UNRWA – Report of the Commissioner-General

REPORT

OF THE COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY

FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

IN THE NEAR EAST

1 July 1977-30 June 1978

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OFFICIAL RECORDS: THIRTY-THIRD SESSION

SUPPLEMENT No. 13 (A/33/13)

UNITED NATIONS

New York, 1978

[Original: Arabic/English/French]

[27 September 1978]

CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Vienna, 5 September 1973

Sir,

I have the honor to submit my annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for the period 1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978 in compliance with the request in paragraph 21 of resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949 and paragraph 8 of resolution 1315 (XIII) of 12 December 1958.

As has been done in recent years, in the introduction to the report, I invite the General Assembly's attention to the serious financial difficulties faced by the Agency.

Chapter I of the report describes the Agency's programs and how they developed during the year which ended on 30 June 1978.

Chapter II presents the Agency's budget for 1979, for consideration by the General Assembly at its forthcoming session, and the revised budget for 1978.

Of the two annexes to the report, the first contains statistical data on various aspects of the Agency's work, and the second lists pertinent resolutions, reports and other documents of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies.

The Advisory Commission of UNRWA examined this report in draft. Its views are set forth in a letter dated 29 August 1978 from its Chairman, of which I enclose a copy. I have had the benefit of the advice of the members of the Commission but it should not be assumed that the Governments represented on the Commission necessarily subscribe to all of the views I have expressed.

Since 1967, a major part of the Agency's operations has been conducted in areas under the control of the Government of Israel. Consequently, I considered it appropriate to continue the practice of showing the report, in draft, to its representatives also and I have taken their views and comments into account in preparing the final text.

Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

(Signed) Thomas W. McELHINEY

Commissioner-General

The President of the General Assembly

United Nations

New York

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

29 August 1978

Dear Mr. McElhiney,

In its meeting held in Amman on 29 August 1978, the Advisory Commission on UNRWA considered the draft report which you intend to submit to the General Assembly at its thirty-third session on the Agency's services and activities during the period 1 July 1977-30 June 1978 and the remarks made thereon by its members.

The Commission notes that you have agreed to take into consideration the remarks made by the members, especially those made by the Arab host States, when preparing your report to the General Assembly in its final form.

The Commission expresses its deep concern for the continuing budget deficit facing the Agency, and wishes to emphasize the responsibility of the international community, as represented by the United Nations, to find a solution for this recurring problem. This solution should enable UNRWA to provide the full range of its services to all those entitled persons among the Palestine refugees.

The Commission expressed its regret that a part of the UNRWA headquarters has been relocated from the area of its activities. The Commission stated its preference that the UNRWA headquarters be consolidated within the area of its operations. The Commission requests the Commissioner-General to keep this question under study with a view to relocation to the area of operations when feasible in consultation with the Commission.

The Commission would like to state its commendation and appreciation for the efforts of the Commissioner-General and his staff in their performance of the functions of UNRWA, despite the difficulties confronting them during the year covered by the Report.

INTRODUCTION

A. General

1. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has existed as a temporary agency of the United Nations since 1950. Its mandate is renewed periodically by the General Assembly. 1/ The current mandate expires on 30 June 1981.

2. The raison d'être of UNRWA is to provide services to Palestine refugees, that is, persons or the descendants of persons whose normal residence was Palestine for a minimum of two years preceding the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948 and who, as a result of that conflict, lost both their homes and their means of livelihood. No precise census of the Palestinian people has been taken, but those among them with refugee status must represent a substantial part of the total.

3. It is clear that the refugee problem has dimensions which go far beyond the purely humanitarian. The General Assembly annually recommends the return of the refugees to their original homes or the receipt of compensation in lieu thereof. The political significance of the mass displacement of human beings, particularly when the right of return and the right to restoration of their property are acknowledged by the international community, is obvious. The Agency's mandate, however, does not extend to all the ramifications of the problem. It is concerned with only a part of the problem, the provision of services to Palestine refugees pending a general settlement in the Near East, although it is keenly aware of the essentially political nature of the problem when considered in all of its aspects.

4. Of the persons who fall under the established definition of Palestine refugees, 1,757,269 are registered with the Agency. The registrations are distributed in the Agency's area of operations as follows:

a/ The West Bank of Jordan and the Gaza Strip have been under military occupation by the Government of Israel since June 1967.

___________

1/ For a list of the pertinent resolutions, see annex II.

These figures do not necessarily represent the actual population of Palestine refugees in their places of registration. The refugees move and do not always inform the Agency; there is no inducement to provide this information unless they are receiving services. The registration figures, however, are believed at least to approximate Palestine refugee populations in the various fields.

5. Not all refugees are eligible to receive services and, in the case of rations, even when they are potentially eligible, they may not be authorized to receive them. Eligibility for different services varies. Since one of the services is education, the maximum number of refugees who could even in theory receive all services is limited to the school population of about 307,000, or approximately 17.5 per cent of the total number of registered refugees. Since a substantial number of school children do not receive rations because of the ration ceiling, the actual percentage of refugees receiving all services is considerably less than 17.5 per cent. The services being provided, as they have evolved over the past 28 years, are not of the nature of a dole for the permanently destitute. On the contrary, they are directed towards establishing and maintaining levels of health, education and relief for a large part of the

Palestinian people that help to make them productive, socially useful human beings who contribute to society rather than impose a burden on it. The activities of UNRWA are one of the clearest practical examples of what international co-operation can achieve in pursuit of the United Nations goal of improving the human condition.

6. In the popular mind, refugees are associated with camps and the services provided them are, generally thought of as being confined to emergency relief assistance like temporary shelter, food and clothing. It is not surprising, therefore, that UNRWA is often thought of as an agency that manages camps and in primarily concerned with purely relief activities. Both are misconceptions.

7. Only 35.5 per cent of the registered refugees live in camps and, even for that minority, the Agency is not a camp administrator nor does it police or otherwise control the camps. The Agency provides services to eligible registered refugees, whether they are in camps or not. The Agency provides virtually all of the services directly to the refugees, not through Governments, although it deals with Governments on matters of mutual interest affecting the Agency's activities.- The Governments in the area of operations have reported that they provide assistance separately to refugees costing almost $80 million a year (see annex I, table 18).

8. The Agency provides three services: education, health care and relief. It has its own school system, its own systems to procure and distribute rations and its own clinics and health centers. Through these means, it provides the kinds of services directly to Palestine refugees that are normally provided by education, health and welfare ministries of Governments. Its activities are institutionalized and continuing. It has quasi-governmental functions.

9. To perform these functions it is organized in a manner similar to the foreign-aid agencies of Governments, except that its field offices actually distribute the aid directly to the recipients. UNRWA headquarters, with about 365 staff, is comparable to a supervisory, planning and budgeting central aid office in a capital (in process of relocating from Beirut to Vienna and Amman). The five field offices, with about 16,000 staff (in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, east Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza), are the operational arms of the Agency – it is they who actually provide the education, health care and relief services to the Palestine refugees. The Agency also has three small liaison offices at New York, Geneva and Cairo. The Geneva, office will be abolished in 1979 and its functions taken over by the Vienna branch of headquarters.

B. Agency programs

10. The Agency's programs are summarized below (employee figures do not include the 1,943 employees in common services):

(a) Education and training services, provided by approximately 10,975 employees (mostly teachers) at a total annual cost, including a share of common Agency costs, of $65.4 million in 1977 and $76.8 million in 1978 (estimated), which include:

(i) The general education program, under which about 307,000 refugee children receive elementary and preparatory education in 617 UNRWA/UNESCO schools;

(ii) The vocational and teacher-training program, under which 4,540 trainees are trained at eight UNRWA training centers;

(iii) A program of subsidization of secondary education, under which some 7,000 refugee pupils are assisted, by means of book allowances or cash grants, in their education at government or private secondary schools;

(iv) A university scholarship program under which 339 young refugee men and women are educated at universities in Arab countries;

(v) A modest program of pre-school and youth and women's activities and adult training in crafts;

(vi) Participation by the Agency in the financing and staffing of a regional Institute of Education, through which teachers appointed to posts in UNRWA/UNESCO schools receive in-service professional and other kinds of training. The Institute also provides extension services (without UNRWA participation) to government educational systems in the Near East.

(b) Health services, provided by 3,080 employees at a total annual cost, including a share of common costs, of $20 million in 1977 and $22.6 million in 1978 (estimated). Health services include:

(i) Medical services, available to approximately 1,500,000 refugees at the Agency's own 99 clinics and health centers and at government and private hospitals. The Agency subsidizes the private hospitals and, when government hospitals provide services to refugee patients, the Agency either subsidizes the hospitals or reimburses the patients;

(ii) Mostly in support of its preventive medical services, provision of supplementary food for some 123,000 refugees in vulnerable categories, for example, young children and expectant and nursing mothers;

(iii) Environmental sanitation in refugee camps.

(c) Relief services, provided by 471 employees at a total annual cost including a share of common costs, of $32.6 million in 1977 and $33.9 million in 1978 (estimated), through which the Agency provides:

(i) Monthly basic rations of flour, rice, sugar and oil to about 831,000 refugees;

(ii) Assistance in shelter repairs;

(iii) Special hardship assistance.

The ration rolls (and records of eligibility for other services) change constantly of course, depending upon such considerations as income, presence in the area, births and deaths. This information, to the extent that it is available to the Agency, is computerized. Deletions and additions to ration rolls are made each month based on computer printouts. Some 1,386,000 names have been added to ration eligibility rolls since 1950 and about 966,000 names have been deleted. Of the approximately 1,377,000 refugees registered for rations, as pointed out above, only 831,000 actually receive them, because of ration ceilings. The difference is made up of some 546,000 children (of any age, up to 25) of refugees whose names are added to the list of those authorized actually to receive rations only as names are deleted from the list.

C. Financing the programs

The financial position, July 1977 to June 1978

11. About 95 per cent of the income of UNRWA comes from voluntary contributions by Governments. The United Nations, certain specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations contribute the remaining 5 per cent.

12. As has been the case for several years, contributions in 1977 did not provide income sufficient to meet all budgeted expenditures. Consequently, once again, services to the refugees were reduced (principally the flour component of the basic ration), some capital costs were deferred and working capital was drawn down. In total, in 1977, the discrepancy between current income and the expenditures required to maintain services to the refugees was approximately $10 million. Each year this discrepancy grows, reflecting the fact that, while income increases each year, costs increase at a higher rate. The effect of this trend on services to the refugees will be more pronounced in the future because the Agency no longer has sufficient working capital to draw on to cover any substantial part of the chronic deficit.

13. In the early months of 1978 the regular review of budget assumptions and income expectations was undertaken. As at early March, budgeted expenditures were estimated at $139.8 million and expected income at about $113 million, leaving a projected deficit of $26.8 million. A list of budgeted expenditures totaling approximately the amount of the deficit was drawn up and approval of disbursements to meet them was suspended. These not-yet-approved items were listed by order of priority, with the three years of the preparatory cycle of education for the period 31 July to 31 December heading the list. The flour component of the basic ration was reduced from 10 kg to 6.7 kg per month per recipient, beginning in February, and the restoration of the one third reduction was placed well down the priority listing. Special contributions were then solicited to permit approval of the items on the list. As at 30 June 1978, although there had been increases and decreases in specific budgeted expenditures – mainly because of avoidance of flour purchases, less than full compensation for cost-of-living increases for staff, emergency assistance to refugees displaced by the Israeli military activities in Lebanon, and the relocation of headquarters to Vienna and Amman – there was virtually no net change in the total, which remained at $139,8 million. Meanwhile, pledged or expected income rose to $126 million and the deficit was reduced to $13.8 million. As of the end of the reporting period, it appeared that the preparatory cycle of education could continue through the year and at least some of the other suspended expenditures could be approved, although the Agency could not be sure because, given the unsatisfactory method of financing, the amount of income to be received, in 1978 will not be known until September at the earliest. If further additional contributions are not received for 1978, the Agency will have to eliminate the rest of the deficit almost entirely by reducing budgeted expenditures. Such reductions will, of course, mean that the level and quality of services to the refugees will decline by comparison with past years. The Agency has no alternative but to manage its finances in this way. It intends to follow the practice of establishing as early as possible each year a list of suspended budgeted expenditures equal to the deficit and moving them from the non-approved to the approved category only as pledges of additional income are received.

Budget for 1979

14. Chapter II below contains the Agency's proposed budget for 1979 totaling $151.8 million as compared with the adjusted budget of $139.8 million for 1978 and actual expenditure in 1977 of approximately $126.8 million (after the reductions and cost deferrals mentioned above).

D. Special problems

Insufficient and unpredictable income

15. The defects of the thoroughly unsatisfactory method by which income is provided to UNRWA were described in detail in paragraphs 13 to 16 of last year's report and the Agency's proposals for correcting them to the extent possible were set forth in paragraphs 17 to 22. Income provision continues to be quite unsatisfactory. As a result of the introduction of the new procedure, however, the situation has improved somewhat, at least in the sense that major contributors have been made aware of the adverse effect on provision of services to refugees Of holding contributions at fixed levels year after year, and several major contributors have provided the Agency with information about future intentions which helps considerably in planning. The most encouraging aspect of the response is that the combined effect of action by a number of contributors has been to give the Agency a firmer basis for projecting income earlier in the year, thus tending to obviate crisis financing under the threat of total suspension of activities during the year. The procedure has not so far increased the rate of growth of income substantially, added any major new contributors nor changed the pattern of sources of income. On balance, the procedure has been successful enough to warrant its continuance with some modifications as suggested by contributors. Application of the procedure has confirmed the fact that the Agency can expect each year a substantial discrepancy between income and gross financial needs.

Situation in Lebanon

16. During the reporting period 1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978, armed conflict between the various militias in Lebanon and interventions by the Arab Deterrent Forces were very limited but, at the end of the period as at the beginning, 2/ much still remained to be done to assure the personal security of individuals, including the refugees and UNRWA staff.

17. The major disruption of the period was the displacement of Palestine refugees by the Israeli military action in Lebanon in March. During the period in which the Israeli troops were advancing to the Litani River, about 67,000 of the 206,000 registered Palestine refugees in Lebanon were displaced to some degree, and for several weeks the Agency provided emergency assistance in the form of food, clothing, blankets and some shelter to the most seriously affected, about 45,000 in all. Damage estimated at $310,000 was suffered in the three refugee camps south of the Litani – Rashidieh, Buss, and Burj el-Shenali. The refugees still living in Damour 3/ awaiting the construction of the new camp at Bayssarieh once again fled. By the end of the period, virtually 611 displaced refugees had returned to their homes. Most displaced Palestine refugees congregated around Sidon. However, a few thousand (mostly from Damour) fled to Beirut and large numbers of displaced Lebanese fled to the city.

_________

2/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/32/13 and Corr.1 and 2), para. 23.

3/ Ibid., para. 24.

The combined influx greatly exacerbated the already tenuous security situation in the city. (For further details, see paras. 403-405.)

18. Some Governments and non-governmental organizations took the initiative in offering donations in cash and kind to the Agency to permit it to provide emergency assistance to the displaced refugees and, when the Agency issued an appeal for donations to complete the task, more money was forthcoming than was needed.

Relocation of headquarters

19. In November 1977, all headquarters offices returned to Beirut from Vienna and Amman, where they had been temporarily located since January 1976. Unfortunately, conditions in Beirut in the early months of 1978 created operational difficulties which led to a decision in mid-April to relocate headquarters. Consultations were begun with the Syrian and Jordanian Governments late in April and with the Austrian Government at the beginning of May. The purpose of the consultations was to explore the possibility of relocating headquarters in Damascus or Amman or, if neither could provide all of the necessary office space and satisfy other requirements for all of headquarters, of relocating in Vienna staff whose functions require no particular location and in Amman staff who operate most effectively when posted in the Agency's area of operations.

20.  The requirements of the Agency with respect to size and location of rent–free office space, related facilities, and freedom of movement of staff were described in general terms in the initial consultations and in precise detail in writing early in May. All Governments were informed that the need to relocate was urgent and that the accommodation and facilities to be offered therefore had to be actually available. The Governments of the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan were informed that the Government of Austria was assumed to be in a position to respond quickly and, if the priority accorded to remaining in the area were to be given practical expression, it was anticipated that the Agency's requirements would have to be met in either Damascus or Amman within four to six weeks. In fact, the Government of Austria was in a position to meet the requirements within less than four weeks, but acceptance of the Austrian offer was delayed so as to give the Governments of the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan more time. Late in May they were informed of the Austrian offer and, in view of the situation in Beirut, of the Agency's intention to accept it on 8 June unless the requirements could be met in the area by that time, that is, by the end of the six-week period initially forecast. In response, the Jordanian Government, at the end of May, offered office accommodation much smaller in size than bad been specified. A few days later, when stating that it had not been possible to find 6,000 square meters of completed office accommodation, the Government of Jordan offered space in buildings under construction and requested that consideration be given to delaying the move of headquarters until suitable accommodation had been completed and was available. The completion dates for these buildings, by the most optimistic estimates, were two to three months hence (and, upon subsequent detailed examination, the areas of the building offered were found to be insufficient). The Agency was unwilling to delay its move from Beirut to an uncertain date in the future at least several months hence. There was no detailed discussion of anticipated problems with regard to facilities and other requirements, since the basic requirement – 6,000 square meters of net useable, actually available space – could not be met.

