UNRWA - Annual 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 1984 – 30 June 1985
				

				NOTE
				

					Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures.  Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document.
				

					In the present report, the term "West Bank" refers to the occupied West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the term "Jordan refers to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan excluding the occupied West Bank, wherever it is necessary to differentiate between these two Fields of the Agency's area of operations.
				

				[Original: Arabic/English/French]
				

				[13 September 1985]
				

				CONTENTS
				

Paragraphs

Page

Letter of transmittal ………………………………………………

Letter from the Chairman of the Advisory Commission of the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees

in the Near East to the Commissioner-General ………………………….

FOREWORD BY OLOF RYDBECK, COMMISSIONER-GENERAL OF UNRWA ………………..

Chapter

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

vi
vii
ix

I.

LEBANON …………………………………………….

  1 – 38

1

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

Emergency operations ……………………………..
Relief measures ………………………………….
Restoration of regular services ……………………
Camps and shelters ……………………………….
Supply and transport ……………………………..
Protection of the refugees ………………………..
Co-ordination of the relief programme ………………

II.

REGULAR OPERATIONS OF THE AGENCY ………………………

 39 – 173

6

A.
B.

Organization and management of UNRWA operations ……..
Education and training services ……………………

 39 – 42
 43 – 70

 6
 6

General education …………………………….
Vocational and technical education ……………..
Teacher training ……………………………..
University scholarships ……………………….

7

9

11

12

C.

Health services ………………………………….

 71 – 118

12

Curative medical care …………………………
Control of communicable diseases ……………….
Maternal and child health ……………………..
Nursing services ……………………………..
Environmental health ………………………….
Nutrition ……………………………………
Medical and para-medical education and training ….

D.

Relief services …………………………………..

119 – 147

20

Eligibility and registration …………………..
Rations ……………………………………..
Camps and shelters ……………………………
Welfare ……………………………………..

E.

Personnel and administrative matters ……………….

148 – 155

26

Changes in the staffing table ………………….
Austerity measures ……………………………
Local staff pay administration …………………
Job classification ……………………………
Staff training ……………………………….

F.

Legal matters …………………………………….

156 – 173

29

Agency staff …………………………………
Agency services and premises …………………..
Claims against Governments …………………….

– 163
– 171
– 173

29
30
32

III.

FINANCING UNRWA OPERATIONS ……………………………

193 – 217

33

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

operations …………………………………..
budget estimates ……………………………..
income estimates ……………………………..
austerity measures ……………………………
budget estimates ……………………………..

Annexes

  I.
 II.

STATISTICAL INFORMATION …………………………………………
PERTINENT RECORDS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND OTHER UNITED NATIONS
BODIES ………………………………………………………..

38
49

				LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
				

				30 August 1985
				

				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 1984 to 30 June 1985, 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.

					In the foreword to the report, I have stressed the grave financial situation in which UNRWA finds itself and the strenuous efforts made to reduce expenditure, while at the same time avoiding major cuts in services to refugees, and to raise additional funds. Despite these parallel efforts, the Agency today still faces a shortfall of several million dollars which, if not covered by additional contributions or programme reductions, will lead to a further draw-down of the Agency's already dangerously low working capital.
				

					The financial situation facing the Agency in 1986 is even more precarious. Even a minimum programme budget will require some $20 million more than Governments have pledged this year as their regular contributions. In light of the potentially serious consequences if UNRWA is obliged to make cuts in its major programmes, I have urged Governments that believe their interests are served by having the Agency continue its services to come together and discuss a rational approach to the Agency's financial problems.
				

					Chapter I of the report gives a detailed account of the Agency's operations in Lebanon where continuing violence has caused great difficulties for the refugees and the UNRWA staff. Chapter II summarizes the regular operations of the Agency: education, health and relief services. The third chapter deals with the financing of UNRWA operations in 1984-85. This year, in order to present the most current figures to the General Assembly, 1986 budget and income estimates and other detailed financial data will be submitted in a supplement to this report.
				

					The two annexes give statistical data on UNRWA operations and programmes and references to documents of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies related to the Agency's operations.
				

					The Advisory Commission of UNRWA examined this report in draft. The views of the members  of  the  Advisory  Commission  are  expressed  in the Chairman's letter to me of 29 August, of which I enclose a copy.
				

					Once again, I deemed it appropriate to continue the practice of showing the draft to representatives of the Government of Israel and to give consideration to their comments. Roughly one third of the Agency's operations is carried out in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967.
				

					Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.
				

(Signed) Olof RYDBECK
 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
				

				TO THE COMMISSIONER-GENERAL
				

				29 August 1985
				

				Dear Mr. Rydbeck,
				

					At their meeting today in Vienna the members of the UNRWA Advisory Commission considered your draft report on the Agency's operations during the period from 1 July 1984 to 30 June 1985, to be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly at its fortieth session, and the Agency’s current financial situation.
				

					The members of the Commission wish once again to affirm the importance with which they view the role of UNRWA in providing essential services to Palestine refugees in accordance with United Nations resolutions and the important contribution the Agency’s activities make towards easing their hardships and maintaining a climate of stability essential for the peace process.
				

					The members note the difficulties, particularly financial, under which the Agency has had to operate during the year and express their appreciation for the strenuous efforts of the Commissioner-General and his staff to raise the additional funds required. They also are deeply grateful for the support of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the efforts he has exerted on behalf of UNRWA during the year.
				

					The Commission shares the disappointment expressed in the foreword to your report that responses to your appeals for additional contributions have thus far been insufficient to avoid taking measures to reduce costs, some of which have adversely affected the level of services to refugees. The members urge the Commissioner-General to continue his efforts to obtain the additional funds needed and to call upon all Governments to respond generously, especially those which have not yet contributed to the Agency and those which have not increased their pledges this year.
				

