United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

About United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

• It is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA Establishment

• UNRWA was established by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949.
• Objective: To provide relief, health, and education services for Palestinians who lost both their homes and their means of livelihood during the Arab-Israeli wars following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
• The agency began operations on 1 May 1950.
• In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA’s mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2026.
• UNRWA Headquarters: 
  • It was originally headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, but was moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1978. 
• In 1996 the General Assembly moved the agency to the Gaza Strip to demonstrate the Assembly’s commitment to the Arab-Israeli peace process.
• UNRWA is unique among UN agencies in that it delivers services directly. 
• UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.
• It supports more than five million registered Palestinian refugees, and their patrilineal descendants, who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war, as well as those who fled or were expelled during and following the 1967 Six Day war.
• Fields of operations: It provides services in its five fields of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including the East of Jerusalem.
• Funding: 
  • UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
  • UNRWA also receives some funding from the regular budget of the UN.
  • UNRWA reports only to the UN General Assembly.

UNRWA FAQs

Q1. Where is the UNRWA located?

Ans. UNRWA Headquarters are located in Amman and in Gaza.

Q2. Which currency does Palestine use?

Ans. Palestine has no currency, and it mainly uses three currencies: Israeli shekels (ILS), United States dollars (USD), and Jordanian dinars (JOD).

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Q3. What language is spoken in Palestine?

Ans. Palestinian Arabic is the official and primary language spoken by Palestinians and has a unique dialect.

Q4. Who controls Gaza?

Ans. Gaza is primarily controlled by Hamas, a Palestinian militant and political group that took power in the territory in 2007 after a violent conflict with Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Source: TOI