21. On 9 June, the offer of the Government of Austria was formally accepted and, subsequently, the Agency, with the assistance of the Jordanian Government, was able to rent enough office space in Amman to accommodate the part of headquarters staff it had as a minimum wanted to locate there from the outset, Plus some additional staff. There will thus be two headquarters offices – one at Vienna and one in Amman. When he is not travelling elsewhere, the Commissioner-General will henceforth divide his time among Vienna, Amman and New York, instead of between Beirut and New York as in the past. By the end of the reporting period, contracts had been or were being negotiated in the two headquarters locations, the packing of household effects had begun, some had left Beirut and a schedule for the phased movement of staff to Vienna and Amman had been drawn up. It was expected that the move to Vienna would be completed by late July or early August and the move to Amman about a week later.

22. The Agency would like to express its appreciation to the Governments of Austria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan for their efforts to assist the Agency. It would have preferred to relocate all of headquarters in the area of Operations and regrets that it was not feasible to do so. However, on the basis Of past experience, it is clear that, with headquarters organized and located as it will be when the move has been completed, it will be in a position to function more effectively than it has been able to do for several years and, consequently, to serve refugee interests better. More time will be available for travel in the area of operations by headquarters senior personnel and a more equitable division of their time in dealing with matters of concern to the five field offices in the area will now be possible. Communications between headquarters and the field offices will improve. The Commissioner-General will maintain an Office in Amman for use by him and other senior officials as a base when in the area, as well as conference facilities for meetings of the Advisory Commission, the General Cabinet and the Administration/Staff Union Working Group. The five field offices, with their combined staffs of over 16,000, will continue, as they have in the past, to provide all services possible to the refugees within the limits imposed by insufficient income. In so far as the provision of services is affected by the organization and location of the approximately 365 staff members in headquarters, any change will be in the direction of improvement through greater efficiency.

23. The unavoidable costs of relocation will be substantial, even taking into account costs that will be avoided by not remaining in Beirut or relocating entirely in the area of operations. The additional net non-recurrent (one-time) expenditure for the year 1978 may be as high as $1.1 million, with additional net expenditure to meet recurrent costs of about $1.4 million (part year only) for a total additional cost in 1978 of about $2.5 million (of which about $535,000 would be recoverable from the United Nations, UNESCO and WHO). By comparison, if all of headquarters could have moved to Amman, additional net non-recurrent expenditure would have been about $2.1 million and additional net recurrent expenditure about $400,000 for a total of about $2.5 million (of which about $575,000 would have been recoverable). On the basis of these figures, total additional costs incurred in 1978 because of removal to Vienna and Amman are virtually the same as the costs would have been of removal to Amman only.

24. Provision would also have to be made for the costs of returning Palestinian local staff to Beirut upon their completion of service in future years. Comparison of the estimated future one-time costs for the two locations (Vienna–Amman as against Amman only) shows that there would be very little difference, namely $735,000 non-recurrent for Vienna-Amman, as against $785,000 for Amman only. These one-time costs would not be incurred in a single year, but would be spread over future years as staff members retired.

25. For 1979, the additional recurrent costs of operating out of two locations (Vienna and Amman), in comparison with Beirut, are estimated at $3.2 million, of which approximately $2.65 million would have to be met out of UNRWA funds, and the balance of about $550,000 recovered from the United Nations regular budget, UNESCO and WHO.

Problems relating to staff and premises

26. There were, additional cases of arrest, detention and interference with duty travel of UNRWA staff members, as well as cases affecting Agency premises (for details, see paras. 147-156).

E. Conclusion

27. As UNRWA Commissioners-General have been emphasizing for years in their annual reports, the most critical problem faced by the Agency is its uncertain and inadequate financing. The Agency can only do what is possible with the resources made available to it by the Member States. They have been unwilling for the past several years to provide resources adequate to maintain services to the refugees at previous levels. The time is rapidly approaching when the implications of that fact will have to be assessed and the Agency be given guidance by the international community on the nature and level of services the community wishes to provide.

CHAPTER I

REPORT ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE AGENCY FROM

1 JULY 1977 TO 30 JUNE 1978

A. General

28. The present chapter describes the main activities of UNRWA during the year ended 30 June 1978. Supplemental information on the estimated expenditure for each activity in the calendar year 1978 and the actual expenditure in 1977 is given in chapter II below, which present the Agency's budget for the year 1979.

1. Assistance from voluntary agencies and other non-governmental organizations

29. The Commissioner-General gratefully acknowledges the generous assistance provided by voluntary agencies, business and professional organizations and individuals, without which many projects would not have been carried out for lack of funds. Projects financed by these contributions are noted in the appropriate sections of the present report and all contributions made direct to UNRWA are shown in table 17 of annex I. The main contributors were: American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc. (ANERA); the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO); the Council of Organizations for Relief, Rehabilitation and Development (CORSO), Inc. New Zealand; five Japanese business organizations (Federation of Economic Organizations; Chamber of Commerce; Federation of Employers' Associations; Committee for Economic Development; and the Industry Club); the Norwegian Refugee Council; OXFAM of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; the Pontifical Mission for Palestine; the Swedish Save the Children Federation (Radda Barnen); Redd Barna of Norway; and the Shipping Industry Foundation of Japan.

30. The Commissioner-General also wishes to pay tribute to the devoted service rendered direct to the refugees by the voluntary agencies in the Agency's area of operations (see annex I, table 19).

2. Relations with other organs of the United Nations system

31. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborate with UNRWA in the conduct of the education and health programs, thereby assuring professional competence in these two fields. The UNESCO staff, including associate experts made available to UNRWA from or through UNESCO, without reimbursement, numbered 18 at the beginning and 15 at the end of the period under review.

32. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO and UNRWA continued the operation of the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education (see paras. 57-61 below) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) continued its support of the extension services through which the experience of the Institute is made available to Ministries of Education in the region, the provision of those services being co-ordinated by the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab States, the UNICEF Regional Office and UNRWA.

33. UNICEF continued to extend certain procurement services free of charge and acted as a supplier to the Agency of its competitively priced pharmaceuticals. The Agency assisted UNICEF with the transport of supplies in the area of operations.

34. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) extended valuable assistance in the form of equipment and supporting administrative services and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the form of office furniture when the Agency's advance party came to Vienna in June 1978 to prepare the move of part of UNRWA headquarters.

35. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the Agency made available 20 per cent of its workshop capacity for the servicing of vehicles of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine (UNTSO) and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) against reimbursement of the cost.

36. The Agency's accounts for 1977 were submitted for audit to the United Nations Board of Auditors.

B. Education and training services

37. Under an agreement between UNRWA and UNESCO, the latter is responsible for the professional aspects of the UNRWA/UNESCO education program, fulfilling its responsibility in part by the non-reimbursable loan to UNRWA, of directing and specialist staff, including the Director of Education, who numbered 15 at the end of the period under review. As in previous years, the UNRWA/UNESCO education program in 1977/1978 included general education at elementary and preparatory levels in UNRWA/UNESCO schools, vocational and teacher-training at UNRWA/UNESCO centers, the work of the Institute of Education and a university scholarship program. Many refugee children continued their education at the upper secondary level in government schools of the host countries or in private Schools. In Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, book allowances were paid and, where no government secondary school was available, cash grants were paid to refugee pupils attending private schools. In 1977, expenditure on education and training amounted to $65.4 million and accounted for 51.6 per cent of the Agency's budget.

38. In addition, the Agency provides some pre-school education activity (see para. 135), youth activities (see paras. 136 and 137), adult training in crafts (see paras. 138 and 139), and medical and para-medical education and training (paras. 98 to 100).

39. The Conference of Ministers of Education and those Responsible for Economic Planning in the Arab States, organized by UNESCO in co-operation with the Arab League's Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization in Abu Dhabi from 7 to 14 November 1977, passed recommendation No. 33 which, among others, invited UNRWA to strengthen its educational services to the children of the Palestinian people; called on States and international organizations to increase their assistance to that agency to enable it to carry out its tasks in the fields of education, social service and public health, and called upon UNDP and UNICEF to increase their assistance to the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education.

1. General education

40. In 1977/1978, as in previous years, the largest single Agency activity was general education and a total of 306,968 pupils 10,575 more than in 1976/1977 were enrolled in the 617 UNRWA/UNESCO elementary and preparatory schools in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, served by a teaching force of 8,986. A further 78,167 refugee pupils were known to be enrolled in government and private elementary, preparatory and secondary schools in the same areas and approximately 40,000 non-eligible children were in Agency schools. The education staff in each field is headed by a Field Education Officer – an UNRWA local staff member – working under the professional guidance of the Director of Education and of the specialist staff of the Department of Education at headquarters.

41. Double-shifting of schools continued to be a problem and, because of the steady natural growth in the school population and the Agency's lack of funds for school construction on the scale required, double-shifting was necessary in 450 schools (73 per cent of the total) during 1977/1978. In elementary schools in east Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, double-shifting affected 92.4 and 91.6 per cent of the pupils, respectively. It was possible to avoid turning children away from school only through double-shifting and the construction of some additional classrooms. Lack of funds for capital expenditure generally limited school construction to the minimum necessary to prevent triple-shifting and to replace the most unsatisfactory school premises. During 1977/1978, in all fields except Lebanon, 16 prefabricated class-rooms and 26 standard type classrooms were completed, while 11 prefabricated class-rooms and 38 standard-type class and administration rooms, including one specialized room, were under construction.

42. As in the years since 1969, all textbooks newly prescribed or revised by Governments of host countries were submitted to the Director-General of UNESCO for approval before they were procured for UNRWA/UNESCO schools. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where Jordanian and Egyptian books, respectively, are used, books approved by the Director-General are subject to the further requirement of a special import permit from the Israeli authorities. The situation is described in greater detail, field by field, in paragraphs 208, 209, 211, 212 and 213 below.

43. As indicated in last year's report, 4/ 29 of the UNRWA/UNESCO schools in Lebanon continued operating after the normal closing date in June 1977, in order to make up for instruction time lost as a result of the effects of the 1975/1976 conflict. Twenty-five of these schools were completed the 1976/1977 school year 1 August 1977 and the remaining four by 14 August 1977. An improvement in the security situation in Lebanon made it possible to start the 1977/1978 school year on 17 September 1977, as scheduled, in all schools except -two in Sidon which were occupied by displaced refugees until November 1977. The established at Damour in 1976/1977 for Palestine refugees displaced from the Beirut area as a result of the conflict were also operated during 1977/1978, but the UNRWA/UNESCO school in Nabatiyeh, south Lebanon, was closed for most of the school year because of continued unrest in the area. After a satisfactory start, the operations of UNRWA/UNESCO schools in Lebanon were disrupted on several occasions during the school year, with different numbers of schools being affected in the various areas. The most serious interruptions occurred on the occasion of Israeli air and sea attacks in south Lebanon in the period from 9 to 19 November 1977, and as a consequence of the Israeli invasion and occupation of south Lebanon from 15 March to 13 June 1978. In November 1977, the operation of 36 out of the 81 UNRWA/UNESCO schools was affected for periods ranging from three to 15 days and, in March 1978, the operation of all schools was disrupted for varying periods. Some were closed, at first, as a precautionary measure against expected Israeli attacks, and then remained closed either because of the evacuation of the pupils from some areas or because of the (temporary) occupation of school premises by refugee families who had fled the invasion area. Worst affected were the 16 schools in the invasion area which suffered damage amounting to $49,500 and were closed for about seven weeks, but, by early May 1978, all 16 schools were again operating as refugees returned to the area in increasing numbers.

____________

4/ Ibid., para. 43.

44. Enrollment in UNRWA/UNESCO schools in Lebanon totaled 37,786 refugee pupils, 27,491 of whom were in the elementary and 10,295 in the preparatory schools. Of the 81 schools, comprising 762 elementary and 299 preparatory class sections with a total of 1,207 teachers, 53 schools with 585 class sections operated on double-shift. Mainly as a result of the new curriculum for the elementary and preparatory cycles in Lebanon, 35 new textbooks were prescribed – all of which were approved by UNESCO. By the end of the reporting period, all 192 prescribed textbooks in UNRWA/UNESCO schools in Lebanon had been approved.

45. In the Syrian Arab Republic, UNRWA/UNESCO schools started the year on 1 October 1977, one month later than scheduled, because of a cholera epidemic. -A total of 41,932 pupils attended the 67 elementary and 43 preparatory schools, comprising 1,109 class sections served by 1,312 teachers. Eighty-nine of these schools, involving 943 class sections and 36,315 pupils, operated on double-shift. During the school year, 12 textbooks were newly prescribed, of which nine were approved by UNESCO. Of the 101 textbooks currently prescribed, 76 have been approved by UNESCO.

46. In east Jordan, the 195 UNRWA/UNESCO schools commenced the year on 20 August 1977 and operated normally throughout the year, with two exceptions: all schools in the Jordan Valley were closed for nearly two weeks during September 1977 because of an outbreak of cholera; and demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon in March 1978 disrupted the operation of schools

in four localities for a few days. The total enrolment was 119,663 in the elementary and preparatory cycles, comprising 2,927 class sections served by 3,316 teachers. Double-shifting occurred in 176 schools, involving 2,654 class sections and 109,346 pupils.

47. Although the agreement between Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic on a unified curriculum continued for the lower elementary grades, the Jordan Ministry of Education issued a new education plan for the three cycles of education – elementary, preparatory and secondary – for implementation starting in the 1977/1978 school year. The new plan introduced changes in the number of periods per grade per week, in the number of periods per subject per week, in school examinations, school terms and holidays, and the weekly teaching load for teachers was reduced. Thirteen textbooks were newly prescribed by the Ministry of Education of Jordan, 10 of which were approved by UNESCO for use in UNRWA/UNESCO schools. The total number of textbooks prescribed in Jordan was 117, 96 of which have been approved by UNESCO.

48. In the West Bank, UNRWA/UNESCO schools started the school year on 1 September 1977 and operated smoothly until March 1978, when studies were interrupted at many schools for several days as a result of demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon and subsequent Israeli actions in the occupied areas.  Enrolment in the 100 UNRWA/UNESCO schools in the West Bank totaled 35,746 pupils in 712 elementary and 282 preparatory class sections served by 1,173 teachers. Fifty-seven schools, which 473 class sections and 17,969 pupils, operated on double-shift.  The introduction of the new education plan of the Jordan Ministry of Education (see para. 46 above) was deferred in the West Bank, and a special committee was established to study the plan in the light of its implementation in east Jordan. Of the 117 textbooks prescribed for Jordan, 96 were approved by UNESCO, of which the occupying authorities refused import permits for 15.

49. In the Gaza Strip, the UNRWA/UNESCO schools started on 1 September 1977 and operated normally throughout the year, except for some demonstrations during the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon. Enrolment totaled 71,821 pupils in 131 schools, comprising 1,126 elementary and 463 preparatory class sections with a teaching force of 1,978. Double-shifting occurred in 75 schools, involving 857 class sections with 39,497 pupils.  Textbooks from Egypt for use in UNRWA/UNESCO schools in Gaza continued to be transported to Gaza by land across the Suez Canal under the same arrangements as agreed with the Governments concerned for the previous year and implemented with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The total number of textbooks prescribed by the Egyptian Ministry of Education was 96, 67 of which have been approved by UNESCO. Of the 67 approved textbooks, the occupying authorities have permitted the importation of 47, have disallowed the importation of 16 and have 4 under consideration.

50. In consultation with the Governments of Egypt and Israel and with the assistance of UNRWA, UNESCO organized the holding of examinations in the Gaza Strip between 26 June and 7 July 1977 for the ninth year in succession for the Egyptian Secondary School Leaving Certificate (Tawjihi), for the sixth year in succession for the Al-Azhar Tawjihi and for the third time for the Teacher Training Certificate.  No examinations for the Agricultural Secondary School Diploma were held in 1977. The second session of the Al-Azhar examination was held from 17 to 20 December 1977. A total of 6,834 candidates sat for these examinations, supervised by 987 local government and UNRWA teachers and 28 international UNESCO an UNRWA specialists assigned by the Director-General of UNESCO, most of whom were from among the staff of the Agency's Education Department. Logistical support and other essential facilities for these examinations were provided by the occupying authorities through the Gaza Directorate of Education and Culture and by the UNRWA Field Office in Gaza.  Subsequently the Egyptian authorities announced that 4,672 pupils had passed the examination for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate, 36 fir the Al-Azhar and 109 for the Teacher Training Diploma.  Of those who had passed the 1976 examinations, 739 crossed the Suez Canal in convoys arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter universities in Egypt.