					The members of the Commission recognize the need for adequate resources to ensure the financial stability of the Agency. In this regard, they propose that special fund-raising missions be sent to current and prospective donor countries to urge them to contribute or to increase their contributions to UNRWA in 1986. The members also favor the suggestion that a meeting of concerned Governments convene early in 1986 to consult on an action-plan for UNRWA's financial crisis.
				

					Recognizing the serious consequences, both human and economic, if the Agency does not receive the additional funds it needs, the members of the Commission call upon the Agency to co-ordinate with host Governments proposals that could affect levels of services to refugees and other aspects of the Agency's operations.
				

					The Commission once again recalls General Assembly resolutions calling on you to return UNRWA headquarters to Beirut as soon as circumstances permit. The Commission has also taken note of the offer of the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to host the headquarters in Amman, until the return to Beirut becomes possible.
				

					Finally, as you reach the end of your mission as head of UNRWA, I wish to take this opportunity to address to you on behalf of the Members of the Commission our most sincere thanks for the indefatigable efforts you have made as Commissioner-General to provide the highest-possible standard of service to those most deeply affected by events in the Near East. Your dedication and commitment to the cause of peace throughout your six-and-a-half years as Commissioner-General have left an indelible mark upon the area and in the sentiments of all those affected by UNRWA's operations.
				

Yours sincerely,
(Signed) Abbas HAMIYE
Chairman of the Advisory Commission

Mr. Olof Rydbeck
Commissioner-General of the 
  United Nations Relief and Works Agency 
  for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

FOREWORD

BY OLOF RYDBECK, COMMISSIONER-GENERAL OF UNRWA

				1.	As I review the concerns that have occupied me during the period 1 July 1984 to 30 June 1985, two stand out: operating problems in Lebanon and the financial crisis of the Agency. As regards Lebanon, the past year has again brought widespread suffering and hardship for tens of thousands of refugee families, many of whom have lost loved ones and once again have seen the destruction of their homes. This report reflects the tragic events in Lebanon and the difficult circumstances under which the UNRWA staff has carried out, its mission there. I will go into somewhat more detail as regards our financial crisis because I wish all Governments and individuals to understand the implications of that crisis for the Agency's future.
				

				2.	UNRWA is a humanitarian institution created by the General Assembly to serve Palestine refugees until a political solution to the Palestine question is found. The Agency provides quasi-governmental education, health and relief services to a population of approximately two million Palestine refugees located in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza and As deeply woven into the fabric of its area of operations. These services are provided by people. We employ more than 16,500 school teachers, doctors, nurses, sanitation laborers, relief workers and others. Something over 12, 000 of our employees are in education, over 90 per cent of them school teachers. I stress this fact so that readers will understand that there are relatively few areas in which expenditure can be postponed or cut back without discharging staff. In fact, at current levels, something over 85 per cent of UNRWA expenses are in staff costs. I am not talking about costs of international supervisory staff, of whom there are just over 100; I am talking about the salaries of area staff, almost all of whom are Palestine refugees themselves.
				

				3.	In the foreword to my last annual report, I noted that the Agency expected to scrape through 1984 but that I was very concerned about 1985. Early in 1985, I informed Governments that the financial situation looked bleak. There was a gap of $67 million between our expected needs, based on programmes roughly comparable to those of 1984, and estimated income. Recognizing that there was no possibility of closing a gap of that magnitude I cut the budget sharply. By canceling all construction, slashing maintenance deeply, denying area staff pay raises that were due and making other reductions, the budget gap was closed to $27 million. At that point, I was able to go to Governments and say that I had reduced the budget as far as it could be reduced without instituting mass reductions of staff or directly cutting vital services to refugees. I appealed to all Member States for funds. The Nordic countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and, most importantly, the United States, gave more.  Despite the generosity of these countries, the overall response to my appeal was disappointing, and the lack of positive action from others forced the Agency to make further cuts. These cuts impact directly on services to refugees. On the positive side, the Agency has benefited from some reduced costs because of exchange rate gains. With those savings, and with continuing austerity measures, today we are still $8 million short of the estimated income required to cover 1985's already reduced programme.
				

				4. 	Turning to 1986, I have to express my deep concern about the Agency's prospects. We are now in the process of constructing the budget based on a no-growth programme. In order to present the most current figures to the General Assembly, the 1986 budget estimates, together with the corresponding income estimates, are being submitted in a supplement to this report.  As this report is being written, it is already clear that minimum programme require some $20 million more than Governments have pledged this year as their regular contributions. This is a situation which Governments will have to ponder. I can assure you that there is no way to reduce projected expenses without depriving refugees of basic education and health services. If Governments choose not to support the Agency in performing those services which they have mandated repeated General Assembly resolutions, there is no magic way out. Major programme cuts will have to be made, and staff will have to be reduced accordingly. Such decisions will have sweeping political repercussions and should not be made by the Commissioner-General, an international civil servant, as part of a budget-balancing exercise. Actions carrying such potentially severe consequence's should the province of concerned Governments.
				

				5.	This is my last annual report at the end of six years' service to the  international community as Commissioner-General of UNRWA.  I would rather that the tenor of my report be one of a recital of accomplishments.  Indeed I do think a  great deal has been accomplished during the past six years. Sadly, my final words must be to express my grave concern for the ability of the Agency to continue to carry out its mandate. I am personally convinced that the Agency's activities are of great importance to the needs of the refugees. I believe that it is primarily our educational and health services that have enabled the Palestine refugee population to be reasonably healthy and employable, in short, much less of a burden to the international community and to the host Governments than they would otherwise be. The relative importance of our relief services has decreased as the other programmes have been successful, but relief services remain the final bulwark against disaster for many of the poorest families. Those services are indispensable in human terms when the waves of war wash across the area as has most recently happened in Lebanon.
				

