The activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), headed by Commissioner-General Ilter Türkmen, focused during the reporting year on providing constructive support to the Middle East peace process.
The Agency took immediate steps to develop an effective working relationship with the Palestinian Authority and to meet the Authority's requests for assistance to the fullest extent possible. On 24 June 1994, an exchange of letters took place between the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the purpose of facilitating the continued provision of UNRWA services to Palestine refugees in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority. On an ad hoc basis UNRWA provided land and buildings, temporary shelter and emergency humanitarian aid to assist the Authority in establishing its operations in the Jericho area. UNRWA actively pursued coordination of its services with those provided by the Authority, developing effective relations with it in the education, health and relief and social service sectors. The Agency also played an active role in multilateral forums established to support the peace process, such as the multilateral working group on refugees, as part of the United Nations delegation.
Within the context of developments in the peace process, UNRWA began the process of relocating its headquarters from Vienna to Gaza by the end of 1995. The relocation should serve to demonstrate the commitment of the United Nations to the peace process, underline its confidence in the Palestinian Authority and contribute to the economic development of the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA developed a detailed budget and action plan for the move, including the design of a new headquarters building in Gaza. The Agency was taking the necessary steps to obtain the $13.5 million in funding needed for the move and to meet the schedule for the move. As at August 1995, the Agency had received $4.07 million in pledges and contributions for the move.
At my request, UNRWA undertook to administer the payment of the salaries of 9,000 members of the Palestinian Police Force from funds contributed by donors. The technical mechanism underlying the effort was established in a memorandum of understanding signed by UNRWA and the Palestinian Police Force in September 1994. From that date until March 1995 a total of $29.8 million was disbursed in the operation, in which UNRWA worked closely with the office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories. In its resolution 49/21 O of 13 April 1995, the General Assembly requested UNRWA to continue to facilitate the payment of Palestinian Police Force salaries until the end of 1995. An additional $4.9 million was paid for the July 1995 police salaries.
In September 1994, UNRWA launched the second phase of its Peace Implementation Programme with the objective of providing continuing infrastructure development and job creation to Palestine refugees throughout the Middle East. Funded projects included construction of schools, health clinics, women's programme centres and sewerage and drainage works, as well as renovation of shelters. Besides improving living conditions for refugees, related projects created an estimated 5,500 jobs over an average four-month period in Gaza alone. The programme met with a positive response on the part of donors, receiving a total of $109 million in funding as at May 1995. The Agency's project for a 232-bed general hospital in Gaza, begun in October 1993, continued during the reporting year. The hospital is due to be completed in early 1996 and recruitment of senior staff is under way.
While taking on new roles and responsibilities in response to changing conditions, UNRWA continued to fulfil its basic mission of providing essential health, education and relief and social services to 3.1 million Palestine refugees located in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the West Bank and Gaza. Some 410,000 elementary and preparatory school pupils were enrolled in the Agency's 643 schools during the academic year 1994/95. The Agency handled nearly 6.5 million patient visits during 1994 through its network of 123 health centres and health points. More than 181,000 of the neediest Palestine refugees received special assistance from the Agency during the year, including food rations, shelter rehabilitation and subsidized medical care. Additional facilities and services provided on an ongoing basis through the Agency's core programmes included vocational training, graduate scholarships, family planning services, special infant care, community rehabilitation centres, women's programme centres and income-generation schemes.
UNRWA's regular and emergency cash budget for the biennium 1994-1995 was $570 million. The Agency ended 1994 with an actual funding shortfall of $7 million. Because of the deficit the Agency was forced to carry over the austerity measures imposed in 1993 in response to an earlier deficit, which included a salary freeze, a reduction in administrative costs and cuts in the budgets for additional teacher posts, hospitalization and medical supplies. An informal meeting of UNRWA's major donors and host Governments held at Amman in March 1995 resulted in pledges that helped to reduce the projected deficit for 1995. At the Amman meeting the donors reiterated their commitment to the continued provision of UNRWA services and approved a five-year planning horizon proposed by the Agency.
To return to the Table of Contents