2. Vocational and technical education

51. The seven UNRWA/UNESCO training centers offering courses in vocational and technical education made available a total of 3,324 training places to Palestine refugees. This represents an increase of 368 places over the level of last year, 336 of which were owing to the reactivation of first-year classes at Siblin Training Center, where a new intake was accepted for the first time since 1974. The remaining 32 additional training places were created by the introduction of two new courses at Wadi Seer Training Center, which, with a total capacity of 840, is the largest of the seven training centers. The Laboratory Technician course, although new to the Wadi Seer Training Center, is a standard two-year post-secondary level course, which is also conducted at two of the six other training centers. The other new course, for Machine Maintenance Technicians, is an advanced course specially designed to supplement the basic two-year mechanical trades courses (Machinist/Welder and Tool-maker) and provides one year specialized training in plant maintenance. This is the first time a third year of training at an advanced level has been made available within the UNRWA/UNESCO vocational training program. The course is open to selected qualified graduates from all UNRWA/UNESCO training centers.

52. During the training year, the operation of all centers, except the Damascus Vocational Training Center, was affected to some degree either by local disturbances or by events in Lebanon. The Amman Training Center, Wadi Seer Training Center and Gaza Vocational Training Center were only slightly affected, losing between two and seven training days at the time of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. The Ramallah Women's Training Center and Kalandia Vocational Training Centro in the West Bank were similarly affected at the time and, in addition, lost a further six and five days, respectively, owing to other local disturbances. As may be expected, Siblin Training Center was the worst affected, having lost the equivalent of eight weeks of training time throughout the year. Nevertheless, the second-year trainees at Siblin, who joined the Center in 1974 and whose training was interrupted from August 1976 until March 1977 owing to the enforced closure of the Siblin Center as a result of the disturbances in Lebanon, finished their courses in April 1978.

53. Details of the training places available in the UNRWA/UNESCO training centers in 1977/1978 by course, center and year of study are given in table 13 of annex I. In addition, the Agency also sponsored the vocational training of 52 refugees in private institutions.

54. The demand for skilled workers in the Arab world continues to rise and the gap between employment opportunities and the output levels of the UNRWA/UNESCO training centers has widened. The Agency has therefore prepared several projects which provide for significant increases in the training capacity of the vocational training program, but the lack of funds has so far precluded the introduction of any of the projects.

3. Teacher training

55. Primarily in order to provide teachers for the general education program, which covers elementary and preparatory (lower secondary) levels during the nine-year compulsory cycle (10 years in Lebanon), the Agency has its own pre-service teacher-training centers, complemented by a program of in-service training. Many teachers trained by UNRWA/UNESCO have, however, found employment with the Governments of the host countries and other Governments, frequently after gaining practical experience in UNRWA/UNESCO schools. The UNRWA/UNESCO teacher-training centers accept Palestine refugees who have completed secondary education and provide a two-year course of professional training, which is adequate for teaching at the elementary level. At present, the UNRWA/UNESCO system relies on two sources of recruitment for Palestinian subject teachers at the preparatory level: (a) university graduates, who, if without professional training, are encouraged by the incentive of up-grading to follow a professional education course at the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education; and (b) non-graduate but qualified elementary- level teachers, who are encouraged by the incentive of up-grading to follow an in-service course of subject specialization and, if necessary, also other courses for professional training.

56. During the academic year 1977/1978, pre-service teacher-training was provided at four UNRWA/UNESCO centers – one in Amman (east Jordan), two in Ramallah (West Bank) and one is Siblin (Lebanon). Refugee students enrolled in pre-service teacher-training totaled 1,217 (598 males, 619 females), an increase of 60 over last year, mainly, because a new intake of 60 trainees was enrolled at Siblin Center. Operations at the Amman Training Center proceeded smoothly throughout the year, except for the loss of seven days of instruction time during March 1978 as a result of demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.  The two Ramallah centers continued to suffer some disruption to their programs because of disturbances in the West Bank, especially during the period of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon; 11 days of instruction time were lost at one center and 14 days at the other. Training at the Siblin Center in Lebanon was disrupted on several occasions during the year, the most serious disruptions being a strike from 31 January to 22 February 1978 by second-year trainees over demands for early graduation and the effects of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in March 1978, which resulted in the loss of nearly three weeks' instruction time.

57. In July 1977, at the end of the 1976/1977 training year, 542 trainees (272 men and 270 women) graduated from the pre-service training centers: 140 teacher graduates were employed in UNRWA/UNESCO schools in east Jordan, 114 in West Bank and Gaza UNRWA/UNESCO schools and 230 were employed in government and private schools in the host and other Arab countries, making a total of 89.3 per cent of the 1977 graduates known to be employed; only 36 were known to be without employment and the employment status of 22 graduates was unknown. In April 1978, for the first time since 1974, 56 teacher-trainees graduated from the Siblin Training Center, after completion of their training, which had begun in September 1974 and which had been interrupted by the conflict in Lebanon. At the time of this report, the employment status of this group was unknown.

58. The UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education, which has received financial support from UNDP since July 1972, completed its thirteenth year of operation. Through correspondence lessons, weekly seminars, tutorial guidance and audio-visual and closed-circuit television material, the Institute provides in-service training for various categories of UNRWA/UNESCO education staff. During 1977/1978, in-service training was carried out satisfactorily Agency-wide. In Lebanon, with the return to near-normal working conditions, it was possible to commence new courses and reactivate the eight unfinished courses referred to in last year's report. 5/ Two of these courses had been completed by the end of summer 1977, and the remaining six were recommenced during the first term of the 1977/1978 school year. A total of 1,300 teachers employed by UNRWA participated in the various courses organized by the Institute in all fields: 110 teachers were enrolled in the two-year basic course of professional training for unqualified elementary teachers, 319 followed wed specialized preparatory-level courses, 635 followed refresher and special courses to meet curricular changes and 236 followed various ad hoc courses for professionally qualified teachers.

59. Of the cumulative total of 4,342 teachers who have participated so far in the Institute's basic in-service professional courses for elementary teachers, 3,508 successfully completed their training and were recognized by the Agency as qualified elementary teacher and graded accordingly. At the same time, 1,977 preparatory teachers of a cumulative total of 2,765 participants successfully completed specialized preparatory-level courses and were also graded accordingly.

60. In co-ordination with the Institute but without UNRWA participation, the UNDP AND UNICEF-financed UNESCO Extension Services Unit continued to co-operate with Governments in the region, at their request, in sharing with them the experience gained in in-service training of education personnel based on the integrated multi-media approach the Institute has developed. The main beneficiaries were Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, the Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic. In addition, co-operation with the Arab League's Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization continued, and co-operation was established with the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States. The extension services activities for 1977/1978 culminated in the Third Conference of Directors of Arab In-Service Teacher-Training Projects attended by representatives of 12 Arab countries, held from 6 to 11 March 1978 at Beirut, on the topic of development of task-oriented and individualized printed instructional materials.

_____________

5/ Ibid., para. 59.

61. In their fourth year of operation, the two Education Development Centers which form integral parts of the UNRWA/UNESC0 education programs in east Jordan and the Gaza Strip, continued their activities for the in-service training of education personnel, in co-ordination with the UNRWA/UNESC0 Institute of Education.  In addition, the Centers carried out development projects aimed at achieving more effective teaching and learning in schools and enriching the school curricula, produced audio-visual and other educational material and evaluation devices for experimental and general use in schools, and provided library and documentation services for education personnel in the respective field.

62. To supplement the in-service training courses provided by the Institute of Education and the centers, divisions of the Department of Education have carried out such staff-training activities as short summer courses, seminars, workshops and conferences, designed to give guidance and specific technical assistance to teachers, instructors and supervisors. During 1977/1978, 30 such courses and meetings were held, involving approximately 900 education staff in all fields. In addition, 16 senior Palestinian education staff members were awarded fellowships for overseas study, tenable during the reporting period, 12 of which were awarded by UNESCO and four by UNRWA.

4. University scholarships

63. During the academic year 1977/1978, UNRWA awarded 339 scholarships to Palestine refugees for study at Arab universities, of which 260 were continuing scholarships and 79 were new awards (see table 14 of annex I). The UNRWA scholarships, partly funded from special contributions, are awarded for one year, but are renewable from year to year for the duration of the course of study, provided the student passes the end-of-year university examinations and is promoted to the next stage of his course. Also during the year under review,  Palestine Arab refugees were invited to apply for university studies under the Bulgaria/UNESCO, Romania/UNESCO and Czechoslovakia/UNESCO sponsored fellowship programs. One candidate each was selected for full university training under the Bulgaria/UNESCO and the Romania/UNESCO program, but no selections were made under the Czechoslovakia/UNESCO program.

64. By resolution 32/90 F, the General Assembly appealed to all States

"to make special allocations, scholarships and grants to Palestinian refugees ….",

and requested UNRWA

"to act as recipient and trustee for such special allocations and scholarship and to award them to qualified Palestinian refugee candidates".

In pursuance of this resolution, the Commissioner-General inquired of the Member States of the United Nations regarding their response to the resolution. By 30 June 1978, six Member States had replied to the Commissioner-General's letter: two replies were negative, two indicated that the matter was under consideration, one described assistance of an educational nature open to Palestinians resident in that country and one stated that 10 new scholarships would be made available to Palestinian students in the course of 1978. The Secretary-General's report provides comprehensive information on all action taken pursuant and in response to resolution 32/90 F.

C. Health services

65. The Agency continued to provide preventive and curative services at all of its 99 health units and by special arrangements at 13 government and two voluntary agency units. The extent of their utilization is influenced by the accessibility of the UNRWA health centers to the intended beneficiaries and by the availability of other free or low-cost services.

1.  Medical care

66. Curative services continued to be provided at about the same level as in previous years, except that, their delivery was disturbed in south Lebanon and particularly in Tyre during the Israeli military action in March 1978. Statistical data in respect of the out-patient care directly provided by the Agency are shown in table 5 of annex I.

67. In order to ensure adequate treatment and proper follow-up of certain chronic conditions, Agency health centers were encouraged to establish specialized clinics where patients could be seen by appointment. The total number of such clinics had risen to 47 in the following respective specialties: 12 for tuberculosis, 1 for cardiovascular, 4 for eye diseases, 1 for dermatology, 18 for diabetes and 7 for rheumatology.

68. In a further-attempt to raise the quality of the outpatient services provided at UNRWA clinics, the laboratory facilities are being improved progressively. The agency operates three central laboratories in Gaza, Jerusalem and Amman, while in Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic such services are obtained from subsidized private establishments. In addition, UNRWA has also established in 22 of its larger health centers small clinical laboratories for simple on-the-spot tests. An increasing number of these units are being equipped to carry out common biochemical examinations in order to reduce the number of specimens to be referred to the central laboratories.

69. The Agency operates a small hospital in Qalqiliya (West Bank) and nine camp maternity wards, the majority in the Gaza Strip. It also administers, jointly with the Public Health Department in Gaza, a tuberculosis hospital. The Agency also maintained its policy of providing in-patient care by securing facilities through subsidy agreements with private hospitals. As set forth in detail in table 6 of annex I, the average number of hospital beds made available to refugee patients during the year was 1,615. The rising cost of medical care entailed increases in almost all Agency subsidy rates. In addition to the subsidized facilities, a good number of refugee patients directly sought admission to government hospitals at nominal cost, particularly in the Syrian Arab Republic and east Jordan. In Gaza, beginning in July 1977, the Agency introduced a refund scheme for refugee patients hospitalized in government institutions in Gaza or Israel.

70. A particular situation exists in Lebanon, where an acute shortage of hospital beds persists, since a number of establishments looted and damaged during the civil war have not resumed full-scale operation. In Beirut, most of the emergency cases continue to be referred to the Medical Center of the American University of Beirut and an unknown number of refugee patients requiring surgical attention directly seek admission to institutions operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

71. The Agency provides, to a limited scale, for medical rehabilitation of crippled children in specialized institutions, as well as the provision of orthopedic devices. Contributions from voluntary agencies usually help meet the cost of appliances.

2. Control of communicable diseases

72. Communicable diseases continue to constitute a major health problem in the area and their prevention and control remain, therefore, among the main objectives of the Agency's Department of Health; prevention is effected mainly through an extensive immunization program, which forms an integral part of the Agency's maternal and child health (MCH) services. It is based on the use of vaccines recognized as safe, efficacious and easy to handle. Small children attending the child health clinics are thus protected against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, enteric fevers, measles and smallpox. Reinforcing doses of vaccines are given to children on admission to school.

73. Other control measures of public health importance are the improvement of environmental conditions, emphasis on personal hygiene through health education activities, particularly in schools and in health centers, and administration of specific chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis when indicated. Continuous monitoring of the incidence of communicable diseases among the refugee population is maintained through a regular reporting system, which has been in force since the beginning of the Agency's mandate. Close co-operation in disease surveillance and control is maintained with the government health authorities.

74. The major event during the period under review was an outbreak of cholera (El Tor) in the area. The first cases were reported among the Syrian population in the northern part of the country. The outbreak spread throughout the Syrian Arab Republic and, to a lesser extent, to east Jordan, the West Bank and Lebanon. Among Palestine refugees, 42 cases (including three deaths) were reported from the Syrian Arab Republic, 38 cases from east Jordan and three cases from Lebanon, with no fatalities in the latter two fields.

75. Twelve cases of malaria have been reported: seven from east Jordan, two from Gaza and three from the Syrian Arab Republic. They were all classified as imported cases occurring mainly among visitors arriving from the Gulf States. Three preventable diseases, namely, enteric fevers, whooping cough and measles, showed an increase in incidence in Lebanon due to disruption of the immunization program during the 1975-1976 conflict. Other communicable diseases remained at the previous year's level, except poliomyelitis and infectious hepatitis, which showed a remarkable drop to 16 and 472 cases, respectively.

76. The Agency continues to operate a comprehensive tuberculosis control program, including case detection, hospital and domiciliary treatment and follow-up of cases and their contacts. The incidence of respiratory tuberculosis has for several years been about one case per 10,000 population eligible for health services. A number of non-respiratory tuberculosis cases are reported each year, particularly from east Jordan, and specific treatment is given.

3. Maternal and child health

77. Maternal and child health care was provided in UNRWA health centers, supported by specialist and hospital referral services. A number of government and voluntary agencies supplemented Agency services, specially in Amman, Damascus and Jerusalem. In Gaza, the Swedish Save the Children Federation continued to support the maternal and child health and planned parenthood program at the UNRWA/Swedish Health Center. Data on maternal and child health services are presented in table 7 of annex I.

78. Prenatal care, including regular health supervision and the issue of extra rations, milk and iron-foliate tablets was extended to 29,186 women. Assistance was provided for 29,084 deliveries, the majority of which were attended at home by Agency supervised dayahs (traditional midwives) or carried out in UNRWA maternity centers; hospital deliveries were reserved mainly for complicated cases and women at risk of having a complicated delivery.

79. On the average, 89,000 children up to three years of age were registered for child care. Continuous monitoring of growth and feeding practices was provided in maternal and child health clinics. Primary and reinforcing immunizations were given against the eight important diseases (see para. 72). Nutrition of children was promoted through educational activities in UNRWA maternal and child health clinics end through the provision of milk and hot meals at UNRWA feeding centers. Distribution of dry milk to children under two years of age continued and, from April 1978 on, was extended, on a trial basis, to the age-group two to three years (see para. 95). About 1,800 children, suffering from diarheal diseases with or without accompanying malnutrition, were treated in 21 rehydration/nutrition centers. In addition, 10 specialized malnutrition clinics, aiming at a more comprehensive and effective treatment of infantile malnutrition, were operate in east Jordan (one), the Syrian Arab Republic (two) and the West Bank (seven).

80. The health centers and the school health teams (three in east Jordan and one in each of the other fields) provided school health services for children in UNRWA/UNESCO elementary and preparatory schools (see annex I, table 7 C). Medical examinations and treatment, where necessary, were provided to all children at school entry, while other pupils received medical attention whenever required. Reinforcing immunizations were given against diphtheria, tetanus, typhoid, smallpox and tuberculosis. Nutritional support was provided through the provision of a daily hot meal at the supplementary feeding centers for those in need. Supervision was maintained regarding school sanitary facilities and systematic health education was conducted in all schools.

81. Screening tests for early detection and care of vision and hearing defects were carried out regularly. Early preventive and restorative dental care was provided to the extent possible and oral hygiene was stressed in the health education program. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the program of prophylaxis and treatment of simple goiter in school children in the Damascus area was continued. Mass treatment of ascariasis and certain other fungal and parasitic skin infestation was also carried out.

82. In each field, a team of health education workers promoted the health education program with the participation of health, education and welfare staff. Their activities in health centers, schools, welfare centers and camp communities were supported by camp and school health committees and included camp sanitation drives and disease prevention campaigns, particularly in relation to cholera. A health calendar, pamphlets and other visual aids were produced for use in lectures and group discussions. In Gaza, the course "Health and family life" was conducted for senior girls in UNRWA/UNESCO preparatory schools. A course on the health of mother and child was included in the sewing courses for young women in all fields. World Health Day, with the theme "Down with high blood pressure" was celebrated in all fields.

4. Nursing services

83. The nursing personnel, who have a well established function within the Agency's community health program, continued to provide regular care at health centers, including maternal and child health services, and also at Agency operated," hospitals. In addition, they played a significant role in tuberculosis control, school health services, immunization and home-visiting programs.