				6.	It is not for me to pronounce a definitive judgement or the contribution of the Agency to the political stability of the volatile area in which it operates. That is a judgement which Governments will have to make. I would nevertheless invite Governments to contemplate what might have happened, in the absence of UNRWA or something like it, if epidemics had been allowed to rage unchecked in the Middle East or if a generation of Palestinians had grown into adulthood without schooling. I urge therefore that those Governments who believe that their interests are served by the continuation of the Agency's services, while a political solution to the Palestine problem is still being sought, come together and discuss a rational approach to the Agency's future. I fully understand that this is a time of straitened budget circumstances for many Governments but I would submit that support for UNRWA is an inexpensive investment in peace-keeping.
				

				7.	As I lay down my responsibilities I should like to thank the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his support and encouragement during these troubled years. I should also like to thank those, Governments that have supported UNRWA. Finally, I should like to thank the dedicated staff, both international and Palestinian, that has worked so selflessly to aid a refugee population and in doing so has made, I firmly believe, a major contribution to that peace in the world that we all so fervently seek.
				

				(Signed) Olof RYDBECK
				

				REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER-GENERAL
				

				CHAPTER I
				

				LEBANON
				

				A.  Emergency operations
				

				1.	During the period under review, Palestine refugees in Lebanon continued to be affected by the fighting that persisted almost without interruption in one part of Lebanon or another, as well as by the Israeli occupation of the south.  Thousands of refugees were displaced and, once again, lost their homes and possessions, while many were killed or injured. All suffered disruptions of one kind or another and faced increasing difficulties in making a living. Once again, UNRWA found itself called upon to provide emergency assistance to large numbers of refugees. Moreover, the programme of reconstruction, "begun in previous years, had to be postponed because of continuing hostilities.
				

				2. 	In June and early July 1984, the Shiite Amal militia several times attacked Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps in the Beirut area and beginning in July, Amal controlled the access to Shatila camp.
				

				3.	In July/August, factional fighting in the Tripoli area disrupted UNRWA operations in northern Lebanon. A number of Palestine refugees were wounded at Beddawi camp and UNRWA schools had to close for one week beginning on 1 July at Beddawi camp, Tripoli and Mina.
				

				4.	The Israeli Government announced its intention on 14 January to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon. Those forces withdrew from Saida on 16 February. The fighting which erupted on 18 March was initiated with the shelling of Ein el-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh camps by militias in the surrounding hills. Both camps suffered extensive damage and the UNRWA schools closed. UNRWA reports indicated 60 refugees were killed and 314 were wounded. Some 40,000 people were displaced from their homes.
				

				5.	In February, fighting and unrest in the Tyre area resulted in the closing of most UNRWA schools in that region. They reopened on 6 May.
				

				6.	In mid-March following the kidnapping of two British subjects, the United Kingdom Embassy in Beirut advised all British to leave unless they had compelling reasons to remain. Acting on the advice of the United Nations Acting Designated Official, three of the five British staff members of the UNRWA Lebanon field office were transferred to other duties outside Beirut. Subsequently, on 25 March, Alec Collett, a British journalist working under a contract with UNRWA, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen south of Beirut. The Commissioner-General ordered the remaining British nationals working for UNRWA, including the field office Director to leave Lebanon. On 15 May, the UNRWA Deputy Director in Lebanon, an Irish citizen, was abducted by armed men; he was released 37 hours later. At the end of the reporting period, Mr. Collett was still being held, despite continuous efforts by the Commissioner-General and the Secretary- General to secure his release.
				

				7.	On 19 May, extremely heavy fighting broke out once again in the Beirut area. Violent clashes between Amal militiamen and Palestine refugees, resulted in heavy losses in human lives. There was widespread destruction in the Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps and an estimated toll of 635 dead and 2,500 wounded. The fighting and the danger, particularly to the Palestinian staff of the Agency, prevented many of the Field Office area staff from reaching their place of employment. Nevertheless, the Agency was able to make an emergency distribution of rations to refugees displaced by the fighting. It was also able to provide some food, water and medical supplies in Burj el-Barajneh during the fighting. In this latter operation one staff member was wounded by sniper fire.
				

				8.	UNRWA relief supplies to south Lebanon were blocked by the Israeli forces from the end of September until 17 October 1984 as they reacted to increased attacks from local groups. Eventually, an agreement was reached with the Israeli military forces allowing UNRWA lorries, ambulances and buses to travel from Beirut to south Lebanon. Despite this agreement, due to prevailing security conditions, supplies could be transported only with great difficulty and after much negotiation.
				

				B.  Relief measures
				

				9.	In addition to the emergency measures described above, the Agency's planned relief operations were continued with great difficulty. The discontinuation of the emergency rations in March 1984 still causes consternation among the refugees, many of whom are living in extreme hardship, unable to find steady work and cut off from other sources of income. In Tyre the refugees refused to accept special hardship assistance in support of their contention that all refugees should be classified as special hardship cases. They began to accept the assistance again in May 1985 after the Israeli forces withdrew. In Saida, the same refusal of rations and other assistance took place in July and August 1984. Again in January and February 1985 the Saida area and part of Beqa’a sub-area took part in a similar protest, so that rations were issued only in Beirut and Tripoli areas.
				

				10. 	Welfare workers continued to investigate new and existing cases throughout the reporting period. They suffered much frustration and danger in going about their duties because of the prevalent war conditions.
				

				11. 	The distribution of rations to special hardship families was disrupted in the Beirut camps when fierce fighting broke out on 19 May and went on for three weeks. Supplies were finally allowed into the camps during the second week of June. Completely free access to the Beirut camps was still not possible up to the end of the reporting period.
				

				12. 	The Agency was able to assist thousands of refugees in their attempts to obtain or renew travel documents which are issued by the host Governments. Close co-operation between Agency staff and Government offices helped to ease the difficulties experienced by the refugees, which are created by the serious, continuing security problem.
				

