UNRWA

In this research, we study the social dynamics that lead to the proclaimed non- participation of refugees to local political activities in the city of Nablus. From a historical perspective, the aim of this analysis is to determine how, in spite of a long process of urban integration, the system of participatory government inside the refugee camps sustainably maintains an institutional distance with the nationalization process of local institutions initiated after the Oslo agreements.

This publication clarifies some fundamental legal and historical issues regarding Palestine refugees and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)—in the wake of the 2018 U.S.
administration’s decision to halt its longstanding partnership with UNRWA and completely suspend its funding of the Agency. The paper ultimately demonstrates that the U.S. administration’s allegations against UNRWA and the related call to either reform or dismantle the Agency rests on political, rather than legal, grounds.

This study aimed at investigating the impact of using smartboard technology on developing 9th graders' English reading comprehension skills. The targeted reading comprehension skills were prediction, skimming, scanning, recognizing synonyms and antonyms. The researcher purposively chose a representative sample of (60) 9th graders from Deir Al Balah Preparatory "C" Boys' school which is run by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip. The participants were divided into two equivalent groups: each group had (30) students. The tool of the study was an achievement test (Pre & Post). The results of the study revealed that the smartboard was effective to develop the reading comprehension skills among ninth graders. In the light of these results, It is recommended that EFL Palestinian teachers should use smartboard as a tool of enhancing students' reading comprehension skills.

Lebanon has been a reluctant host to Palestinian refugees since 1948. A mainstay of Lebanese policies vis-a-vis the Palestinian refugees has been preventing their permanent integration and settlement in the country. The question
of naturalizing refugees is one of the most contentious political issues in Lebanon today. Palestinian refugees tend to live in conflict-ridden environments, often at the margins of the host society. This first of all applies to the camp-based refugees, who languish in dilapidated and overcrowded camps. Unable to return to Palestine and marginalized by the host society, they are caught in a legal limbo. In order to understand the complex legal regime that governs their refugee status, it is necessary to examine their rights as refugees in international law, regionally as hosted by Arab League states and nationally as residents of Lebanon. The rights regime is complex and contributes to a critical ‘protection gap’ for the refugees. This article demonstrates how this protection gap was created and widened by historically contingent, international, regional
and national legal rights regimes.

Midway through its first comprehensive Medium Term Strategy (MTS), the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA; the Agency) is in position to evaluate how the MTS was developed and implemented and what lessons can be drawn for the development of the next MTS, due to be developed from January 2013. Given this, the MTS evaluation (the Evaluation) was conducted at an opportune time for UNRWA.

The current MTS was developed in 2008 and covers the period 2010 – 2015. The MTS was the first time that the Agency had attempted to incorporate diverse strategic thinking and planning into a single document while aligning it with UN results based management standards (RBM) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It was developed during the implementation of a range of management, programmatic and other reforms that have substantively changed the way the Agency operates. It was also developed prior to the international financial crisis that is now increasing additional financial pressure on the Agency.

[This paper was submitted to complete my Bachelor's Thesis Requirement in my final year of college.]

This research follows the development of the Palestinian education system in the West Bank from the creation of the national Ministry of Education in the 1993 Oslo Accords. Since its creation, the Ministry of Education has cooperated and competed with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and non-governmental organizations to provide education to the territory. The interaction between those two types of education providers—state and non-state—is an issue that ranges beyond Palestine. The advantages and disadvantages of having an internally divided education system in the West Bank are discussed in this research. The main advantages of non-state entities are their political and financial neutrality in the face of political instability. The main disadvantages of non-state entities are their potential to undermine the state through funding diversion, representation of foreign instead of nationalistic interests, and their creation of unequal school performance across the sector. The findings are then put into the context of the controversy of long-term humanitarian intervention. The ultimate conclusion argued is that non-state entities have a lot to offer to Palestine and other developing countries, though their existence is problematic and would do well to take into account local desires.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency‘s (UNRWA) Organisational Development (OD) was an Agency wide process that brought ―together . . . initiatives designed to strengthen UNRWA‘s capacity to serve Palestine refugees effectively and efficiently.