84. As is customary, auxiliary personnel were largely relied on for primary health care, which also included first aid services after normal working hours at a number of health centers in east Jordan and Gaza. However, during the year under review such services were discontinued at nine centers, where they were considered no longer essential. Extensive use was also made of the dayahs (traditional child birth attendants), who carried out the majority of home deliveries. Much emphasis was placed on their in-service training, as well as that of practical nurses. A number of courses were conducted. In Gaza, selected midwives and practical nurses continued to participate in the community and family health program by giving lectures in third level preparatory classes of UNRWA/UNESCO girls' schools.

85. The layette program was maintained at a satisfactory level in all fields through contributions in kind and cash from several organizations.

5. Environmental health

86. The environmental health services of the Agency, which comprise mainly the provision of water, sanitary disposal of wastes, storm-water drainage, latrine facilities, and control of insect and rodent vectors of disease were maintained at a satisfactory level. A total of 661,054 refugees and displaced persons living in 63 refugee camps benefited from these services. Improvement of sanitary conditions in the camps continued to receive a high priority and, as described below, some essential works were executed during the year.

87. An allotment of $170,000 was made towards the cost of self-help construction of drains and paving of pathways in various camps. The scheme remained very popular with the refugees, who continued to contribute substantially to its successful implementation. Five camps in Lebanon, two in the Syrian Arab Republic, one in east Jordan, three in Gaza and 14 in the West Bank benefited from the scheme during the period under review.

88. Financial support was provided by the Agency to the family latrine program, providing private latrines to about 5 per cent of the refugee population in camps who had not so far benefited from this program and continued to rely on communal, facilities. After the installation of some additional lateral sewers at Neirab Camp, almost $0 per cent of the refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic are now served by sewerage systems. With a modest subsidy from the Agency in the form of building materials, the refugee community at Shatila Camp in Lebanon is laying a trunk sewer, which will be connected with the terminal sewer recently built by the Beirut Municipality. A self-help sewerage scheme for Burj el-Barajneh Camp, located in a suburb of Beirut, is being planned. In east Jordan, the Government of the host country has commenced the execution of sewerage schemes at Amman New and Jabal el-Hussein camps, which are located within the boundaries of Amman Municipality. The Municipality of Jerusalem initiated a sewerage scheme at Shu'fat Camp. With the completion of this scheme, three of 28 camps in the occupied territories will possess sewerage facilities.

89. Schemes for the provision of private water connections continued to progress steadily at one camp in Lebanon, two camps in east Jordan, six camps in Gaza and two camps in the West Bank, mostly through community participation and co-operation of the local authorities. Currently 46 per cent of the camp inhabitants are served by private water connections and the rest draw water from public standpipes installed by the Agency. Water augmentation schemes are being executed by the Governments of the host countries concerned at Jaramana and Khan Eshieh camps in the Syrian Arab Republic and Amman New and Jabal el-Hussein camps in east Jordan to meet the needs of these refugee communities. Agency -subsidized self-help water schemes are being planned for Bureij, Maghazi and Jabalia camps in Gaza.

90. To, improve the efficacy of refuse collection service, mule carts have been replaced by a tipper truck at the three camps located in the Damascus area; one truck was provided to Baqaa Camp in east Jordan and two additional trucks were made available to the Lebanon field. One tractor and two trailers have also been provided to Tulkarm Camp in the West Bank. Refuse transport needs of five camps in the Syrian Arab Republic and three camps in the West Bank are under review and suitable contractual arrangements for these camps are envisaged.

6. Nutrition, including supplementary feeding

91. Supervision of the nutritional state of the refugees continues to be a major responsibility of the Department of Health and includes the improvement of the nutritional conditions of the most vulnerable groups through supplementary food issues. Nutritional surveillance is mainly based on periodic assessment of the weight development of children using maternal and child health services, as well as on the findings of cross-sectional nutritional surveys occasionally conducted among selected communities. The data collected over the years indicated the nutritional state of the refugees to be relatively well maintained and, on the whole, comparable with that of residents of the host countries of similar socio-economic status. Available data also show a sizable percentage of small children among both the refugee as well as the indigenous population of the host countries to be suffering from marginal or moderate forms of malnutrition during their first three to four years. Details are provided in the report of the Secretary-General (A/33/1811).

92. On the basis of the information obtained through nutritional surveillance of the refugee community, the Agency has developed a supplementary feeding Program for the benefit of the most vulnerable groups. It consists of provision of milk, hot meals and extra rations to small children, pregnant and nursing women, tuberculosis patients and o her selected medical cases. As in previous years, the cost of the program was almost entirely met from a contribution by the European Economic Community.

93. The hot meal program provides nutritionally balanced mid-day meals, six day a week, at the 97 UNRWA supplementary feeding centers and four voluntary agency centers. The meals are available to refugee children up to the age of six and on medical grounds, to older children and even adults. Suitable menus are prepared for the different age groups. A special high-protein high-calorie diet is also available daily to infants and children suffering from the effects of diarrhea or malnutrition. Vitamin A and D capsules are issued with the hot meals.

94. A reorganization of the milk program was implemented in all fields effective July 1977 and included the monthly (instead of daily) distribution of dry milk (instead of reconstituted milk) at maternal and child health centers to infants six to 24 months old and the discontinuation of milk issues to school children and displaced refugees six to 15 years old. This reorganization of the program ensured a much higher utilization of the milk among the age group concerned and generated a more regular attendance of children at the child health clinics. These satisfactory results have encouraged the Agency to start on a trial basis effective April 1978, the distribution of dry milk to children two to three years old in one or two selected camps in each field. Before the end of 1978, the trial will be evaluated for possible generalization to the two to three year age group in 1979.

95. The emergency feeding program established for the benefit of refugees displaced or directly affected by the 1967 hostilities continued to provide daily hot meals to all displaced children up to the age of 15 years in east Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and a monthly protein supplement (one 12-ounce tin of meat) to all displaced refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic, to those living in the emergency camps, and to displaced pregnant and nursing women and tuberculosis out-patients living outside the emergency camps in east Jordan. The general milk distribution to displaced children six to 15 years old in east Jordan, which had been maintained since the 1967 hostilities, was discontinued as part of the reorganization of the milk program (see para. 94 above). Similarly the distribution of protein supplements will be discontinued after 30 June 1978 in favor of the general distribution of two tins of meat per month to every pregnant or nursing refugee woman (displaced or non-displaced) in all fields.

96. In east Jordan, as in previous years, the Agency continued to provide, on behalf of the Government and on a reimbursable basis, milk and hot meals for displaced persons (other than UNRWA-registered refugees) living in the emergency camps.

97. Subsequent to the penetration of Israeli forces into south Lebanon in March 1978, an emergency feeding program was immediately organized for the benefit of refugees who had fled from the Tyre area in the south to safer areas near Sidon and Beirut. The program then included the distribution on a family basis of milk, corned beef, sardines, cheese, eggs and bread. Later in April, when those refugees started to return to the south again, distribution in Sidon and Beirut was stopped and, instead, taken up in the Tyre area, where it will Continue until it is considered that the need for emergency distributions no longer exists

7. Medical and paramedical education and training

98. In the 1977/1978 scholastic year, 199 refugee students held UNRWA medical university scholarships (see annex I, table 14), 150 refugee trainees were enrolled in paramedical courses in Agency training centers and two in non-Agency institutions in the area of operations. Of these, 30 university students and 42 trainees either successfully completed their courses of education or were expected to pass their qualifying examinations.

99. The Agency continued to pay subsidies to two schools of nursing in addition to providing financial assistance to a number of students from contributions received for the purpose. A number of private and government institutions provided free nursing education to refugee students. Twenty-four sponsored student nurses enrolled in basic nursing training graduated during the year under review, and 55 are pursuing their training. Only few refugee students entered courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing in spite of available university scholarships.

100. Intensive in-service training of doctors, nurses, midwives, dayahs and sanitation staff was carried out. One medical officer was granted study leave of one year's duration to pursue post graduate medical specialization in internal medicine, and two medical officers were granted fellowships by the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office for public health training. In view of the shortage of trained midwives in the area and limited training facilities for basic midwifery, four graduate nurses were referred to post-basic midwifery training the five under training last year successfully completed their courses. In addition, the Agency conducted a course for midwives in Gaza, which was successfully completed in April 1978.

D. Relief services

101. The Agency's relief services comprise the distribution of basic rations, the provision of or assistance with shelter in individual cases of special hardship or in such special circumstances as displacement of refugees or large-scale destruction or damage of shelter, and hardship and welfare assistance. These services are provided to registered Palestine refugees and certain other categories of refugees and displaced persons eligible within the Agency's mandate.

102. In Lebanon, the Agency's relief programs, which had returned to normal after the fighting in 1975-1976 (apart from a program of additional assistance to some 30,000 refugees displaced during the conflict), were once again seriously disrupted by the Israeli military action in south Lebanon and air attacks on places farther north on 14/15 March 1978.

103. The Israeli action resulted in a mass exodus of the inhabitants – Lebanese as well as Palestine refugees – to areas and cities farther north. Approximately 52,000 registered Palestine refugees from the area south of the Litani River and some 15,000 more from areas north of the Litani River left their homes in and outside camps and took refuge in and around the cities of Beirut and Sidon. The refugees found shelter where they could and most of the Agency's schools in the Sidon and central Lebanon areas were occupied for a while.

104. An emergency relief program was put into operation to meet the immediate needs of the more hard-pressed among the 67,000 displaced refugees. In response to an urgent appeal by UNRWA, food, clothing, blankets and tents were generously donated by the European Economic Community, the Governments of Lebanon, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America and by non-governmental. organizations such as the British Red Cross, Help the Aged, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Middle East Council of Churches, OXFAM and the World Council of Churches, Middle East Airlines and Trans Mediterranean Airways generously provided air freight free of charge for a considerable quantity of clothing and blankets. Generous cash donations to meet this emergency were received, from the Governments of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Sweden, as well as from the International Union for Child Welfare, the Mary Cassels Welfare Fund, the Middle East Lutheran Committee, OXFAM, the UNRWA Area Staff Union in the Syrian Arab Republic and the UNRWA International Staff Association.

105. The displaced refugees started to return to their former places of residence towards the end of March and the majority had returned by the end of June. It has not yet been possible to estimate the number of refugee casualties. Damage and losses to Agency installations and other property as a result of the Israeli action are estimated at $1,84,000. Four hundred and ten refugee shelters in the three camps in the Tyre area were damaged or destroyed and the cost of materials only for rebuilding or repairing these shelters is estimated at $126,000. These costs will be met from the special cash contributions made by the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and Saudi Arabia.

1. Eligibility, registration and basic rations

106. The number of refugees registered with the Agency on 30 June 1978 was 1,757,269, compared with 1,706,486 on 30 June 1977, an increase of 2.9 per cent. The number of UNRWA rations issued in December 1977 was 822,117, including issues made on an emergency basis, compared with 806,134 in December 1976. Deletions on grounds of false and duplicate registration, death, absence, employment or graduation from UNRWA training centers were largely offset by the addition of eligible children not previously receiving rations because of ration ceilings. Eligibility for rations (and other services) is computerized and lists of those eligible refugees who are authorized to receive rations are brought up to date each month by computer printout. However, except for its own employees and their dependents (estimated to total 80,000 refugees, largely denied rations because of the level of their incomes), the Agency is unable, without the agreement and co-operation of the authorities in the area, to establish income criteria for deletions from ration rolls or to carry out full investigations to determine employment status or income levels. In Gaza and the West Bank, programs of partial rectification of rolls for deaths and absence from the area are successful and updating of ration rolls is an ongoing process (see annex I, table 2, for details). It should be kept in mind that any ration denied to a refugee presently receiving it is transferred to a needy refugee child eligible for but excluded from receiving it because of the ration ceiling. It will be noted that only 47 per cent of registered refugees were in receipt of rations in June 1978. Tables 1 to 4 of annex I below give statistics of registered refugees, the categories of service to which they are entitled and changes in the composition and entitlement of refugee families as recorded by the Agency.

107. Because of financial difficulties and of difficulties encountered in the continued process of rectification of ration rolls, a limit or ceiling has been maintained on the number of ration recipients in east Jordan and the West Bank since 1953, and in the other fields since 1963, new beneficiaries being added only when deletions are made. As a result, with the natural increase in the refugee population, the percentage of registered refugees receiving rations has fallen, and the number of children of refugees aged one year and over (some of whom are now adults) for whom no rations are available on a permanent basis within the ceiling and who are potentially eligible, continues to grow. By June 1978, these children totaled 528,814: 295,216 in east Jordan, of whom 38,030 are eligible to receive government rations (see para. 108 below); 86,524 on the West Bank, 44,376 in Lebanon, 68,100 in the Syrian Arab Republic and 34,598 in the Gaza Strip, of whom 1,343 were members of Gaza families receiving rations in the West Bank.

108. In east Jordan, the Agency, as requested by the Government in 1967, has continued to distribute rations on the Government's behalf to displaced persons who are not registered with the Agency as Palestine refugees. In June 1978, the number of such persons issued with rations was 194,066 compared with 193,943 in June 1977. In addition, 38,002 children of displaced West Bank refugee families in east Jordan, the majority of whom live outside emergency camps, were also issued with rations provided by the Government. The Agency co-operates with the Jordanian Government in these tasks, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) of 4 July 1967 (and subsequent resolutions) requesting the Agency to provide humanitarian assistance, as far as practicable, to persons other than refugees who were displaced in 1967. The cost of rations and 50 per cent of the distribution and transport costs are borne by the Government of Jordan. Displaced persons residing it the post-1967 emergency camps benefit also from medical, sanitation and other Agency camp services. Many of their children also attend UNRWA/UNESCO schools and benefit from the supplementary feeding and milk programs against reimbursement of the cost of supplies by the Government.

109. Because of problems arising from the late arrival of donated food commodities and the Agency's inability, owing to lack of funds, to purchase sufficient flour to maintain the quantities of flour normally included in the dry food distribution, the basic ration could not-be distributed in full. The Governments of the host countries were most co-operative in lending commodities to the Agency against repayment in kind, but, early in 1978, a stage was reached when the Agency could no longer guarantee the repayment of such loans. Therefore, in February 1978, it was necessary to reduce the flour component of the basic ration from 10 kilograms per month to the equivalent of approximately 6.7 kilograms per month. In June 1978, the flour ration was made up to 10 kilograms per month for certain categories of welfare cases in east Jordan, with arrangements in hand for extending this supplement to similarly handicapped families in the other fields. The other ration components were 600 grams of sugar, 500 grams of rice and 375 grams of cooking oil per month. Other supplies distributed by the Agency included 1.5 liters of kerosene, during each of the five winter months, to ration beneficiaries and to infants and children (some of whom are now adults) registered for services in camps in all fields except Gaza, where one liter was issued monthly during the period from November through March to the same beneficiaries whether they lived in camps or not.

2. Camps and shelters 6/

110. The registered population of the 51 camps established before 1967 increased from 498,677 to 510,131. In the 10 emergency camps (six in east Jordan and four in the Syrian Arab Republic) set up to accommodate refugees and other persons displace as a result of the 1967 hostilities, the population also showed an increase from 146,181 last year to 150,473 at present. The registered camp population represented 35.5 per cent of the registered refugee population, varying from 56.5 per cent in the Gaza Strip and 51.2 per cent in Lebanon to only 25.6 per cent in the West Bank because of the continuing presence in east Jordan of many former West Bank refugees, who left the West Bank in 1967 and have been prevented by the Government of Israel from returning. Table 4 of annex I provides more detailed statistics on the distribution of the refugee population.

111. In east Jordan, minor repairs to camp roads were carried out at a cost of $17,051. In the five emergency camps with prefabricated shelters, owing to lack of funds, work on external repairs was limited to those shelters occupied by refugees and displaced persons who were suffering extreme hardship. Repairs were made to 251 shelters occupied by refugee families and to 82 shelters occupied by the families of displaced persons. The cost of the repairs to shelters occupied by the refugees was borne by the Agency and by the Government of Jordan for those shelters occupied by displaced persons. Eight self-help projects were completed at a total cost of $37,931, of which $7,230 were contributed by the Agency and the remainder by the refugee community, the Government of Jordan and voluntary agencies.

_______________

6/ Attention is invited to paragraphs 55 to 57 of the annual report for the period from 1 July 1970 to 30 June 1971 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 13 (1/8413)), in which the origin and nature the Palestine refugee camps and the relationship and limited responsibilities of UNRWA towards them are explained. In particular, it was explained in paragraph 57 that the "camps were constructed on government land or on private land made available (with one or two minor exceptions) by the Governments, which remained responsible for the maintenance of law and order and similar governmental function as part of their normal responsibilities towards the population within their borders. It is also desirable to distinguish between three categories of buildings in camps: installations constructed or rented by the Agency, for example, schools, clinics and stores, which are in the possession of the Agency and used by it for the purposes indicated; shelters (huts) constructed by the Agency, which a the dwellings of and in the possession of the refugees, who have maintained them in repair and, in many cases, added to and improved them; and shelters and other buildings constructed and occupied or otherwise used by refugees (or others), for some of which the Agency may at most have given some assistance at the time they were constructed. It should be noted also that some camps contain large numbers persons who are not registered refugees or even registered camp population (see annex I, table 4).

112. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the Government provided land for the construction of 795 shelters to be built by the refugees on a self-help basis at Homs, Hama and Khan Eshieh camps, of which 410 shelters have been completed. Adjacent to Khan Danoun Camp, where refugees are constructing shelters at their own expense in order to reduce overcrowding in the camp, of the 120 units planned, 55 have been completed.

113. The Agency completed the construction of four class-rooms in Yarmouk and commenced work on an additional two class-rooms. A distribution center at Homs Camp was completed. Plans are being made for the construction of seven class-rooms in Yarmouk and Jaber; two class-rooms in Sheineh Camp; eight class-rooms in Jaramana Camp; eight class-rooms, one administration room and one multipurpose room in Khan Danoun Camp; 24 class-rooms, six administration rooms, four multipurpose rooms and two school laboratories in Nairab Camp; and a feeding center in Khan Danoun camp.

114. The Agency constructed sewer lines in Dera'a Camp which have been connected to the local municipal sewerage systems. The Agency laid 2,100 square meters of new roads in Jaramana Camp and re-paved the existing roads in Jaramana Camp and Dera'a Emergency Camp.

115. In Lebanon, repairs to Agency installations and the replacement of supplies and equipment damaged or lost during the 1975-1976 conflict have been completed. Repairs to Agency installations and the replacement of supplies and equipment damaged or lost as a result of the Israeli military action in March 1978 are now being carried out.

116. The repair and reconstruction of refugee shelters damaged or destroyed in Rashidieh, Ein el-Hilweh, Nahr el-Bared and Beddawi camps during previous Israeli attacks were completed on a self-help basis, the Agency providing the materials and the refugees the labor. Plans are under way to repair refugee shelters damaged or destroyed during the 1975-1976 conflict or as a result of the recent Israeli military action.

117. The Government of Lebanon has put at the Agency's disposal a plot of land of about 190,000 square meters near the village of Bayssarieh, some 12 kilometers south of Sidon, for the construction of a new camp to re-house approximately 8,500 refugees from Dekwaneh and Jisr el-Basha camps, which were destroyed during the 1975-1976 conflict. The feasibility study and the preliminary design report for the new camp have been completed and the final designs are now under preparation. The cost of the first steps of constructing the now camp is estimated to be $7 million, of which $3.6 million have so far been pledged. Subject to sufficient funds becoming available, it is expected that construction work on the site will commence towards the end of 1978.

118. No further progress has been made with the reconstruction of Nabatieh Camp. Some 75 refugee families had returned to live in some of the less damaged shelters in the camp, but, as a result of the Israeli military action, the camp is deserted once again.

119. The comprehensive plan for the improvement of installations, environmental sanitation, shelters and roads in the camps in Lebanon has made little progress during the past year owing to the continuing unsettled situation in the country.

120. There are 19 camps in the West Bank still inhabited by refugees, including two in the Jericho area, which are only partly inhabited. One camp in the Jericho area remains wholly depopulated, as its former residents are in east Jordan and unable or (largely because families would be divided) unwilling to return to Israeli-Occupied territory.

121. Facilities in the camps have continued to improve, mainly owing to refugee projects executed on a self-help basis, with some financial aid from the Agency. These projects included the construction of 32,666 square meters of pathways and channels, the construction of youth activities centers at Far'a and Am'ari camps and of a youth activities center for girls in Balata Camp and several other smaller projects. The Agency provided funds for the construction of 1,519 meters of waste water main drains and for the construction of two classrooms in Balata Camp and two classrooms in Shu'fat Camp, as well as a latrine unit for a girls' school in Far'a Camp.

122. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupying authorities continued to insist that refugees demolish their shelters as a condition for the provision of new housing. The Agency has reiterated its objections to this reduction in shelter accommodation in the Gaza Strip at a time when a need exists for such accommodation. There were two cases of families in Khan Yunis Camp, whose shelters the authorities turned over to other refugee families who had had their shelters in a nearby part of the camp demolished on the instructions of the authorities. Nine hundred and eighty-four shelter rooms, 450 Agency-built rooms, 69 Agency-assisted rooms and 465 private rooms were demolished in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir el-Balah, Jabalia and Beach camps A further 61 private and two Agency-built rooms in Nuseirat and Maghazi camps were demolished by the authorities, who claimed that the rooms had been constructed on areas designated as security spaces subsequent to the demolitions of all buildings on the security spaces. No punitive demolition took place during the year.

123.  Mention was made in previous reports of an option for refugees to move to shelters vacated in another section of a camp when they were notified that their shelters were to be demolished. With the exception of the cases referred to in the preceding paragraph, all shelters vacated by refugees moving to housing projects were demolished and none was made available to other refugee families.

124. Since 1972, when the first housing survey was carried out jointly by the Agency and the occupying authorities, the Agency has had on its records over 2,000 families whose shelters were demolished by the Israeli occupying authorities in 1971 and who are now housed in accommodation ranging from substandard shanties to houses in housing projects constructed by the authorities. Twenty families of those recorded on the hardship list have accepted an offer of free housing in the government housing projects. One hundred and seventy-eight families have refused the offer of free housing. On the basis of the 1972 survey, of these, more than 2,000 families, virtually all recorded on the hardship list, had been offered free housing and 421 remain recorded as living in unsatisfactory accommodation. The Agency has requested the Israeli occupying authorities to participate in a fresh survey of these same families whose shelters were demolished in 1971, in order to ascertain how many are inadequately accommodated. Six years after the first survey, some previously considered to be living in unsatisfactory accommodation might now be hardship cases. No answer has yet been received to this request.

125. During the reporting period, a further 275 families, mainly from Khan Yunis Camp, moved into houses in the nearby El Amal housing project, bringing the total number of families who have moved into El Amal and Shukeiri housing projects to 473.

126. Construction of houses in the Sheikh Radwan project near Gaza town continues and 279 families, mainly from Beach Camp, moved into houses there. An additional 38 families from Beach Camp purchased land in the same project and built their own houses. This brings the total number of families who have moved to houses in Sheikh Radwan to 712 and the number of families who have purchased land there to 109.

127. A further 11 families from Rafah Camp moved into houses in the Sinai housing Project near Rafah, bringing the total number of families who have moved to housing projects in the Rafah area (Brazilian No. 1 and No. 2 and Sinai) to 939. Plans have been announced for another government housing project near Rafah and refugees and local residents of Rafah have been informed that they may purchase plots of land in the project on which to construct their own houses.

128. A housing project at Beit Lahia, north of Jabalia Camp, is being developed by the authorities and refugees from the camp are being invited to purchase plots of land in the project on which to build their own houses. Twenty-four families have accepted so far.

129. Fifteen self-help projects have been completed in Gaza at a total value of $16,362 of which $5,690 were contributed by the Agency and the balance by refugees and community groups. The four class-rooms being constructed as a self-help project Beit Hanoun village are nearing completion and a similar project for two class-rooms in Beach Camp has been started. The Jabalia and Bureij water pipe projects were completed. The construction of paths and drains in Bureij and Nuseirat camps has continued and similar projects have been started in Jabalia, Deir el-Balah, Maghazi, Khan Yunis and Rafah camps. The premises housing youth activities centers have been improved by the members of the centers.

130. The municipal authorities of Khan Yunis have agreed to finance the replacement of Agency installations situated in the path of a new road which the municipality plans to put through Khan Yunis Camp. The municipal authorities of Deir el-Balah have completed work on an extension to the main road in Deir el-Balah Camp.

3. Welfare

131. Voluntary agencies again donated used clothing to UNRWA for distribution to the refugees: 328 tons and 1,024 bales, including 6,500 layettes, and some 29,00, blankets were received and distributed to hardship cases in east Jordan, the West Bank, the Syrian Arab Republic, Gaza and Lebanon.

132. The following agencies contributed to the program: American Friends Service Committee (United States), Canadian Lutheran World Relief, Canadian Red Cross Society, Catholic Relief Services (United States), Church World Service (United States), Lutheran World Federation (Sweden), Lutheran World Relief, Inc. (United States), Near East Council of Churches (Jerusalem), OXFAM (United Kingdom) Pontifical Mission for Palestine (Jerusalem), Radda Barnen (Sweden) and Save the Children Fund (United Kingdom).

133. Many of the most needy refugees, such as those physically handicapped, tubercular and chronically ill, widows with minor children and the aged, continued to receive special assistance, but on a scale that often fell short of their need.

134. The number of families registered with UNRWA as hardship cases totaled 27,196, comprising about 133,334 persons. Small cash grants were given to 20,473 persons, while assistance in other forms was given to 43,127 persons. Welfare workers, through counseling and guidance, helped solve individual and family problems. Prosthetic devices were issued to 2,184 persons, while 237 destitute aged persons and 1,472 orphans were placed in institutions, mainly free of charge.

135. Activities for pre-school children are directed to the particular needs of those three to six years old, having in mind the need to develop the children's potential through play periods supervised by trained teachers. Of the 52 centers serving nearly 5,400 children, the American Friends Service Committee finances and operates 13 centers on behalf of the Agency in Gaza and the Holy Land Mission finances six in the West Bank. The remaining centers are financed either by local groups or voluntary agencies.

136. Youth activities were carried out in co-operation with the World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations in 35 refugee camps and 4,980 young refugees participated. There were 2,157 boys under 16 years of age – almost 1,000 more than last year – who participated in self-help projects and recreational programs. Sixty-one projects, including the construction of new premises and the improvement of sports grounds, were completed on a self-help basis by the members of youth activities centers. Cash, labor and materials were contributed by members of the centers and the refugee community as a whole. Youth services to the community included special programs for orphans, informal classes for illiterates, tutoring lessons for pupils, assistance in cleanliness campaigns and visits to sick and elderly camp residents.

137. Training courses in summer camping, scouting, sports, health education and youth leaders' seminars were attended by 705 young refugees from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and east, Jordan, more than twice the number of last year. In addition, 445 young men received leadership training. In 1977, summer camps were organized in east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and were attended by 585 refugee boys and girls; 81 counselors volunteered to work in the camps.

138. Afternoon activities in the women's activities centers are dependent on special donations; 14 centers are operated by UNRWA and two by voluntary agencies. This program aims at giving refugee girls and women living in camps a chance to develop such skills as may help them raise their standard of living. In the year under review, 381 female refugees were taught a variety of arts and crafts, including embroidery, crocheting, knitting, bead and straw work, and painting on pottery and glass. Health education, first aid and simple household skills also form part of the program, and the better educated teach any illiterates in the groups how to read and write.

139. The Agency also organizes training activities outside schools in order to provide basic training in various skills for young refugees who would not otherwise receive vocational training or education. In the 33 sewing centers operated by the Agency, 851 of 926 refugee women and girls undergoing sewing training successfully completed the 11-month course during the period under review. In the West Bank, UNRWA operates three carpentry centers, where 46 young refugees attended a one-year carpentry course. The majority of the young men who complete this course find employment locally. Special training was provided for 198 disabled refugees to integrate them into the life of their community; 55 of them were trained at the Center for the Blind in Gaza, which is operated by the Agency for refugees and financed by the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, and the others were trained in similar specialized institutions in the area.

E. Common services and general administration

140. In November and December 1977, the Agency realized its intention 7/ of reuniting in Beirut from Amman and Vienna those headquarters offices which, as a result of the fighting in Lebanon in 1975, were temporarily relocated away from Beirut in January 1976. The decision to return to Beirut was taken in view of the noticeable improvement in security in the latter half of 1977.

141. This situation continued for the first two months of 1978 until the Israeli Military action in South Lebanon in March 1978, which had caused the Agency's entire staff in the Tyre area to move away for more than three weeks. The security situation in Beirut, and Lebanon generally, deteriorated to such a point that, in April 1978, the Commissioner-General announced his intention to relocate headquarters outside Lebanon because the lack of personal safety of staff members and their dependents created unacceptable operational difficulties for headquarters. Staff frequently had to be sent home early or were unable to come to work and an Inordinate amount of the time of the Commissioner-General and other senior officials the Agency was required to deal with problems affecting headquarters operations arising from the situation in Lebanon.

__________

7/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/32/13 and Corr. 1 and 2), para. 141.

142. In June 1978, following consultations with the Governments of Lebanon, Austria, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, the Commissioner-General announced that it had been decided to relocate headquarters to Vienna and Amman. The offices of the headquarters department heads will be located in Vienna; the Commissioner-General will maintain offices in Vienna and in the area of operations at UNRWA headquarters (Amman), where about one third of the headquarters staff (primarily the health and education and relief program specialists, who should preferably be in the area of operations) will be relocated. This relocation is expected to be completed by early August 1978.

143. Throughout the period covered by this present report, the departments of personnel and of administration have been under severe strain in coping with the problems and arrangements arising, from preparations for the return of headquarters to Beirut, the actual return and settling into new but far from ideal office accommodation in Beirut, the deterioration in the security situation in Beirut after the return and the preparations for relocation to Vienna and Amman. This situation has been reflected in staff morale and in an inevitable diminution of the efficiency and promptness of the routine advice and assistance provided by the departments of personnel and administration for normal operations.

144. In its efforts to give sympathetic consideration to requests from the area staff unions, the Administration continued to meet periodically with union representatives. During the period of the present report, discussions centered on the Agency's remuneration system, which is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 3 June 1977. The system provides for adjustment in remuneration based on (a) appropriate comparability with employers on the public sector, (b) quarterly changes in the relevant cost-of-living indices and (c) availability of funds. Owing to lack of funds, the cost-of-living adjustment on 1 April 1978 had to be reduced to, 50 per cent of the amount indicated by changes in the relevant cost-of-living indices. Even this amount, however, now appears to have been unjustified on the basis of comparability with remuneration levels of Governments in the area of operations. A recent comparability study by the Agency, the results of which are still being analyzed, shows that Agency remuneration generally exceeds that of comparable government employers (in some cases by considerable margins) and the implications are being reviewed with the staff unions. The Memorandum of Understanding of 3 June 1977 makes inadequate provision for the current situation and the Administration is developing proposals which would set out more clearly the method of adjusting remuneration in the light of comparability with similar government employees, cost-of-living changes and availability of funds.

145. One result would be to compress the remuneration span horizontally as well as- vertically. Although this would satisfy a long-standing union request, strong union opposition has already been expressed on the grounds that (a) remuneration should be adjusted solely on the basis of changes in the cost of living and (b) if comparability were to be a consideration, it should be measured against the best local employers rather than the most nearly comparable employers, that is, Governments. The Administration has informed the staff unions that the only proper comparison is with similar government employees and that it cannot agree to adopt a system of automatic adjustments in remuneration based only on changes in cost-of-living indices. Pending resolution of this disagreement, the Agency will adjust remuneration only as necessary to keep its minimum remuneration as far as possible in line with the minimum remuneration paid by comparable employers, that is Governments.

146. During the period under review, the manning table for the international staff of UNRWA decreased by three posts, bringing the total to 117. During the same period, there was an increase of 230 in the manning table for local area staff, almost entirely as a result of the increase in teachers to meet the growth of the school population, bringing the total number of local posts to 16,464.

F. Legal matters

1. The Agency's staff

147. In the year under review, four Agency staff members were arrested and detained in the Gaza Strip (for various periods, not exceeding six months in any case), but were subsequently released without being charged or brought to trial. There are at present no staff members in detention in the Gaza Strip.

148. In the West Bank, 13 Agency staff members were arrested and detained during the year under review. Three of these were tried and convicted and 10 were released without trial, after detention for periods varying from one week to four months.

149. In east Jordan, four staff members were arrested and detained. Three were released shortly afterwards without being charged. The fourth was brought to tr-ial and convicted "by a military court. One staff member was deported from east Jordan to the Syrian Arab Republic. The Agency was not given any advance intimation in this case nor has there been an adequate explanation for the deportation, apart from a general statement that it was for security reasons and "for participating in activities prohibited in the country". The Agency is pursuing the matter with the Government.

150. In the Syrian Arab Republic, during the year under review, three staff members were arrested and detained (for various periods not exceeding one month in any case) but all of them were subsequently released without being charged. With regard to the three staff members referred to in chapter I-F last year's report 8/ as missing, the Agency later learned that they had been arrested and detained, but were released between November 1977 and March 1978 without being charged. Prior to their release, the Agency was not successful in obtaining information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the status of the missing staff members, although clarification had been sought with regard to their disappearance as early as October and December 1976. A protest has been made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning these cases. Another staff member has been missing since 23 April 1978 and the Agency has sought clarification about his status from the Government.

__________

8/ Ibid., para. 145.

151. The Agency views with utmost concern the prolonged detention of staff members without trial and the difficulties which the Agency encounters in obtaining adequate, timely information on the reasons for the arrest and detention of staff members. The Agency continues to press the authorities concerned to give reasons for arrest and detention in each case, in order to ensure that the staff member's official functions are not involved, bearing in mind the rights and duties of the staff member flowing from the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 18 February 1946, and the Agency's Staff Regulations and Rules.