				13. 	Economic problems in Lebanon continued to impact with particular severity on refugees. Loss of employment opportunities was a major concern, and the Agency continued its, co-operative efforts with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to alleviate the situation. The Agency may seek additional financing from Governments and invite partnership from other non-governmental organizations in specific work schemes. In response to their own demands, many of these efforts will be directed to the needs and skills of women refugees. The economic situation of Palestine refugees in south Lebanon improved marginally after the Israeli withdrawals, which allowed for a precarious restoration of the agricultural economy in the area.
				

				C.  Restoration of regular services
				

				14. 	Despite the turmoil in Lebanon, the normal education, health and welfare programmes were carried out to the extent that circumstances permitted. These programmes are described in chapter II of the present report.
				

				15. 	The additional measures taken by the Department of Health, and reported upon last year, continued. The difficulty of travel in Lebanon compelled UNRWA to change some of its hospital arrangements. For example, patients from north Lebanon and the Beqa’a, who in, normal circumstances would be referred for more advanced treatment to the American, University Hospital in Beirut, were sent to Syria. Patients in south Lebanon could not be referred out of the south, but had to be treated at private hospitals subsidized there by the Agency. The Agency and the Norwegian Refugee Council have agreed to the continuation of a jointly operated rehabilitation centre in Tyre when the security situation permits.
				

				16. 	The Department of Health concluded agreements with the Hariri Medical Centre (25 beds), effective 16 November 1984, and the Hammoud Hospital (25 beds) in Saida, and the al-Sahel Hospital (20 beds) in Beirut, effective 1 January 1985, for hospitalization of refugees. An increase in hospital rates was put into effect in April 1985 and agreements with two Sidon hospitals (Al-Janoub and Osseyran) were cancelled with effect from 10 February 1985. During the fighting in the Saida area in March and April, the Hariri Centre became inaccessible; subsequently equipment and supplies were looted.
				

				17.	Health services inside the camps in Lebanon were often paralyzed by the heavy fighting of March and April in the Saida area and of May and June in Beirut. The Agency launched emergency medical services and established mobile medical teams to provide services.
				

				18. 	The UNRWA polyclinic in the Ras al-Nabi’ quarter of Beirut was closed on 29 April due to local clashes and insecurity. The staff were relocated to Mar Elias camp.
				

				19. 	The International Rescue Committee continued its medical services in its intermediate health care unit in Saida. The agreement between UNRWA and the IRC was extended to the end of June 1985.
				

				20. 	Two additional complete dental units with X-ray machines were installed in the Ein el Hilweh camp health centre and in the Beirut polyclinic.
				

				21.	Drains and pathways at Bin el Hilweh and Tyre camps were renovated or constructed.
				

				22.	Some 20 refugee patients in the Lebanon Field requiring haemodialysis are now receiving treatment in local hospitals at UNRWA expense. Previously the cost of such treatment was covered by private sources in Lebanon. The Agency is urgently seeking an alternative sponsor for this vital service as UNRWA is unable to continue to cover the cost, some $US 10,000 per month, from funds allocated to its regular health programme.
				

				23. 	Schools were able to operate for much of the 1984/85 school year, although their reopening was delayed in the north and in Beirut.
				

				24. 	The Siblin Training Centre, which was evacuated on 28 April by the militiamen of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), who had occupied it in 1983, remains closed.
				

				D.  Camps and shelters
				

				25. 	In July and August 1984, the Beddawi camp near Tripoli suffered damage from Palestinian inter-factional fighting. At the same time, the Lebanese Army replaced the Amal militia at entrances to Burj el Barajneh camp, thus improving the situation.
				

				26. 	The entrances to Shatila camp continued to' be controlled by the Amal militia throughout the whole of the reporting period. After the defeat of the Murabitoun by two other militias in mid-April 1985, those checkpoints were strengthened.
				

				27. 	Until February 1985, when the Israeli forces withdrew from Saida, all camps in the southern part of the country were subject to searches as the Israeli army reacted to attacks from local groups.  After the Israeli withdrawal from Saida to the Litani River, the frequency and severity of the searches intensified in the Tyre area. Many refugees I left the camps and sought refuge elsewhere. All parts of Lebanon received displaced refugees. During the fighting in April, almost all shelters in Mieh Mieh camp were destroyed or damaged, and many were damaged in Ein el Hilweh camp. The Agency installations in Mieh Mieh were severely damaged and they have been repaired. Some rented property such as the clinic was made completely unusable.
				

				28. 	The  fierce fighting  in and around  Beirut camps,  which rapidly escalated from 19 May well into June 1985, caused some Agency installations to be abandoned for a time. During the third week of May, the Lebanon Field Office building was endangered to the extent that staff were first forced to take shelter in the basement and later to transfer their work to the Central Warehouse.
				

				29. 	The camp in Nabatieh is still not being rebuilt because of local opposition. A programme of supplementary cash grants is now being studied for refugees from Ein el- Hilweh and Mieh Mieh camps whose shelters were destroyed in the fighting that followed the Israeli withdrawal from the area. Many refugees are still unsatisfactorily housed elsewhere in Lebanon, and every new day of fighting is making reconstruction more difficult.
				

				E.  Supply and transport
				

				30. 	The danger presented by various armed groups prevented UNRWA from using the main road from Damascus to Beirut, greatly complicating an important supply line. Supplies were, however, received from Damascus by the use of narrow and more difficult mountain roads.
				

				31. 	Supplies destined for south Lebanon from Beirut were also difficult to deliver. The main road to the south was unusable for most of the reporting period and journeys there also had to be made over longer and more difficult routes. There were constant problems in passing through Israeli-controlled security checkpoints.
				

				32. 	Even after the road to the south was officially reopened, some problems persisted. For example, on one occasion three trucks came under machine gun fire from unknown assailants on the way from Beirut to Saida. The vehicles were thus forced to return to Beirut for repair and had to travel on a later date by a devious and difficult route.  Fortunately, the staff travelling in the vehicles were unhurt.
				