Overall, OD did ―strengthen UNRWA‘s capacity to serve Palestine refugees‖ although further work may be done to fully meet this objective. This was largely achieved by a prevalent communicative, participatory and empowering management approach that empowered individual managers, especially at the field level, and that prompted people to examine ways to improve the effectiveness of their work.

This article traces the evolution of the approach of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to refugee participation over the past 60 years through a discussion of the Agency’s programmes and its relationship with the refugees it serves. The article identifies a range of participatory approaches: participation in economic reintegration; participation in the manage- ment and delivery of Agency services; participation in project planning, implemen- tation, monitoring, and evaluation; and stakeholder participation. The article illustrates how the evolution in UNRWA’s approach to participation represents a significant shift in the Agency’s relationship with the Palestine refugees. While UNRWA traditionally viewed participation as a means of programme implementa- tion, the new approach acknowledges participation as a human right with the pri- mary objective of empowering refugees to realize their rights and improve social equity within the framework of the Agency’s mandate, values, and other UN prin- ciples. The article concludes that the fundamental challenge for stakeholder partic- ipation will be to find ways to facilitate the participation of refugees in the search for and realization of durable solutions to their long-standing plight.

Acknowledging the root causes of Palestinian displacement and objectively applying international law is key to any solution to the Palestinian refugee question. Recent attempts to dismiss the Palestinian refugee issue altogether (up to the point that some even question whether Palestinian refugees are 'legitimate refugees') make this all the more imperative. The current legal framework including recent developments in the international refugee protection regime call for a significant paradigm shift in dealing with the Palestinian refugee question: the process should not be governed by politics at the expense of legal entitlements; refugee rights should be considered central and solutions be construed around them;  the United Nations should re-assume the leading role they (aim to) play vis-a-vis other large refugee crises.  Only an effective multi stakeholders approach may help Palestinian refugees out of the impasse.

The current scholarly preoccupation with the Syrian refugee crisis bears significant implications for the future of the millions currently displaced by the conflict. However, for millions of Palestinian refugees, a dearth in research nevertheless still exists. With children and adolescents as the focus, this literature review traces the trajectory of scholarship dedicated to Palestinian refugee children, thereby revealing a noteworthy scarcity in sociological and anthropological studies dedicated to the topic. The interrogative power in revealing this deficiency further highlights the necessity of comprehensive, vital research aimed at the Palestinian refugee situation.

Mujeres Rumbo a Gaza Es el nombre de la campaña activista inédita que se llevó a cabo en septiembre de 2016. 13 mujeres (incluida su tripulación) de distintos países del mundo arriba de un velero en una travesía por el Mar Mediterráneo, su destino era Gaza, Palestina. Su objetivo era llevar ayuda humanitaria y participar allá de un festival.  La experiencia del trayecto, la decisión, el activismo político y el relato de una de las mujeres que participó en la travesía.

Under entrenched principles of international law, for so long as the state [i.e. Israel] that is responsible for the displacement of refugees is unwilling or unable to ensure that those refugees enjoy their sanctioned rights, the international community is bound to ensure legal, humanitarian and physical protection. This is an obligation. It is not charity. In the case of Palestine, the international community, particularly the United Nations, bears a special responsibility for the creation and perpetuation of the ongoing catastrophe of the Palestinian refugees.

Over the course of 2018, in a series of papers, press releases and private advocacy actions, BADIL has sought to call attention to the most recent political attack on the rights of Palestinian refugees and IDPs. In the midst of the most severe attack of a long-sustained campaign by Israel, the United States, and their allies to undermine, transform and eliminate UNRWA into a defunct, ineffectual agency and to liquidate the issue and rights of Palestinian refugees, BADIL is now urgently calling for a new official and grassroots strategy to address the crisis.

Development of inclusive education (IE) policies affirming explicit commitment to educating students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) alongside their colleagues without SEND is the bedrock for high quality and equitable IE provision for the former. This qualitative case study aims to examine the implementation of the IE policy of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East [UNRWA] at an UNRWA lower elementary school in Lebanon. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) from 24 teaching, administrative and educational support staff, and parents of students with SEND, who were purposefully and conveniently recruited. The thematic analysis generated 4 overarching themes: environment, education system, support, and relationship with parents and local community. Despite the barriers the school is facing during IE implementation, the school has exerted big efforts for overcoming those barriers and measuring and sustaining school inclusiveness.