152. With regard to travel of staff, one of the international staff members referred to in paragraph 147 of last year's report now has been permitted to enter the Syrian Arab Republic. The Agency, however, continues to encounter difficulties concerning the travel of its staff to and through the Syrian Arab Republic and a new case involving an international staff member arose during the year under review. At present, two senior officials of the Agency are prevented from travelling on duty to or through the Syrian Arab Republic. These cases are being followed up by the Agency.

153. In east Jordan, a staff member, who was proceeding on official travel from the Gaza Strip via Amman to Beirut, was permitted to do so only on condition that he present himself for interrogation on his return trip. The interrogation delayed him by three days. In another case, a staff member returning on duty from Beirut to the Gaza Strip via Amman was also subjected to three days' interrogation, during which his national passport was confiscated. After interrogation, his passport was returned to him and he was permitted to return to Gaza. In a third case, a staff member, who was to travel on duty from the Gaza Strip to the Agency's headquarters in Beirut, was refused entry into east Jordan. The Agency has protested to the Government of Jordan in all three cases. The staff member, whose private travel document was confiscated by the Jordanian authorities while he was travelling to the Gaza Strip from Damascus, as reported in last year's report, 9/ subsequently had the document returned to him.

154. With regard to the travel of staff to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the difficulties referred to in paragraph 148 of last year's report continue. The Agency is concerned at the continued denial of duty travel facilities to some of its staff and has continued to press the matter with the Israeli occupying authorities.

___________

9/ Ibid., para. 147.

155. The occupying authorities continued to interrogate Agency staff in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the year under review. The Agency has taken up with those authorities, as necessary, the circumstances and scope of the interrogations.

2. The Agency's premises

156. With regard to the incidents reported in paragraph 152 of last year's report concerning the Agency's two training centers in the West Bank, it is evident from the replies of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Agency's protests that the Ministry's appreciation of the facts does not accord with that of the Agency. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs treated the beating of the trainees as a necessary concomitant of the dispersal of an illegal and violent demonstration forming part of a widespread atmosphere of agitation and incitement to riot. According to the Agency's understanding of the facts, the beating did not take place during the dispersal of a demonstration or while the police were actually engaged in putting an end to violence and restoring order. The Agency particularly regrets that, despite the exchange of notes following these two incidents, similar violations affecting certain Agency premises, mainly educational institutions, took place in March 1978. The Israeli occupying authorities have again beaten and caused injury to both male and female trainees inside Agency premises and caused damage to Agency property. The Agency has protested at these repeated violations and asked for an assurance that they will not recur.

3. Claims against Governments and other legal matters

157. The Agency has suffered substantial loss and damage as a result of the conflict in Lebanon in 1975/1976. The Agency proposes to make a claim in respect of such loss and damage, the extent of which is now being assessed. The Agency is also assessing the loss and damage it has suffered as a consequence of the Israeli military action and occupation of south Lebanon in March-April 1978 with a view to making a claim in respect thereof.

158. Reference was made in paragraph 155 of last year's report to a claim which had been made against the Agency in connection with the carriage by sea from Trieste to Lattakia of a quantity of wheat flour. A written statement of claim has been received by the Agency, whose reply is presently under consideration.

G. Financial operations

159. The financial accounts of UNRWA are published separately, together with the related report of the Board of Auditors. 10/ This section therefore presents, in summary form only, the Agency's actual financial operations in 1977 and its estimated financial operations in 1978.

160. The following table summarizes the Agency's financial operations in 1977:

(In thousands of United States dollars)

a/ Income for 3.976 and 1977 (and consequently working capital at the end of 1976) has exceptionally been adjusted from that shown in the Agency's audited accounts for those years to reflect the late receipt (in 1977 of a special contribution of $6 million by the United States for 1976. This adjustment has also been reflected in tables 15 and 16 in annex I.

b/ "Other costs" comprise the cost of temporary relocation of Agency headquarters from Beirut to Vienna and Amman and other costs due to the conflict in Lebanon, the cost of increasing the provision for local staff separation costs as a result of the incorporation of part of cost-of-living allowances into salaries and certain other costs not readily allocable to programs.

_________

10/ UNRWA's accounts for 1977 and 1978 together with the corresponding reports of the Board of Auditors will be submitted to the General Assembly at its thirty–fourth session (see A/33/171, para. 1).

161. The foregoing summary distinguishes between expenditure on "recurrent operations" (salaries, supplies, rents, subsidies and other costs incurred regularly) and expenditure on "non-recurrent operations" (capital improvements, such as shelter and schoolrooms, replacement of worn-out equipment and other essentially non-repetitive costs). The distinction is significant because (a) the cost of recurrent operations is a measure of the minimum cost of maintaining the three programs of relief, health and education, which the Agency regards itself as obliged to maintain under its mandate, to the extent that its financial resources permit (these programs are not a series of finite projects, but indefinitely continuing basic services for which a degree of financial stability is required), and (b) non-recurrent operations are sometimes financed by special contributions, which cannot be used for recurrent operations.

162. The Agency completed the year 1977 with a deficit of $3.8 million despite having temporarily reduced certain services and having postponed a number of highly desirable construction projects (the two groups of budgetary reductions together totaling some $6.5 million) because of its inadequate financial resources. As a consequence, the Agency's working capital (that is, excess of assets over liabilities) was reduced to only $15.8 million at year end after allowing for adjustments of $1.8 million of prior year's accounts.

163. As the experience of recent years has clearly shown, $15.8 million of working capital is far from adequate. The Agency should have working capital equal to approximately the cost of three months' operations (currently some $35 million) to ensure its ability to continue operations normally during the last quarter of a year even if contributions for the year fail to match budgeted expenditure. This would largely obviate the possibility of the Agency's having to suspend operations abruptly and thus having to increase its liability for termination indemnities to local staff members by some $15 million. (An orderly liquidation of the Agency would, it is believed, permit the Agency to find continued employment for nearly half of its staff members with other organizations. Such staff members would not qualify for termination indemnities, and the Agency's provision for staff separation benefits reflects this assumption. An unplanned, forced liquidation would probably make this impossible, so that virtually all staff would quality for termination indemnities, thus nearly doubling the Agency's liability therefor.)

164. The balance of cash of some $18.4 million at the end of 1976 was not sufficient to cover the Agency's requirements even for the first two months of 1977, and only the unusually early receipt of certain large contributions enabled the Agency to avoid suspension of operations early in 1977. For the remainder of 1977, the Agency's cash position was fairly good and, at the close of 1977, was slightly improved ($1 million) over that at the close of 1976. The $19.4 million of cash in hand at 31 December 1977 was, however, again inadequate to cover the Agency's requirements during the early months of 1978, but fortunately certain large contributions were again exceptionally received in those months.

165. At the end of 1977, unpaid pledges for 1977 or previous year totaled $13.6 million, compared with only $9.1 million unpaid at the end of 1976 (taking into account the late pledge of $6 million by the United States for 1976 referred to in note (a) to the table in para. 160 above). Of the pledges unpaid at the end of 1977, $7.5 million were payable in cash and $6.1 million in supplies of various kinds. Inventories of supplies and advances to suppliers (the Agency's supply "pipeline" at $13.5 million were somewhat lower than at the close of 1976 ($13.7 million). On the other hand, the late delivery of contributions in kind (giving rise to the large amount of unpaid pledges at year end noted above) forced the Agency to borrow large amounts of food commodities from certain local Governments in order to avoid disruption of its ration program. This was reflected in the large liability ($3.4 million) existing at year end for these borrowings.

166. Unliquidated budget commitments carried forward from 1977 (or prior years) to 1978 totaled $5.1 million compared with only $3.9 million at the close of 1976. During 1977, savings on the liquidation of budget commitments and liabilities from prior years totaled approximately $1.5 million, which was credited to working capital.

167. At the beginning of 1978, the Agency estimated its deficit for the year at some $26.8 million. Subsequently certain budget decreases plus substantial increases in estimated income had reduced the deficit to an estimated $13.8 million at the time this report was prepared. The following table summarizes the Agency's estimated financial operations for 1978 as at 30 June 1978:

(In thousands of United States dollars)

a/ "Other costs" comprise the cost of relocation of Agency headquarters from Beirut to Vienna and Amman and other costs due to the conflict in Lebanon, the cost of increasing the provision for staff separation costs as a result of the incorporation of part of cost-of-living allowances into salaries and certain other costs not readily allocable to programs.

168. In 1978, expenditure on recurrent operations is expected to increase by $14.5 million over that for 1977, mainly because of a higher school population, normal increases, such as annual staff salary increments, improvements in staff remuneration to keep reasonable pace with the constant rise in the cost of living and keep local staff remuneration generally in line with that of local government employees, the resumption of certain services temporarily suspended in 1977 because of the lack of funds and the continuing increase in cost of non-staff items. Non-recurrent expenditure is expected to decrease by $1.5 million. The net increase in total expenditure in 1978 is therefore expected to reach $13 million. Although, in principle, the Agency has sufficient working capital to cover its presently estimated deficit for 1978, this is on the assumption that all non-cash assets could either be utilized or converted into cash to pay liabilities. Even in this event, the Agency would be left with quite inadequate resources to operate during the early months of 1979, when contributions can be expected to be late in arriving, or to operate during any temporary shortfall of contributions in 1979. It is therefore Probable that substantial portions of the current budget for 1978 cannot be implemented.

169. A comparison of the summary tables for 1977 and 1978 confirms that health, and in particular education, continue to increase in importance. Expenditure on education services is expected to increase by 17.3 per cent in 1978, while for health services the increase in expenditure is expected to be about 12.8 per cent. In relief services, however, expenditure is expected to increase by only about 4 per cent. Expenditure on school construction to cope with the increasing school population (a large percentage of the Agency's schools are now double-shifted and triple shifting is not feasible) is also expected to be higher than in 1977. In addition, and provided funds become available to permit budgeted expenditure to be carried out, a considerable amount of construction will be carried out in 1978 to replace unsuitable school premises with proper schools.

170. Although a projected deficit even of $13.8 million at this time represents a considerable improvement over the position at the start of 1978, it can hardly be said to represent a satisfactory position. Moreover, the Agency entered 1978 with even less working capital than it had at the start of 1977 and the presently estimated deficit for 1978 of $13.8 million follows on the heals of an actual deficit of $3.8 million in 1977. Clearly the Agency's financial position is not a satisfactory one.

CHAPTER II

BUDGET FOR 1979 AND REVISED BUDGET FOR 1978

A. Introduction

171. The present chapter sets forth both the budget estimates for 1979 and the adjusted budget estimates for 1978. Actual expenditure for 1977 is also shown for purposes of comparison. The original budget estimates for 1978 were submitted to the thirty-second session of the General Assembly in the Commissioner-General's report for 1976-1977. 11/ The revised estimates for 1978 show a net reduction of $8,433,000 since the original estimates were prepared. The major causes of budget reductions are as follows: restriction of the normal flour ration of 10 kg to approximately 6.7 kg per beneficiary per month for a period of five months ($3.1 million), a net increase in basic ration component Price savings ($3.3 million), decreases in staff costs, comprising reduction in provisions for cost-of-living increases ($7.4 million) and a reduction in the provision for staff separation costs ($2.7 million), a slower growth in school population ($0.6 million) and adjustments in the non-utilization factors applicable to all main activities in the programs ($O.5 million). These reductions are partly offset by a reduction in the savings arising from the partial substitution of rice for flour ($1.3 million), staff cost increase owing to adverse changes in exchange rates $1.5 million), a number of improvements and miscellaneous items in general education ($0.2 million), an additional provision for cost pertaining to the headquarters relocation ($4 million), additional costs for emergency relief in, south Lebanon ($2 million), additional costs relating to other local disturbances, ($0.1 million) and a further provision for relocation of Gaza field office ($0.l million).

172. Total expenditure for 1979 is estimated at $151,838,000 compared with an adjusted budget estimate of $l39,800,000 for 1978 and actual expenditure of $126,772,000 in 1977. These totals include both recurrent and non-recurrent costs: the budget presentation which follows deals separately with each type of cost. 12/

______________

11/ Ibid., Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/32/13 and Corr.1 and 2), chap. II

12/ "Recurrent costs" include salaries, supplies, rents, subsidies and other costs incurred on a regularly recurring, basis. "Non-recurrent costs" include construction and equipment and other items not regularly incurred, and, if necessary, they can be deferred for a certain time without giving rise to immediate difficulty in most cases. They are also to a certain extent a function of special contributions. Recurrent costs, on the other hand, are a measure of the Agency's basic programs which it cannot easily reduce, even in the short run, without causing further hardship for the refugees.

173. The budget submission for 1979 has been prepared on the basis of current (30 June 1978) estimates. The following table demonstrates how as a result of continued inflation and unfavorable exchange rates the rate of expenditure increased sharply between 1973 and 1975. In 1976, there was no material increase in costs because of more stable exchange rates, while the natural progression in staff and other costs were offset by savings resulting from restricted program activities in Lebanon (due to the hostilities) and lower prices of flour and other food stuffs in that year. However, a renewed sharp increase occurred from 1977 to date principally on account of inflation and adverse movements in exchange rates against the United States dollar:

(In thousands of US dollars)

174. In the 1979 budget, recurrent costs are estimated to be $16.9 million over the adjusted budget estimates for recurrent costs in 1978, as explained in paragraph 176 below. These increases are partly offset by a decrease of $4 9 million in non-recurrent costs (para. 177 below refers), resulting in a net increase of $12 million in total costs.

175. It should be noted that almost the entire increase in the number of staff budgeted for in 1979 is in education services, where provision has been made for additional teachers and supervisors for the increased school population. Since staff costs represent a substantial part of the Agency's budget, the effect of inflation on staff costs constitutes a major part of the annual increase in the Agency's costs. The effect is two-fold, as staff remuneration is increased in response to the increased cost of living, the Agency's recurrent costs increased in addition, non-recurrent provision must be made for the corresponding increase in staff entitlements to separation benefits related to past service. This latter effect, although non-recurrent, assumes something of the nature of a recurrent cost when it occurs annually as a consequence of sustained inflation such as is now being experienced. It should be appreciated, however, that in the event of all abrupt suspension of the Agency's operations for lack of income to maintain services, or any other cause, the cost of providing separation, benefits to the Agency's local staff of about 16,500, would be nearly doubled, because the Agency could not hope to arrange offers of alternative employment for even half of them (assumed in making annual provision for this purpose), and could add $17 to $18 million to the Agency's liabilities.

1. Recurrent expenditure

176. The budget for recurrent costs in 1979 is set at $145,669,000 compared with the adjusted budget of $128,728,000 for 1978 and actual expenditure of $114,174,000 in 1977. The estimates for 1979 provide for approximately $3.3 million of "normal" annual increases (program increases $1.3 million, mainly in education services as a result of the natural growth in school population and annual increments for staff $2 million), some $7.1 million for higher staff costs resulting from inflation, $3.1 million for increase in costs of basic rations; $2.1 million to reflect the total annual costs of relocation of UNRWA headquarters at Vienna and Amman and $1.3 million for essential improvements in services and miscellaneous items, a total increase in recurrent costs of $16.9 million over the 1978 adjusted budget.

2. Non-recurrent expenditure

177. The budget for non-recurrent costs in 1979 is established at $6,169,000 compared with the provision of $11,072,000 in the adjusted budget for 1978 and actual expenditure of $12,598,000 in 1977. The estimate for 1979 includes $1,171,000 for replacement of unserviceable equipment, $2,721,000 for urgently needed capital additions or improvements, particularly in education, shelter, medical, and environmental sanitation facilities, and $1,106,000 for the non-recurrent cost (adjustment of provision for staff separation benefits) of incorporating a part of cost-of-living allowances of local staff into salaries, and $171,000 for staff training courses, self-help projects (other than environmental sanitation) and other non-recurrent costs. The major items involved are described under each of the main activity headings in the paragraphs which follow.

3. General

178. In relief services, provision has been made for maintaining normal services in 1979, but recurrent costs are expected to be $4.4 million more than in 1978, mainly because of an increase in the cost of the flour component of basic rations, provision for restoral of normal ration issues and increases in cost-of-living allowances and related remuneration for staff. The estimates for non-recurrent costs provide mainly for miscellaneous improvements in shelter facilities.

179. In health services, provision has been included to meet the basic needs of a slightly larger population in 1979, but staff and other costs are also expected to be greater than in 1978, essentially due to inflation, as there will be only a minimal increase in the number of staff required. The estimates include provision for essential replacement of equipment in medical and camp sanitation installations, and for certain highly desirable improvements in facilities. Provision is included under environmental sanitation for Agency participation in small-scale camp improvement schemes of a self-help kind, involving participation by the beneficiary refugees.

180. In education services, the expected increase in costs is mainly due to the, provision for cost-of-living adjustments for staff and for the growth of pupil population (about 8,000 more than in 1978). In 1979, education services will account for approximately 57 per cent of the total budget, compared with 25 per cent for relief services, 17 per cent for health services and 1 per cent for other costs (comparable figures for the 1978 adjusted budget are 55 per cent for education services, 24 per cent for relief services, 16 per cent for health services and 5 per cent for other costs). Other costs in 1979 are represented by an increase in the provision for staff separation costs owing to incorporation of part of cost-of-living allowance into salaries.