				33. 	The main coast road from Beirut to Tripoli remained unusable to supply trucks throughout the whole reporting, period. Supplies have had to be routed through the Syrian Arab Republic from outside countries. Vehicles travelling between Beirut and Tripoli have had to make use of difficult and slow routes.
				

				F.  Protection of the refugees
				

				34. 	Through most of the reporting period, residents of Lebanon have been frequent victims of violence. While much of it affected Palestinians and Lebanese citizens indiscriminately, in many instances Palestinians were the specific target.
				

				35. 	Everywhere in Lebanon the lives of Palestinians continue to be threatened. In the past year, UNRWA Lebanon field office reported over 800 violent deaths, over 2,500 woundings, 500 arrests, 27 kidnappings and nine disappearances.
				

				G.  Co-ordination of the relief programme
				

				36. 	The fragmentation of the Lebanon Field continues to cause problems of command and control. UNRWA continued to reinforce its area and international staff in south Lebanon.
				

				37. 	UNRWA continued to co-ordinate its relief work with other United Nations organizations involved in Lebanon. There was close contact with the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly on questions of protection and security.
				

				38. 	The Agency is grateful to the many non-governmental organizations which have continued to respond so generously and flexibly to the needs of the Palestine refugees in Lebanon.
				

				CHAPTER II
				

				REGULAR OPERATIONS OF THE AGENCY
				

				A. Organization and management of UNRWA operations
				

				39. 	UNRWA operations are administered from its headquarters in Vienna and Amman, and from five Field Offices in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Small liaison offices in New York and Cairo maintain contact with United Nations Headquarters and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the latter under the supervision of the Field Office Director in Gaza, who also serves as UNRWA Representative to Egypt.
				

				40. 	The Commissioner-General serves as the chief executive officer of the Agency and reports to the General Assembly on the management of UNRWA’s activities in its area of operations. He is assisted by a Deputy Commissioner-General.
				

				41. 	The Field Office Directors are responsible to the Commissioner-General for the for the direction, co-ordination and control of Agency operations in the five fields, in accordance with approved policies, programmes and procedures. Headquarters department heads are responsible to him for professional and technical advice on and supervision of policies programmes and procedures, and for the direction and control of designated central services and facilities. Collectively, the Field Office Directors and headquarters Department Heads, together with the Director of UNRWA Liaison, New York and the Deputy Commissioner-General, advise the Commissioner-General on Agency policy.
				

				42. 	In his dealings with Member States of the United Nations, inter-governmental bodies, other organizations of the United Nations system and other agencies, the Commissioner-General is assisted by the heads of the liaison offices and the Field Office Directors, in the locations to which they are assigned, and generally by the Division of External Relations and Public Information in the Vienna headquarters.
				

				B.  Education and training services
				

				43. 	Under an agreement between UNRWA and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO provides technical and professional advice to the Commissioner-General on aspects of UNRWA education programme, which includes general education at elementary and preparatory, (lower secondary) levels in Agency schools, vocational and pre-service teacher training at Agency centres, in-service teacher training, and a university scholarship programme. The curriculum followed in Agency schools is that prescribed by the host Governments (Lebanon, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and by the Jordanian and Egyptian authorities for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip respectively. with some assistance from the Agency, many refugee children are able to continue their basic education at the upper secondary level in government or private schools. In 1984, expenditure on education and training amounted to $121 million and accounted for 63 per cent of the Agency's total expenditure on its regular programmes.
				

				44. 	In addition, the Departments of Health and Relief Services organize programmes of pre-school education, youth activities, adult training in crafts, and medical and para-medical education and training, described elsewhere in this report.
				

				1.  General education
				

				45. 	The general education programme continued to strengthen its position as the largest single Agency activity in 1984/85. In  October 1984, a total of 345,844 pupils (3,599 more than in 1983/84) were enrolled in the 640 Agency elementary and preparatory schools in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, served by a teaching force of 10,163. An additional 100,896 refugee pupils were known to be enrolled in government and private elementary and secondary schools in the same areas, and about 52,400 non-eligible children were in Agency schools (see note (b) in table 3, annex I).
				

				46. 	Historically, it has been UNRWA policy to accept all eligible refugee children who seek admission to its schools. Unless additional funding becomes available, however, the Agency may not be able in the future to guarantee continuation of this policy. The growth each year in the school-age population, together with inflation, accounts largely for the increase in budgeted expenditure.  Given sufficient funds, the Agency would construct buildings to accommodate all school units.  But it has not been possible to build enough schools with the result that the children and teachers of two separate schools often have to share one building, taking morning and afternoon shifts. In 1984/85, such double shifting involved 475 schools, 74 per cent of the total. Double shifting is generally recognized as detrimental to a child’s development and it makes life more difficult for mothers, particularly as in many cases children from the same family attend different shifts. Triple shifting has occasionally had to be adopted in the past, but the UNRWA school-construction programme, expanded with special contributions in 1983 and 1984 from the Government of Canada now accords first priority to building additional classrooms to avoid triple-shifting.
				

				47. 	Another of UNRWA aims is to replace some of the most unsatisfactory (and in some cases-unsafe) school premises. Many dilapidated prefabricated buildings and cramped, rented premises remain in use by Agency schools because there are insufficient funds for construction. In May 1985, however, the Arab Gulf programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) granted UNRWA funds to construct two new schools on the West Bank, one in Biddo, near Jerusalem, and one in Beit Jala. These two schools will replace unsatisfactory rented premises.
				

				48. 	During 1984/85, in all Fields, seven school buildings were constructed (comprising 126 class and administration rooms and 12 specialized rooms), and work began on six school buildings (comprising 118 class and administration rooms and 16 special-purpose rooms). At existing schools, an additional 39 standard class and administration rooms and 36 special-purpose rooms were constructed, and work began on a further two class and administration rooms and five special-purpose rooms.
				