Keywords: Inclusive Education, Inclusion, Special Educational Needs, Disabilities, Case Study, UNRWA

Suriye mülteci kriziyle ilgili bugünkü endişeler, çatışmalar sebebiyle yerinden edilmiş milyonlarca insanın geleceği için önemli neticeler barındırmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, milyonlarca Filistinli mülteciye yönelik hâlâ araştırma eksikliği bulunmaktadır. Çocuklara ve ergenlere odaklanan bu literatür incelemesi, Filistinli mülteci çocuklara hasredilmiş araştırmaların izini sürerek konuya adanmış sosyolojik ve antropolojik çalışmalardaki eksikliği ortaya çıkarmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu eksikliği ortaya çıkartmak noktasındaki sorgulayıcı tutum, Filistinli mülteci sorununa yönelik kapsamlı ve hayati araştırmaların gerekliliğini vurgulamaktadır.

Rubikon, 26.07.2019

https://www.rubikon.news/artikel/unter-aller-augen

Im Juli 2014 begann der letzte Krieg gegen Gaza, aber
der „stille“ Krieg hat nie aufgehört. Zum siebzigsten
Jahrestag der Vertreibung der Palästinenser im Jahr
1948 riefen palästinensische Aktivisten und
Aktivistinnen zum „Großen Marsch der Rückkehr“ auf,
um die Welt auf ihre katastrophale Situation
aufmerksam zu machen. Seit März 2018 protestieren
jeden Freitag Tausende Menschen in Gaza für ihr
Rückkehrrecht, gegen die völkerrechtswidrige Blockade
und gegen die zunehmende Verelendung, weitgehend
unbemerkt von der Weltöffentlichkeit. Viele
Demonstranten wurden gezielt von israelischen
Scharfschützen erschossen, Tausende verletzt, viele
gezielt zu Krüppeln geschossen. Trotz dieses Tötens
und der verheerenden Menschenrechtsverletzungen
gibt es nur wenig Protest von der internationalen
Gemeinschaft, im Gegenteil, die militärische
Kooperation mit Israel blüht, auch in Deutschland.

The romantic, nineteenth-century image of the Bedouin as fierce, independent nomads on camelback racing across an endless desert persists in the West. Yet since the era of Ottoman rule, the Mzeina Bedouin of the South Sinai desert have lived under foreign occupation. For the last forty years Bedouin land has been a political football, tossed back and forth between Israel and Egypt at least five times.

This article analyzes the political motivations that have underpinned the United States' support for the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East since its creation in 1949.
Cet article analyse les motivations politiques qui ont sous-tendu le soutien des Etats-Unis au mandat de l'Office de secours  et de travaux des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés de Palestine au Proche-Orient depuis sa création en 1949.

The Bulletin highlights the structural obstacles in UNRWA’s funding framework, together with concerted and strategic political efforts by Israel and the US administration to delegitimize and dismantle the Agency resulting in the present financial crisis. The Agency’s short-term but renewable mandate and the absence of mechanisms to address the natural growth of the Palestinian refugee population, together with the predominately voluntary funding system which is adversely susceptible to world politics, have resulted in a chronic funding crisis for UNRWA and decreases in the quality and quantity of services provided to refugees.

O Plano de Partilha da Palestina proposto pela Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) em 1947 gerou o conflito Árabe-Israelense de 1948, o qual resultou em milhares de refugiados da Palestina e demandou uma ação humanitária por parte da ONU para conter a instabilidade nessa região do Oriente Médio. A situação de refúgio dos palestinos perdura há 70 anos e não há previsão de solução permanente. A assistência humanitária prestada pela Agência das Nações Unidas de Assistência aos Refugiados da Palestina (UNRWA), estabelecida em caráter temporário, tem sido renovada há 68 anos. Neste artigo, o objetivo é analisar historicamente (e criticamente)  o papel da UNRWA e suas implicações para as negociações do conflito Israel-Palestina. Argumenta-se que a agência cumpre um imprescindível papel humanitário, amenizando a situação dos refugiados até que uma solução permanente seja negociada entre as partes. Entretanto, a agência desempenha funções similares a um Estado na medida em que presta serviços essenciais aos refugiados, como nas áreas de educação e saúde, mas expressa, ao mesmo tempo, a burocratização da questão palestina na ONU, tornando-se, por isso, um empecilho às negociações de paz na medida em que perdeu seu caráter temporário ao assumir funções e tarefas próprias de um Estado.