B. Budget estimates

181. The following tables present in summary the budget estimates for 1979, together with comparative data for the adjusted budget for 1978 and actual expenditure in 1977; table A shows the estimates for recurrent costs, table B the estimates for non-recurrent costs and table C the estimates for total costs. The estimates for 1979 are described briefly in the paragraphs following the tables.

Table A

Recurrent costs

(In thousands of US dollars)

Table B

Non-recurrent costs

(In thousands of US dollars)

Table C

Total costs

(In thousands of US dollars)

Basic rations 1. Relief services

182. The components of the basic ration have been described in paragraph 109 above The costs included under this heading cover both the purchase and the final distribution of basic rations but transport and warehousing of rations within the UNRWA area of operations are charged to "supply and transport services" (paras. 207 to 209 below). The budget estimate for 1979 provides for the issue of rations throughout the ear to the same number of beneficiaries as in 1978.

183. The net increase of $81,000 in the recurrent costs estimate for 1979 is attributable to the increased tonnage of flour required to restore the normal monthly ration of 10 kgs per beneficiary and to an estimated increase in the cost of purchased flour ($3,131 000), to increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($114,000) to normal salary increments for staff ($31,000) and headquarters relocation costs ($5,000).

184. The provision of $65,00 in the 1979 budget estimate for non-recurrent costs is mainly for miscellaneous minor improvements

Shelter

185. This program is described in paragraphs 110 to 130 above and in table 4 of annex I. The 1979 estimate for recurrent costs includes $265,000 for the rental value of camp sites, most of which represents contributions in kind by Governments. No increase in recurrent costs is projected for 1979.

186. The 1979 budget estimate of $609,000 for non-recurrent costs is essentially for repair of defective shelters and major repair to asphalt roads and pathways in emergency and established camps.

Special hardship assistance

187. This budget estimate provides for additional relief assistance to refugees who suffer from special hardship (as distinct from the basic relief services provided for needy refugees generally). This assistance is limited to welfare case-work and the distribution of blankets, kerosene, soap and donated used clothing. The program is described in paragraphs 131 to 139 above. Unfortunately, in its present financial position, the Agency can make little cash provision for the special needs of the aged, widows with minor children and the chronically ill. Only the most urgent cases can be considered for some form of assistance.

188. The increase of $58,000 in the 1979 budget estimate for recurrent costs provides for increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($45,000) and normal salary increments for staff ($13,000).

189. The provision of $10,000 in the 1979 budget estimate for non-recurrent costs represents the Agency's contribution towards self-help projects.

2. Health services

Medical services

190. The Agency's program of preventive and curative medical services is described in paragraphs 66 to 85 above and in tables 5 to 7 of annex I. The objective of 'he Agency has always been that its health services should not fall below the level of those provided by the Governments of the host countries for their own indigent citizens. With the rapid increase in hospital subsidy rates, higher costs of supplies, services, utilities and staff remuneration, the Agency finds it increasingly difficult to achieve this objective.

191. The increase of $1,039,000 in the 1979 budget estimate for recurrent costs is to provide for increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($537,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($148,000), for miscellaneous improvements in services to deal with a larger population ($208,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($113,000) and miscellaneous costs ($33,000).

192. The non-recurrent costs provision for 1979 of $342,000 is principally for essential improvements and additions to existing premises ($202,000), for replacement of over-aged ambulances, and unserviceable equipment ($91,000), for in–service staff training ($44,000) and for Agency participation in self-help projects ($5,000).

Supplementary feeding

193. This program is described in paragraphs 91 to 97 above and in table 8 of annex I. In this activity also, as for basic rations (paras. 106 to 109 above), the costs of transport and warehousing within the UNRWA area of operations are charged to "supply and transport services".

194. The increase of $293,000 in the recurrent costs estimate for 1979 is to provide for increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($203,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($55,000), for changes in certain supplementary feeding programs ($31,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($3,000) and for  miscellaneous items ($1,000). It is assumed that the total increase will be largely covered by the special contribution that will be received for this program.

195. The 1979 estimate of $120,000 for non-recurrent costs consists of a provision for essential improvements to existing facilities ($95,000), provision for the replacement of essential unserviceable furniture and equipment ($20,000) and provision for the Agency's contribution towards self-help projects ($5,000).

Environmental sanitation

196. The programs under this heading are described in paragraphs 86 to 90 above. The 1979 estimate provides only for the minimum basic requirements considered necessary to maintain essential community sanitation and water supply services at reasonably safe levels. Once again, the Agency is unable to raise existing standards of sanitation to more desirable levels because of rising costs, over which it as no control.

197. The increase of $385,000 in recurrent costs in 1979 is to provide for increased cost of-living remuneration for staff ($274,000), for annual salary increments for staff ($76,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($23,000) and for minor improvements and other miscellaneous items ($12,000).

198. The 1979 budget estimate of $473,000 for non-recurrent costs provides for the replacement o unserviceable special purpose vehicles, refuse trucks, tractor units, corroded water pipes and wheelbarrows ($165,000), for essential capital improvements to surface water drainage, sewage and refuse disposal and water supply systems ($306,000) and for in-service training of camp sanitation supervisors ($2,000). A large portion of the capital improvements provided for would be constructed with refugee participation in "self-help" projects.

3. Education and training services

General education

199. For a description of the Agency's general education program, see paragraphs 40 to 50 above and tables 9 to 12 of annex I. Certain minor activities conducted outside the UNRWA/UNESCO schools are also included under this heading, namely, youth activities (paras. 136 and 137), pre-school children's activities (para. 135) and women's activities (para. 138). Although these minor activities are considered part of the Agency's general education program, they are carried on only to the extent special contributions are received for the purpose or associated programs carried out by other agencies are maintained (the 1970 budget estimate assumes the same level of operations as in 1978). This program also include the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education (paras. 56 to 62 above), which provides in-service training for teachers and works to improve the content and presentation of the curricula offered in the Agency's schools.

200. The increase of $7,820,000 in the 1979 budget estimate for recurrent costs reflects in part the continuing growth in the school population, estimated at 7,726 additional pupils in the financial year 1979, at an estimated cost of $1,230,000. Other components of the increase in recurrent costs for 1979 provide for an increase in cost-of-living remuneration of staff ($4,653,000), for normal salary increments ($1,281,000), for essential improvements in services ($408,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($113,000) and for other items ($135,000).

201. The 1979 budget estimate of $2,461,000 for non-recurrent costs includes provision for construction and equipment of additional classrooms to avoid triple-shifting ($35,000) and to replace unsatisfactory premises ($1,615,000), for replacement of essential unserviceable equipment, for library books and other supplies and essential capital improvements ($451,000) and for Agency participation in self-help projects ($10,000).

Vocational and professional training

202. Details of these programs are given in paragraphs 51 to 54 above and table 13 of annex I. The budget under this heading provides for the costs of vocational, technical and teacher-training courses conducted in Agency training centers. The estimates assume a total enrolment of 4,840 trainees throughout the 1979 fiscal year. No provision has been made for any further construction of training facilities in 1979, but a slightly larger number of trainees will be accommodated in existing facilities than in the 1977/1978 academic year.

203. Also included is the cost of scholarship awarded at universities in the Agency's area (described in paras. 63 and 64 and in table 14 of annex I), the amount of the scholarship (within a general maximum of $690 a year in most cases) being related to the candidate's economic circumstances. In past years, a high proportion of the scholarship program was funded from special contributions. For 1979, however, only $50,00 of the total scholarship budget of $210,500 is expected to be funded by a special contribution.

204. This heading also includes certain minor categories of training, such as adult craft training (largely funded by special contributions), the training of physically handicapped children and some vocational and nursing training outside UNRWA centers.

205. The increase of $852,000 in the recurrent costs estimate is to provide for additional trainees in the 1978/1979 and 1979/1980 academic years ($100,00), for an increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($433,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($119,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($116,000) and for other items ($84,000).

206. The estimate of $245,000 for non-recurrent costs provides only for the replacement of essential unserviceable equipment ($190,000) and for essential capital improvements ($55,000).

4. Common costs

Supply and transport services

207. The services provided for under this budget heading cover the procurement, control and warehousing of supplies and equipment, port operations and the provision of passenger and freight transport within the Agency's area of operations.

208. The increase of $725,000 in the recurrent costs estimate for 1979 is accounted for by provision for an increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($345,000), normal salary increments for staff ($95,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($248,000) and other items ($37,000).

209. The provision of $577,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1979 is required to replace passenger and freight vehicles which are unserviceable and have reached the end of their economic life ($536,000), for motor transport workshop and warehousing equipment ($12,000) and for a number of capital improvements to motor transport and warehousing facilities ($29,000).

Other internal services

210. The estimate under this heading provides for the following costs: investigation and determination of eligibility of refugees for Agency assistance; personnel and administrative services; translation, legal, financial and data–processing services; internal and external audit services; technical (architectural and engineering) services and protective services.

211. The increase of $1,947,000 in recurrent costs for 1979 is for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($389,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($107,000), for essential improvements in services ($94,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($1,208,000) and other items ($149,000).

212. The provision of $153,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1979 is for the replacement of unserviceable printing machines and other equipment ($148,000) and for other minor or non-recurrent items ($5,000).

General administration

213. The cost of providing general administration services at Agency headquarters and the five field office headquarters (including subordinate area and camp services offices), of the liaison offices at New York and Cairo and of public information services is included under this budget heading.

214. The increase of $541,000 in the recurrent costs estimate for 1979 is attributable to provision for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($141,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($38,000), for headquarters relocation costs ($233,000) and other items ($129,000).

215. The provision of $8,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1979 is mainly for the replacement of unserviceable office equipment.

5. Other costs

216. The budget estimate of $1,106,000 for 1979 is to cover local staff separation costs arising from the incorporation of a part of cost-of-living allowances into salaries.

217. The 1978 adjusted budget estimate of $6,589,000 contains a provision of $1,986,000 for the emergency relief program in south Lebanon, a provision of $62 00o for other local disturbances costs, a provision of $2,470,000 for the relocation of Agency headquarters; at Vienna and Amman, an adjustment of $1,981,000 in the provision for local staff separation costs and provision of $90,000 for relocation of Gaza field office.

Allocation of common costs

218. The summary tables under paragraph 181 above reflect the allocation of common costs to the three main categories of Agency services – relief, health and education. Any such allocation is to some extent a matter of judgement, but the percentages applied have been evolved and re-tested periodically on the basis of a detailed study of all Agency operations in all offices and extracted as weighted averages. The most recent study was carried out in 1977; the next review is due in 1980.

C. Financing the budget – 1978 and 1979

219. The chronic problems facing the Agency in financing the adjusted budget for 1978 and the proposed budget for 1979 will be appreciated from the summary below:

(In thousands of US dollars)

220. At the time the budget is prepared, pledges for the following year have not yet been made by Governments, and other contributors, so the estimate of income for 1979 can be little more than an extrapolation of regular contributions for 1978, excluding special contributions limited expressly or by implication to one year.

ANNEX I

Tables

1. Total registered population according to category of registration

2. Recapitulation of changes in families registered for rations

3. Recapitulation of changes in composition of total registered population

4. Distribution by place of registration of total registered refugee population and of camp population

5. Number of patient-visits to UNRWA clinics and UNRWA-subsidized clinics

6. Number of hospital beds available to UNRWA patients

7. Maternal and child health

8. Supplementary feeding program

9. Number of elementary and preparatory pupils in UNRWA/UNESCO schools

10. Number of refugee pupils attending government and private schools

11. Number of pupils in UNRWA/UNESCO schools

12. Distribution of refugee pupils receiving education

13. Number of training places in UNRWA/UNESCO training centers

14. University scholarship holders by course and country of study

15. Summary of statement of income, expenditure and working capital

16. Detailed statement of income to UNRWA (1 May 1950-31 December 1978)

17. Statement of income from non-governmental sources for the year ended 31 December 1977

18. Direct assistance to Palestine refugees

19. Voluntary agencies which have operational programs for direct assistance to UNRWA-registered refugees

20. UNRWA manning table posts at 30 June 1977 and 30 June 1978

Table 1

[A 33 13 Tables pages 58.pdf]

(Foot-notes to table 1)

__________

a/ These statistics are based on the Agency's registration records, which do not necessarily reflect the actual refugee population owing to factors such as unreported deaths and births, false or duplicate registrations or absences from the area of UNRWA operations.

b/ The "R" category (columns 1 to 4) comprises registered families with some or all members eligible for all Agency assistance, including basic rations.

c/ The "S" category (column 5) comprises refugees whose income is above that of "R" category refugees, but below that of "N" category refugees, and who are eligible for general education, health services and some other UNRWA assistance, but not for basic rations. In Gaza, however, for technical reasons, there is no "S" category and "N" category refugees enjoy "S" category eligibility.

d/ "N" category (column 6) comprises the following, subject to what is said about Gaza refugees in foot-note c/ above and foot-note a/ to table 9:

(i) Refugees who are members of families whose absence from the area or the level of whose reported income disqualifies all family members for basic rations, genera education and health services; or

(ii) Refugees who have themselves received or whose families have received assistance enabling them to become self-supporting.

e/ Before 1954, half rations were issued to bedouins and infants, as well as to frontier villagers in Jordan. Since then, bedouins have been regarded as eligible to receive full rations and infants have also been eligible for full rations after their first anniversary if the ration ceiling permits. Half rations are issued only to frontier villagers on the West Bank (9,093). Frontier villagers displaced to east Jordan as a result of the hostilities of June 1967 (3,336) are issued with full rations under the normal program and are therefore included in the figure of full ration recipients (column 1). Also included in column 1 are Gaza Poor (920) and Jerusalem Poor (1,330).

f/ This grand total included refugees receiving relief in Israel who were the responsibility of UNRWA through 30 June 1952.

g/ The total of 545, 89 comprises:

(i) 16,375 infants under the age of one year who are eligible for services but not for rations,

(ii) 490,784 children registered for services (CRS) aged one year and over (some of whom a e now adults) who are not receiving rations because of ration ceilings; and

(iii) 38,030 displace children registered for services (CRS) who receive rations donated by the Government of Jordan on an emergency and temporary

Table 2

[A 33 13 Tables pages 60.pdf]

(Foot-notes to table 2)

____________

a/ This table recapitulates changes over 28 years affecting the number of ration recipients, their babies and children registered for services. Births, new registrations, deaths, false registrations and duplications result in additions to or deletions from the registration records. Self-support and absence reflect transfers to or from the lower categories of registration (shown in table 1, columns 4, 5 and 6).

Transfers within or between areas, as well as the issue of rations (when available) to children registered for services, are not shown in this table.

b/ Includes changes effected during the 1950-1951 census operations.

c/ Self-support: included under this heading are those persons who, because of income derived from employment or other sources, have become self-supporting and those who have, through vocational or university training or other UNRWA programs, received assistance to enable them to become self-supporting.

d/ Miscellaneous changes include, up to June 1953, a number of additions to or deletions from the registration records, as well as certain changes in category of registration. The deletion of refugees in Israel from the Agency's records (40,930 persons over the period from July 1950 to June 1953) is included under this heading.

Table 3

[A 33 13 Tables pages 62.pdf]

(Foot-notes to table 3)

_______________

a/ This table recapitulates changes affecting the total number of registered population (table 1, column 7) over 28 years.

Transfers within or between areas are not shown herein.

In comparing the figures in this table with those in table 2, it should be borne in mind that deletions from the ration rolls do not necessarily entail deletions from the total registered population. Persons ceasing to draw rations because of absence or self-support continue to be registered within the total population. On the other hand, some deaths and false and duplicate registrations are reported among persons registered but not receiving rations, and this accounts for the minor differences under those headings in the two tables. In the early years of the Agency's history, the distinction between ration recipients and registered population was incompletely recorded.

b/ Nature of changes reported under "miscellaneous" was not specified during the census operation. Figures reflect those amendments which resulted in addition or deletion in the total registered population, removal of refugees in Israel from UNRWA registration records and correction of deletions previously made by error which were included in the figures of new registration in the reports of previous years.

[A 33 13 Tables pages 62.pdf]

[A 33 13 Tables pages 64.pdf]

Table 5

Number of patient-visits (first visits and revisits combined)

to UNRWA clinics and UNRWA-subsidized clinics.