				49.	In-Lebanon, the ebb and flow of conflict disrupted school operations in various areas. Hopes revived in July 1984 with the implementation of the Government's security plan for Beirut, but fierce clashes between rival factions in the Tripoli area occurred in July and August. The Beirut area refugee camps were again the scene of heavy fighting in May 1985. Attacks on Israeli forces in the south and Israeli counter- measures increased difficulties in getting books and other supplies to schools in the south.
				

				50. 	Depending on the amount of time lost to school operations earlier in the year, schools commenced their summer vacation at varying times and continued on vacation up to 9 September 1984. In the period October to December, Agency schools on the whole operated normally, apart from scattered, disruptions.	January witnessed the breaking off of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, the beginning of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and the deployment, the Lebanese Army on the coastal road between Beirut and the Awali river.  By late February l985, travel on the coast road to Saida was back to normal but travel to Tyre was forbidden in the wake of continued attacks on Israeli forces in the south. From 26 February until early May, Agency schools in Tyre remained closed as a result of continuing insecurity and difficulties experienced by staff and pupils in moving freely in the region. Enrolment in Agency schools in Lebanon totaled 34,565 refugee pupils, 24,001 of whom were in the elementary cycle and 10,564 in the preparatory cycle. There was a normal, slight drop to 34,158 by the end of December. During the first half of 1985, in the wake of the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, there was a movement of population, including of course, pupils, between the various areas. Consequently it was not possible to give reliable school population figures. Out of a total of 86 schools, 84 were functioning, comprising 672 elementary and 318 preparatory class sections with a total of 1,201 teachers, and of these, 50 schools with 561 class sections operated on double shift. Prescribed textbooks for Agency schools in Lebanon totaled 187, all but one of which have been approved by UNESCO.
				

				51. 	In the Syrian Arab Republic,  Agency schools started the 1984/85 school-year on 15 September 1984 and operated satisfactorily throughout the year. In all, 51,713 pupils attended; 34,6411 in elementary schools and 17,072 in preparatory schools, including 1,027 refugee pupils displaced from Lebanon since June 1982. The schools comprised 1,290 class sections served by 1,568 teachers. Double shifting existed at 102 of these schools, involving 1,194 class sections and 48,283 pupils. To replace unsuitable rented premises, plans were made to build new schools in Muzeireeb, Akrad, and Qabr al-Sitt. Due to unavoidable delays in procurement of supplies, however, there was much delay in starting construction and in June, as part of the Agency's austerity measures, it was decided to stop work at Muzeireeb and Akrad until further notice. Of the 154 textbooks currently prescribed for schools in Syria, 71 have been approved by UNESCO.
				

				52. 	In Jordan, the 198 Agency schools commenced operations on 11 September 1984 and operated normally throughout the year. The total enrolment was 135,650 in the elementary and preparatory cycles, comprising 3,351 class sections served by 3,817 teachers. Double shifting was necessary in 182 schools, involving 3,132 class sections and 127,519 pupils. Three school buildings are being constructed in Jordan, one with the help of the Canadian Government. Sheikhs Mohammad and Ibrahim El Zaben, well-to-do Palestinians living in Saudi Arabia and who donated funds last year for the construction of a 20-room school building at Baqa’a Camp, completed in June 1985, have entered into agreement with UNRWA to make a further donation for the construction of a 30-room school building at the same camp. Moreover, the Agency has completed the construction of two new school buildings at North Russeifeh and one new school building at Sweileh which will replace unsuitable, rented school premises. Two school buildings were built at Marka Camp to replace unserviceable, prefabricated schools. In addition, UNRWA has constructed 13 multi-purpose rooms, four science laboratories and three libraries as annexes to existing school buildings, to provide better educational facilities. This past year has seen a substantial strengthening of the relations between the local community and Agency schools. This was reflected in the participation of the local community in the various self-help programmes at schools, by parents' councils and in the discipline shown by the pupils in the protection of their schools. The total number of textbooks prescribed for use in Jordan is 143, of which 106 have been approved by UNESCO.
				

				53. 	In the West Bank, Agency school's resumed operations on schedule on 11 September. Throughout the year the schools on the whole operated normally with only scattered localized interruptions. Twenty-three schools had operations disrupted for three days in November because of a general strike call. As a result of a pattern of increased stone-throwing incidents, which caused injuries, Israeli military authorities closed the Kalandia Camp Preparatory Boys School for one month beginning on 19 March 1985. Enrolment in the West Bank totaled 39,939 pupils, in 770 elementary and 346 preparatory class sections served by 1,297 teachers. There was double shifting at 49 schools with 565 class sections and 20,986 pupils, 52 per cent of the West Bank student body. Two new schools at Doura were completed during the year. Two science laboratories, one library, four multi-purpose rooms, two workshops, and two, latrines were also completed, all with Agency funds. Land lease agreements have been signed and funds made available from the AGFUND for the construction of two new schools (see para. 68). The 143 textbooks prescribed by the Jordanian Government for use in Jordan were also the prescribed textbooks for the West Bank. Of the 106 approved by UNESCO, the Israeli authorities refused import permits for nine.
				

				54.	In the Gaza, Strip, the Agency schools started operations on 2 September 1984. Operation was normal with only some scattered minor disturbances. Enrolment totaled 83,977 pupils in 145 schools, comprising 1,355 elementary and 477 preparatory class sections with a teaching force of 2,280. There was double shifting in 93 schools involving 1,167 class sections with 53,750 pupils. To avoid triple shifting, 24 classrooms were built; three classrooms were built to replace unsafe ones; and seven new school toilet blocks were built to replace existing dilapidated and unhygienic units. Ten schools were rough cast and painted, and 24 school cesspits were replaced. With some financial help from the local community, a total of 179 school rooms were re-roofed with steel sheets to replace broken and cracked tiled roofs, while 363 school rooms were fitted with false ceilings under gable roofs. This much-needed work to improve existing schools was largely funded from the special Canadian contribution. The total number of textbooks prescribed by the Egyptian Ministry of Education was 124; of these UNESCO has approved 76, of which the Israeli authorities have permitted the import of 65 and disallowed the import of 11.
				