This paper seeks to evaluate the role the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has played in the social insertion of Palestinian refugees in the locations where it is present. The functions that the UNRWA should fulfill were the starting point of analysis: the creation of programs destined to provide job opportunities, educational services, health and social assistance, to name a few.
The research aims to prove that the UNRWA represents an obstacle for the social insertion of the Palestinian refugees. This heightens their vulnerability by hindering the exercise of rights that, under the conventional refugee regime, would be applicable to them. In consequence, a comprehensive solution to the "refugee problem" within the Palestine-Israel conflict is hard to achieve.
The study was structured as follows: a recount of the historical background of the Arab-Israeli conflict; the historical development of UNRWA; the theoretical aspect was mentioned inserting the UNRWA´s analysis into the neoliberal framework; an analysis of the convergences and disparities of the UNRWA and the UNHCR was included; the social insertion of Palestinian refugees and how the UNRWA has affected them was studied; the organization was examined as an immediate and direct response to the refugee issue, and an analysis of its specialization and role as a provider of a security framework was made; the use of refugees as a political instrument was revisited, as well as the demographic Palestinian explosion, and the issue of refugees involved in military action or guerrilla-type organizations; finally, a general overview of the effects the existence of the UNRWA has had, accompanied by a review of how the refugee issue has been addressed in the different peace processes was done.
The paper concludes that the UNRWA has played a bigger role than what was expected from it, without being much help in the peace processes. Since the analysis shows the predominance of the negative facet of the UNRWA, a reduction of the Agency's competencies is proposed in order to limit its actions only to the faculties given to it at the moment of its creation. This would allow for both a social insertion of the individuals and for the refugee community as a whole.

A Agência de Socorro e Obras Públicas das Nações Unidas para os Refugiados Palestinos no Oriente Próximo (UNRWA) é responsável pela ajuda humanitária em cinco regiões do chamado Oriente Médio – Cisjordânia, Faixa de Gaza, Jordânia, Líbano e Síria. Fundada em 1949 e iniciando suas atividades em 1950, a criação da agência foi resultado da necessidade de atender os refugiados palestinos oriundos do Conflito Árabe-Israelense de 1948, quando foi fundado o Estado de Israel na Palestina. Apesar de funcionar por meio de um sistema de mandatos, seu caráter temporário transformou-se em permanente, uma vez que o conflito ainda não foi resolvido. Falta de interesse político e econômico, negociações estagnadas e controvérsias acerca da melhor solução para israelenses e palestinos, além da complexa questão dos refugiados, figuram entre as razões da permanência desse conflito. Como consequência, o assistencialismo da UNRWA ainda é vital para milhares de palestinos. Enfim, este artigo pretende apresentar o trabalho da agência nas duas regiões que constituem a Palestina: Cisjordânia e Faixa de Gaza. Como a UNRWA opera? Quais são os principais programas vigentes nessas regiões? Quem se enquadra na definição de refugiado palestino da agência? Finalmente, utilizando a concepção de Sociedade Internacional de Hedley Bull, esse estudo visa mostrar por que a continuidade da agência, do ponto de vista socioeconômico e jurídico, é essencial após 64 anos de ajuda humanitária aos refugiados palestinos.

Palavras-chave: UNRWA; Refugiados Palestinos; Organizações Internacionais; Conflito Árabe-Israelense.

