to receive the support they need.
The scale of the Syria conflict and its devastating humanitarian consequences continue to outstrip forecasts and planning scenarios. As needs rapidly escalate and ever-greater numbers are affected, humanitarian response plans and budgets just months old have become inadequate to cover even life-saving assistance. The UNRWA Syria Crisis Response Plan for January-June 2013 appealed for critical humanitarian assistance in the form of food, cash, household/winter items and health services in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan for a total of US$ 91,241,416. Many donors responded generously, funding 85.6 per cent2 of the appeal to date, and the considerable results achieved against this are detailed according to strategic objectives in this report.
Over the next sixth-month period, 1 July to 31 December 2013, UNRWA will provide urgent humanitarian assistance to up to 420,000 Palestine refugees affected by conflict in Syria, up to 80,000 Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS) in Lebanon, up to 10,000 PRS in Jordan, and up to 1,350 PRS in Gaza. The number of people in need is rapidly approaching the total population of 529,000 Palestine refugees registered in Syria. UNRWA is also intent on maintaining its regular services, including in primary education and health care, adapting them to conflict conditions as required. Alongside humanitarian response activities, UNRWA’s network of services continues to provide an important framework for families and communities, and improve prospects for effective post-conflict recovery.
For the six-month period July-December 2013, UNRWA requires US$ 199.6 million, of which US$ 150 million will be programmed inside Syria, US$ 44.7 million in Lebanon and US$ 4.3 million in Jordan.3 US$ 666,000 is required for regional management and emergency response outside of the purview of these three field offices, including cash assistance for PRS families in Gaza. This is a conservative reckoning of what is required to address the most basic requirements of a community unraveling and in acute distress.
UNRWA’s operational depth and breadth in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, made possible by more than 13,000 area staff, many experienced in humanitarian assistance, has allowed the Agency to respond with comparative speed and effectiveness. As the armed conflict continues in the coming period and humanitarian needs grow, UNRWA will draw on this unique blend of assets to continue its services and improve and strengthen its humanitarian emergency response. Despite the enormous challenges of the ongoing conflict, UNRWA’s work still supports the resilience of the Palestine refugee community and can help stem what they increasingly perceive as a downward spiral into an insecure and uncertain future.