				55. 	Of some 4,350 registered refugees stranded on the Egyptian side of the international border following Israeli withdrawal from Sinai in April 1982, a total of 1,232 are of elementary and preparatory school age. (These are included in the Gaza school population figure cited in para. 83.) As a temporary measure until the situation of these refugees is resolved, more than 40 Agency teachers, who are also stranded, are providing schooling for these children in a Government school building made available for the purpose. Two supervisors from the Gaza Strip make monthly visits to the school. Through the co-operation of the Israeli and Egyptian authorities, arrangements have been made for the pupils to take the sixth elementary, third preparatory and tawjihi (secondary) state examinations.
				

				2.  Vocational and technical education
				

				56. 	The number of training places available to Palestine refugees in the vocational and technical courses conducted in UNRWA training centres was 3,812. (Details of the capacity of the training centres in 1984/85, by trade group, centre and sex are given in table 4 of annex I.) In addition, the Agency sponsored the vocational training of 40 refugees in private institutions.
				

				57. 	The training centre at Siblin in Lebanon remained in virtual occupation by armed militiamen of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party who entered the centre in August 1983 and stayed until late April 1985.  In an effort to compensate for the loss of the facilities, UNRWA ran classes for Siblin trainees in four courses in neighboring Sidon and in Beirut.  These trainees completed their training in October 1984. It was decided then to recruit new trainees for the same courses and training for these started in March 1985 on a similar basis. A number of trainees were transferred to Agency training centres in Jordan and Syria. In May 1985, the Siblin Centre was evacuated by the PSP, and minor maintenance work is being carried out to allow for reopening in autumn 1985, if conditions permit.
				

				58. 	The vocational training centres in Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic functioned normally throughout the year. In Jordan, the only country where a straight comparison can be made with Government centres, the two Agency centres again had success rates well above the national average. Some of the students in the two West Bank centres sat for the comprehensive examination set by the Jordanian Government in 1984. Previously all community college trainees in the West Bank had refused to take the examination. The rate of success in the case of Agency-trained students was higher than that of students from other centres. In the matter of training activities, there was a very marked improvement from July 1984 to the end of June 1985 with an almost unbroken attendance at studies throughout that period. At the Ramallah Women's Training Centre, a demonstration caused the Agency to suspend studies for a week to avoid a threatened longer closure by the authorities. The comprehensive examination ceased to be a source of disturbance during this period.
				

				59. 	The Vocational Training Centre in Gaza operated normally up to early March 1985. On 6 March, reacting in part to a decision by the Field Director not to allow the establishment of a politically-oriented student council, a demonstration took place in the Field Office compound during which participants broke into offices, smashing 450 windows and damaging furniture and equipment. The total damage was about $8,000. As a result of the incident it was decided to close the Centre on 7 March until further notice. The Agency expressed concern to the Israeli authorities over what it regarded as an inadequate response to its request for protection of premises and staff. Twelve trainees were dismissed, 10 more were not allowed to continue their training, but consideration would be given to allow them to-return for examinations, and 19 others were suspended for two weeks for their involvement. A number of instructors were suspended without pay for varying Periods of time for failing to attempt to maintain control over their trainees and for inadequately assisting the Agency with its inquiries relating to the incident. The Centre eventually reopened on 8 April, after the one week spring vacation, and the training year was extended by three weeks to compensate for the time lost.
				

				60. 	Work opportunities for graduates of the Agency's vocational training centres were somewhat affected by the general downturn in economic activity in the Middle East. A total of 1,094 had found jobs in a period of eight months after graduation, representing 70 per cent of the 1983/84 graduates. An expansion of the programme, particularly to provide more opportunities for women, would be amply justified. In the meantime, in a continuing programme of improvement, the Agency introduced an electronics course at the Damascus Vocational Training Centre and two para-medical courses (one for dental hygienists and one for medical secretaries) at the Amman Training Centre during the year. A number of existing courses were upgraded with the purchase of new equipment. These included Business and office practice, Radio/TV mechanic and various building trades courses. The new and upgraded courses were all financed by donations from the OPEC Fund.
				

				  3.  Teacher training
				

				61. 	The teacher training programme aims primarily at providing qualified teachers for UNRWA schools. The Agency's training centres accept Palestine refugee candidates who have successfully completed 12 years of general schooling, and prepare them through a two-year professional training programme to teach at the elementary school level. Graduates of these centres are given priority for Agency appointments. If further teachers are needed, the Agency employs university or high school graduates. Usually, this group lacks professional qualifications, and the Agency therefore arranges basic in-service teacher-training courses for them through the Institute of Education, which forms part of the Department's Teacher and Higher Education Division.
				

				62. 	At the end of February 1985, enrolment in the Institute's in-service courses was 748, of whom 74 were in the basic two-year course for unqualified elementary teachers, 89 in specialized courses for unqualified preparatory teachers, 95 in courses designed to meet curricular changes, 96 in courses for key educational personnel, and 394 in refresher and ad hoc courses. In October 1984, some 41 trainees graduated from the basic two-year  course and 59 trainees from the specialized two-year preparatory courses, and 101 trainees from the professional one-year course for holders of university degrees in various subject specializations. These 201 graduates were recognized by UNRWA as professionally qualified teachers and were graded accordingly.
				

				63. 	Pre-service teacher training continued to be provided at three Agency centres, one in Amman and two in Ramallah (West Bank). Enrolment totaled 1,166 (528 men and 638 women). As with other courses at the Agency's training centres, the level of teacher- training is constantly reviewed to keep it in line with market needs. In recent times, it has become evident that fewer teachers were needed and in 1984/85 the intake at the Amman Training Centre was reduced from 275 to 175. Some further reductions are planned. The policy, however, is that the total number of training places at the UNRWA Training Centres will remain unchanged so that a reduction in the number of places for teacher- trainees is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of places for technical and vocational trainees.
				