A questão dos refugiados palestinos é um dos pontos centrais para a solução permanente do conflito entre israelenses e palestinos. Esses refugiados aguardam indefinidamente por um acordo final entre Israel e a Autoridade Nacional Palestina sob a tutela de uma agência subsidiária da ONU, recebendo assistência humanitária há mais de seis décadas. A UNRWA e a duração prolongada da assistência humanitária aos refugiados palestinos são o tema desta pesquisa. Pretende-se compreender qual é o papel dessa agência no conflito entre israelenses e palestinos frente à centralidade dessa complexa questão para uma solução permanente. O objetivo é introduzir a problemática do assistencialismo prolongado da UNRWA e sua operacionalidade, à luz da Abordagem da Sociedade Internacional da Escola Inglesa das Relações Internacionais, possibilitando um melhor entendimento acerca de uma questão de segurança internacional sob tutela de uma organização internacional. Partindo do pressuposto da existência de uma sociedade internacional de Estados que possui valores e interesses comuns, suficientes para equilibrar fases de conflito e cooperação, menos pluralismo ou mais solidarismo, interessa discutir a relação entre organizações internacionais e Estados em um contexto sui generis. Revelando, então, as divergências entre a norma e a práxis, a partir de uma abordagem interdisciplinar de Relações Internacionais e Direito Internacional. A hipótese de pesquisa é que o predomínio do pluralismo em detrimento do solidarismo na sociedade internacional viabilizou a duração prolongada da questão dos refugiados palestinos e do próprio conflito via UNRWA, bem como a não intervenção da comunidade internacional.

Este artículo analiza el impacto sanitario, económico y social de la COVID-19 en la población refugiada palestina que se encuentra en las distintas áreas de operaciones de la Agencia de Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados de Palestina (UNRWA, por sus siglas en inglés), poniendo el foco en los campamentos de refugiados y en cómo la pandemia ha agudizado su situación de aislamiento, exclusión y desprotección. Con ello, este estudio pretende trazar unas líneas de análisis comparado sobre algunas cuestiones claves de los efectos de la COVID-19 en las poblaciones de refugiados de larga duración: el impacto en los campamentos permanentes y espacios suburbializados, la superposición de situaciones de emergencia prolongada, así como las deficiencias acumuladas en los sistemas de protección y acogida en entornos de conflicto armado y de exclusión.

On August 31, 2018, the Trump administration announced that the United States will cease funding UNRWA, citing the organization's operational-business model as unsustainable, given its "endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries." This decision is no less than historic. Although the Palestinians view it as a serious blow, if it is presented as a necessary step on the path to Palestinian statehood, it has the potential to harbor long term, positive implications. While Israel should certainly prepare for negative scenarios that such a policy move may generate in the near term, it is unwise to cling to the current paradigm that distances the Palestinian leadership's pragmatic and ethical responsibility for rehabilitating and resettling Palestinian refugees within the Palestinian territories. With staunch Israeli, American, and international incentives and policy initiatives, the US decision to cease funding UNRWA can serve as a wake-up call to the Palestinian leadership and potentially inject new life into the Israeli-Palestinian process.

Palestinian rejection of resettlement was driven by political concerns. This case study shows the importance of engaging directly with refugees when devising durable solutions.
Full article in Forced Migration Review: http://www.fmreview.org/resettlement/irfan.html?utm_source=FMR+54+Resettlement&utm_campaign=FMR+Alert+Eng+54+online&utm_medium=email

Since its inception in 1945, the United Nations has played an outsized role in the Arab world. One of the first missions it undertook ended with the partition of Palestine. Seven decades later, the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to hang over the General Assembly. More recent wars in the Arab world continue to plague the United Nations, which serves as mediator and punching bag for all sides of the political spectrum. This volume collects some of the finest intellectuals on the promise and problems of the United Nations. They offer wide-ranging treatments of the work of the United Nations, while accounting for the geo-political contradiction amongst member states. This is a landmark book and the first of its kind—a close and informed study of the United Nations in a tumultuous region of the world.

In this study, while summarising what historically UNRWA came to be for the Palestinians, we will seek to investigate how nude morality, and therefore the language of dignity, make a difference in the human rights’ discourse, and, specifically, weaken the enforceability of the latter when these are deprived of their political and legal foundations.