(1 July 1977-30 June 1978)

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

Type of East West Arab

services Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

_________________________________________________________________

Medical

 consultation

670 764 306 233   367 185 346 805 347 661 2 038 648

Inject

 ion 284 740 204 701   336 128 166 905 112 259 1 104 733

Dressing

 and/or

 skin treat-

 ment 208 883 140 700   194 280 125 300  69 857   739 020

Eye

 treat-

 ment 136 507  76 031   190 713  59 441  12 270   474 962

Dental

 treat-

 ment  24 804  22 695    23 763   9 633  21 421   102 316

_________________________________________________________________

All services

  1 321 698 750 360 1 112 069 708 084 563 468 4 459 679

_________________________________________________________________

Table 6

Number of hospital beds available to UNRWA patients

(as at 30 June 1978)

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

Type of East West Arab

services Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

_________________________________________________________________

General

 medicine and

 surgery 180 148 388 172  90   978

Tuberculosis   5   0  84  27  15   131

Maternity   5  18  59  16   7   125

Pediatrics  13  47  96  17   0   173

Mental  36  75   0  96   1   208

_________________________________________________________________

All services 259 288 627 328 113 1 615

_________________________________________________________________

Rehydration–

nutrition centers   8   1   6   3   3    21

Number of cots  81   5  98  25  20   229

_________________________________________________________________

Table 7

Maternal and child health

(1 July 1977-30 June 1978)

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

A. Ante-natal East West Arab

services Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Number of ante-

 natal clinics     31     24      9     22     19      85

Pregnant women

 newly

 registered  7 396  4 888 12 161  2 517  2 224  29 186

Average monthly

 attendance  2 369  1 358  3 407    588    628   8 350

Home visits  2 643    142    139    243     64   3 231

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

B. Child East West Arab

health care Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Number of child

 health clinics    10     23      9     18     19      79

Infants 0-1 year:

 registered a/ 14 006  4 257 11 666  3 012  3 350  36 291

: attended b/  6 827  3 959  9 415  1 307  2 459  24 467

Children 1-2

 years:

 registered a/  8 449  4 526 10 181  3 380  3 057  29 643

: attended b/   8 241  4 050  9 107  2 286  2 956  26 640

Children 2-3

 years:

 registered a/  6 206  4 073  9 888  2 243  2 083  24 493

: attended b/  2 909  2 736  2 388    660  1 540  10 233

Home visits 13 734  8 197  5 077  5 756  6 083  38 847

Routine

 immunizations 58 164 29 236 61 100 18 059 24 218 190 777

_________________________________________________________________

Table 7 (continued)

C. School Syrian

health East West Arab

service Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Number of

 health teams      3      1      1      1      1       7

School entrants

 examined 14 799  4 584  7 502  2 658  5 511  35 054

Other pupils

 examined 25 380  8 975  5 286    305  7 606  47 552

Teachers/

 attendants

 examined     98    686    117    204    542   1 647

School

 inspections    196    568    217     48    221   1 250

Routine

 immunizations 67 879 33 019 41 106  6 032 14 630 162 666

_________________________________________________________________

a/ These figures reflect average monthly number in Agency registers.

b/ Attendance figures represent average monthly (0-1 category), bimonthly (1-2 category) and quarterly (2-3 category) numbers, respectively.

Table 8

Supplementary feeding program

(1 July 1977-30 June 1978)

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

A. Hot meal East West Arab

program Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Number of feeding

 centers     18    31     23     12     17    101

Average daily

 number of

 beneficiaries

 (0-15 years)  9 724a/  7 825  7 547  3 436  7 346 35 878

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

B. Milk East West Arab

program Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Average daily

 number of

 beneficiaries

 in milk and MCH

 centers  9 197b/  6 211 12 753 12 391 13 294 53 846

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

C. Extra dry East West Arab

rations Jordan Bank Gaza Lebanon Republic Total

Average monthly

 number of beneficiaries:

(i)   Pregnant

      women    809 1 101  2 686   366    437  5 399

(ii)  Nursing

      mothers  2 573 3 886  7 271   939  1 588 16 257

(iii) TB out-

      patients     56   336    233    81     37    743

(iv)  Protein

      supplement 35 382     0      0     0 16 201 51 583

_________________________________________________________________

a/ Includes 1,566 displaced persons in emergency camps included

at the request of he Government of Jordan and on reimbursable basis.

b/ Includes 943 displaced persons in emergency camps, included at

the request of the Government of Jordan and on a reimbursable basis.

[A 33 13 Tables pages 68-78.pdf]

Table 17

Statement of income from non-governmental sources

for the year ended 31 December 1977

(In United States dollars)

_________________________________________________________________

Year

Contributor 1977

_________________________________________________________________

Australia

Australians Care for Refugees (AUSTCARE)    11 151

United Nations Association of Australia       700

Austria

Austrian Junior Red Cross       941

Caritas     1 060

Elschatti, Mr. Jakob       124

Sundry donors         4

Belgium

Comite Belge d'Aide aux Refugies     5 078

Spernel, Dr. Alfred       300

Canada

Beechy United Church       191

Canadian Save the Children Fund    20 137

Eatonia United Church       203

Fred Victor's Mission       118

Trinity United Church, Ontario     1 598

Unitarian Service Committee of Canada       244

Wiggins, Mrs. K. R.       207

Sundry donors       515

Denmark

Statens Seruminstitut     2 316

Sundry donors        50

Finland

Sipila, Mrs. Helvi     2 000

France

Chapireau, Mr. Francois       325

GEFAR     1 982

UNESCO Club       204

Table 17 (continued)

_________________________________________________________________

Year

Contributor 1977

_________________________________________________________________

Gaza

Abu Middain family       866

Abu Salim family       212

Abu Sha'b family       191

Awada family       679

Awada and Abu Middain families       139

Beit Hanoun Village Community     4 838

El Massaddar family       122

Mussaddar and Qur'an families       162

Waqf Department     2 858

Sundry donors     1 108

Germany, Federal Republic of

Deutsche Bank       769

German-Tunisian Association     2 345

Hirsch, Mr. Helmut       266

Sundry donors       205

Italy

Industria Plarmaceutica     1 818

Japan

National Federation of UNESCO Associations       324

Nishinomiya, Rotaxy Club       200

Shipbuilding Industry Foundation   130 000

Federation of Employers' Associations)

Chamber of Commerce                  )

Federation of Employers' Associations)    30 000

Committee for Economic Development   )

Industry Club                        )

Sundry donors        97

Jordan

Municipal Council, Qalqilia       664

O'Donoghue, Mrs. J., Dental Fund, Jerusalem     5 400

Anonymous     1 556

Sundry donors       101

Lebanon

American Mission     1 105

Greek Orthodox Community       789

Heirs of Saadeddin Shatila     1 577

Mneimneh and Bohsaly     1 774

Syrian Lebanese Mission     2 366

Table 17 (continued)

_________________________________________________________________

Year

Contributor 1977

_________________________________________________________________

Netherlands

UNESCO Centrum     3 000

New Zealand

Council of Organizations or Relief, Rehabilitation

  and Development (CORSO) (Inc.)    47 511

Norway

Norwegian Refugee Council   293 215

Mrs. Reinholdsen       839

Redd Barna    20 503

Portugal

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation     9 800

Saudi Arabia

Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO)   180 000

Sweden

Lindstrom, Mrs. Ingrid       428

Swedish Save the Children Federation

  (Radda Barnen)   616 987

Sundry donors        47

Switzerland

Caritas    26 599

Kappeler, Dr. F.     1 368

Kappeler, Mr. Jurg     3 542

Krbec, Miss Eva Marie     1 111

Reichert, Dr. Rolf       123

Van Berchem, Mrs. M. Gautier       700

Sundry donors       124

Syrian Arab Republic

Syrian local authorities     1 434

Table 17 (continued)

_________________________________________________________________

Year

Contributor 1977

_________________________________________________________________

United Kingdom of Great Britain and

  Northern Ireland

Brune Park County High School, Gosport        92

OXFAM   286 457

Rennie, Sir John S. and others       975

Save the Children Fund     1 817

Standing Conference of British Organizations

  for Aid to Refugees       421

UNIPAL (Universities' Fund for the Education

  of Palestine Refugees)       769

Sundry donors        76

United States of America

American Friends Service Committee     3 598

American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc. (ANERA)    25 535

American Middle East Rehabilitation

  (AMER Division of ANERA)    11 373

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee     4 460

Ibrahim, Mrs. Sania       110

NAJDA (American Women for the Middle East)       700

Noble, Miss Alberta,       100

Proctor Junior High School       120

Sparks, Miss Lamar       120

Stevens, Mrs. H. C.     1 000

Sundry donors       127

International organizations

Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs:

  Canada     5 674

New Zealand       700

Switzerland       700

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland       596

United States of America       190

International Federation        53

Church World Services     8 319

Lutheran World Federation    14 386

Near East Council of Churches     4 720

Pontifical Mission for Palestine    96 401

Women's Auxiliary of UNRWA     1 051

World Alliance of YMCAs     8 000

Zonta Club of Kansas City       100

_________

Total 1 928 050

_________

Table 18

Direct assistance to Palestine refugees a/

(1 July 1977-30 June 1978)

N.B. All data shown in the table below were provided by the Governments concerned and are expressed in United States dollars computed by applying the Agency's accounting rates of exchange, which are based on official or free market rates, as appropriate.

_________________________________________________________________

Syrian

Arab

Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Republic

_________________________________________________________________

Education

  services 2,410,084   4,745,989   7,757,558   – b/ 21,501,440

Social

  welfare   221,809     568,181   4,160,558   58,587  1,203,200

  services

Medical

  services      – b/   4,545,454   1,506,988   – b/    640,000

Housing    30,761      46,791     318,365 1,357,100 3,766,425

Security

  services      – b/       – c/     308,401   – b/    768,000

Miscellaneous

  services      – b/    – c/    14,526,762d/  47,664 2,276,487

Administrative

  costs 1,406,579    1,336,898   2,220,790d/  124,622 1,625,600

_________________________________________________________________

4,069,233   11,243,313  30,799,422 1,587,9733 1,781,152

_________________________________________________________________

a/ This assistance was rendered direct to the refugees and in addition to contributions to UNRWA (see tables 16 and 17).

b/ No figure provided.

c/ Security and miscellaneous services are included in administrative costs.

d/ Includes expenditure for displaced persons.

Table 19

Voluntary agencies which have operational programs for direct assistance to UNRWA-registered refugees a/

(1 July 1977-30 June 1978)

American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), Arab Relief Fund (Jordan), Arab Women's League (Lebanon), Arab Women's Society (Jordan), Association for the Development of Palestine Camps (Lebanon), Baptist Mission, CARITAS, Catholic Relief Services, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Commonwealth Save the

Children's Fund, Holy Land Christian Mission, International Committee of the Red Cross, Islamic Society (Jordan), Lutheran World Federation, Mennonite Central Committee, Near East Council of Churches – World Council of Churches, Pontifical Mission for Palestine, Terre des Hommes, World Alliance of YMCAs, Young Men's

Christian Association, Young Women's Christian Association.

[A 33 13 Tables pages 84.pdf]

ANNEX II

Pertinent resolutions, reports and other

documents of the General Assembly and

other United Nations bodies

1. Pertinent General Assembly resolutions:

Resolution No. Date of adoption Resolution No. Date of adoption

 194 (III) 11 December 1948 2252 (ES-V)  4 July 1967

 212 (III) 19 November 1948 2341 (XXII) 19 December 1967

 302 (IV)  8 December 1949 2452 (XXIII) 19 December 1968

 393 (V)  2 December 1950 2535 (XXIV) 10 December 1969

 513 (VI) 26 January 1952 2656 (XXV)  7 December 1970

 614 (VII)  6 November 1952 2672 (XXV)  8 December 1970

 720 (VIII) 27 November 1953 2728 (XXV) 15 December 1970

 818 (IX)  4 December 1954 2791 (XXVI)  6 December 1971

 916 (X)  3 December 1955 2792 A to E  6 December 1971

1018 (XI) 28 February 1957   (XXVI)

1191 (XII) 12 December 195T 2963 A to F 13 December 1972

 (XXVII)

1315 (XIII) 12 December 1958 2964 (XXVII) 13 December 1972

1456 (XIV)  9 December 1959 3089 A to E  7 December 1973

1604 (XV) 21 April 1961   (XXVIII)

1725 (XVI) 20 December 1961 3090 (XXVIII)  7 December 1973

1856 (XVII) 20 December 1962 3330 (XXIX) 17 December 1974

1912 (XVIII)  3 December 1963 3331 (XXIX) 17 December 1974

2002 (XIX) 10 February 1965 3410 (XXX)  8 December 1975

2052 (XX) 15 December 1965 31/15 A to E 24 November 1976

2154 (XXI) 17 November 1966 32/90 A to F 13 December 1977

2. Reports of the Director (Commissioner-General) of UNRWA and special reports of the Director and the Advisory Commission to the General Assembly:

1950: Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifth Session,

Supplement No. 19 (A/1451/Rev.l)

1951: Ibid., Sixth Session, Supplements Nos. 16 and 16A (A/1905

and Add.1);

1952: Ibid., Seventh Session, Supplements Nos. 13 and 13A (A/2171

and Add.1);

1953: Ibid., Eighth Session, Supplements Nos. 12 and 12A (A/2470

and Add.1);

1954: Ibid., Ninth Session, Supplements Nos. 17 and 17A (A/2717

and Add.1);

1955: Ibid., Tenth Session, Supplements Nos. 15 and 15A (A/2978

and Add.1);

1956: Ibid., Eleventh Session, Supplements Nos. 14 and 14A 

(A/3212 and Add.1);

1957: Ibid., Twelfth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/3686 and

Corr.1); and A/3735;

1958: Ibid., Thirteenth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/3931); and

A/3948;

1959: Ibid., Fourteenth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/4213);

1960: Ibid., Fifteenth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/4478);

1961: Ibid., Sixteenth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/4861);

1962: Ibid., Seventeenth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/5214);

1963: Ibid., Eighteenth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/5513);

1964: Ibid., Nineteenth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/5813);

1965: Ibid., Twentieth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/6013);

1966: Ibid., Twenty-first Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/6313);

1967: Ibid., Twenty second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/6713);

A/6723 and Add.1 and Add.l/Corr.l. For the printed text, see Official Records of the Security Council, Twenty-second Year, Supplement for April, May and June 1967, document S/8001; and ibid., Supplement for July, August and

September 1967, document S/800l/Add.1;

1968: Ibid., Twenty-third Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/7213);

1969: Ibid., Twenty fourth Session, Supplement No. 14 (A/7614);

1970: Ibid., Twenty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/8013);

1971. Ibid., Twenty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/8413);

1972: Ibid., Twenty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/8713

and Corr.1 and 2);

1973: Ibid., Twenty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/9013);

1974: Ibid., Twenty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/9613 and

Corr.l);

1975: Ibid., Thirtieth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/10013 and

Corr.1);

1976: Ibid., Thirty-first Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/31/13 and

Corr.l);

1977: Ibid., Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/32/13

and Corr.1).

3. Reports of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA:

1970: Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 35, document A/8264;

1971: Document A/8476 and Corr.1;

1972: Ibid., Twenty-seventh Session, Annexes, agenda item 40,

document A/8849;

1973: Ibid., Twenty-eight Session, Annexes, agenda item 43,

document A/9231;

1974: Ibid., Twenty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 38,

document A/9815;

1975: Ibid., Thirtieth Session, Annexes, agenda item 54, document

A/10334;

1976: Ibid., Thirty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 53,

document A/31/279;

1977: Ibid., Thirty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 55,

document A/32/278.

4. Economic and Social Council resolution 1565 (L) of 3 May

1971

5. Other documents:

1949: Final report of the United Nations Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East (28 December 1949) (A/AC.25/6, parts I and II);

1949: Report of the Secretary-General on assistance to Palestine refugees (Official Records-of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annexes, vol. II (A/1060), p. 14);

1959: Proposals for the continuation of United Nations assistance to Palestine refugees: document submitted by the Secretary-General (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourteenth Session, Annexes, agenda item 27, document A/4121 and Corr.1

1967: Report by the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) and Security Council resolution 237 (1967) (A/6787 and Corr.1). For the printed text, see Official Records of the Security Council, Twenty-second Year, Supplement for July, August and September 1967, document S/8124;

1969: Report of the Secretary-General on the return of displaced persons (resolution 2452 A (XXIII) of 19 December 1968) (Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-fourth Session, Annexes, agenda item 36, document A/7665);

1970: Reports by the Commissioner-General on UNRWA operations in Jordan, Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 35, document A/8084 and Add.1;

1971: Report of the Secretary-General on the return of displaced persons (resolution 2672 D (XXV) of 8 December 1970) (A/8366 of 27 August 1971);

Special report of the Commissioner-General on the effect on Palestine refugees of recent operations carried out by the Israeli military authorities in the Gaza Strip (A/8383 and Add.1);

1972: Report of the Secretary-General on the return of displaced persons (resolution 2792 E (XXVI) of 6 December 1971) (Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-seventh Session, Annexes, agenda item 40, document 8786);

Report of the Secretary-General on Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip (resolution 2792 C (XXVI) of 6 December 1971) (Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-seventh Session, Annexes, agenda item 40, document A/8814);

1973: Report of the Secretary-General concerning Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip (resolution 2963 C (XXVII) of 13 December 1972 (A/9155);

Report of the Secretary-General on the return of displaced persons (resolution 2963 D (XXVII) of 13 December 1972) (A/9156);

1974: Report of the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 3089 C (XVIII) (Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 38, document A/9740)

1975: Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 3331 D (XXIX) of 17 December 1974 (Official Records of the General Assembly Thirtieth Session, Annexes, agenda item 54, document A/10253)

1976: Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution

3419 C (XXX) of 8 December 1975 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-first, Session, Annexes, agenda item 53, document A/31/240);

Report of the Secretary-General on the population and refugees displaced since 1967 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 55, document A/32/263);

1977: Report of the Secretary-General on Palestine refugees in

the Gaza Strip (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 55, document A/35/264 and Add.1)