				64. 	Operations at the Amman Training Centre were satisfactory. The situation in the West Bank centres showed a marked improvement from that of the previous year with virtually no interruptions. The acceptance of the Jordanian General Comprehensive Examination by the trainees deserves some of the credit for this smooth operation.
				

				65.	Of the 283 second-year trainees of the Amman Training Centre who sat for the July 1984 General Comprehensive Examination, 72 per cent passed, a proportion much higher, than the Jordanian national average. Most of the second-year trainees at one of the West Bank centres registered for the General Comprehensive Examination and those who completed the examination had a higher success rate than was achieved by West Bank trainees who sat for the examination. (See also para. 79 in respect of the West Bank vocational training centres.)
				

				66. 	At the end of the 1983/84 training year, 663 teacher trainees (303 men and 360 women) graduated from the pre-service teacher-training centres. By 30 June 1985, Agency schools employed 48 of them and 280 were known to have found employment outside the Agency. This represents 50 per cent of the 1983/84 graduates. The fact that most graduates of West Bank centres refused to sit for the Jordanian Comprehensive Examination left them technically unqualified for employment as teachers. This accounts for the percentage employed being lower than is normally the case.
				

				67. 	The Education Development Centres continued their efforts to upgrade teachers, qualifications, in co-operation with the Institute of Education. They do this through in-service training courses and by enriching the curriculum with teaching aids and supplementary materials to promote a variety of approaches to teaching and learning.
				

				68. 	Nineteen senior Palestinian staff members were awarded fellowships for overseas study aimed at improving their professional competence. Of these, nine were awarded by UNESCO, two by UNRWA, one by the Australian Government, five by the Japanese Government, and two by voluntary organizations.
				

				4.  University scholarships
				

				69. 	During the academic year 1984/85, UNRWA awarded 353 scholarships to Palestine refugees for study at Arab universities; 271 of the awards were continuing scholarships and 82 were new. 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 (see annex I, table 5).
				

70. In its resolution 39/99 D of 14 December 1984, the General Assembly appealed, inter alia, to all Member States and United Nations organizations to make special allocations, scholarships and grants to Palestine refugees and requested UNRWA to receive, hold in trust and award them to qualified Palestine refugee candidates. The Secretary-General describes the response in detail in his report to the General Assembly (A/39/375).

				C.  Health services
				

				1.  Curative medical care
				

				71. 	Curative medical, dental and rehabilitation services continued to be provided free by UNRWA to eligible Palestine refugees and to locally-recruited staff members and their dependants who are not in Agency-sponsored insurance schemes. Some of the refugee population has access to group health insurance schemes and others, who can afford payment for some of these services, make their own arrangements.
				

				72. 	Out-patient medical care services were provided in 124 health centres/points (98 UNRWA, 25 government and one voluntary agency). Statistical data in respect of UNRWA out-patient care are shown in annex I, table 6. Compared with 1983, medical consultations markedly increased during the year in all fields. This increase in demand for UNRWA services is believed to be the result of the refugees' economic difficulties.
				

				73.	In spite of the Agency's financial problems, the Health Department was able to make modest improvements in the working conditions at health units. It supplied new equipment and replaced old equipment where necessary in Agency installations. These included X-ray machines, laboratory and dental equipment, refrigerators and sterilizers.  Through special contributions and from UNRWA’s own resources it was possible to complete some new construction and to replace or expand some health premises.
				

				74. 	Out-patient dental care service includes consultations, tooth extraction and fillings, gum treatment, dental X-ray and minor oral surgery. Two new dental clinics were completed in Lebanon and one in Jordan, bringing the total Agency-wide to 30. Many Palestine refugees (especially school children) recognize the importance of oral health, but preventive dental care is not yet practiced by all of them.
				

				75. 	UNRWA operates three central health laboratories in Gaza, Jerusalem and Amman. Tests are made in a private laboratory on a contractual basis in Damascus and at the Government central laboratory in Beirut. The Agency also operates 24 clinical laboratories located at main health centres in the different fields for routine tests, including biochemical ones.
				

				76. 	For hospital treatment, the Agency usually sends refugees to government, university, voluntary agency or privately-owned hospitals, and medical institutions. In the West Bank, the Augusta Victoria Hospital operated by the, Lutheran World Federation supplies 100 beds under a sharing agreement. During the year, detailed plans for up-grading and possible expansion were developed, at the Agency's initiative. It also operates a small hospital in Qalqilya, West Bank (36 beds) and nine maternity centres (totaling 71 beds), mostly in the Gaza Strip. In a joint operation with the Public Health Department in Gaza, the Agency runs a 70-bed tuberculosis hospital in the Bureij camp, which serves refugees and local residents from the Gaza Strip, and a few from the West Bank.
				

				77.	It has been difficult to arrange for sufficient beds for the hospital treatment of refugees in Lebanon. In part this has been due to the extravagant demands by some hospitals. These problems have been eased by concluding agreements with three additional hospitals (see para. 16 above).
				

				78. 	The refugees in Gaza are asking that free hospital treatment be made available to them by UNRWA, as in the West Bank, to supplement government facilities in Gaza. These have become very expensive for persons not enrolled in the Government's medical insurance scheme. Increasing economic difficulties, including a rise in unemployment, together with a substantial increase in the cost of the insurance scheme, have led more refugees to seek reimbursement from UNRWA for hospitalization and other medical costs. The Agency's financial crisis delayed the appointment of staff for the new dental clinic in Rafah and the Maghazi clinical laboratory.
				

				79.	In the Syrian Arab Republic, new health centre premises at Dera’a opened in December 1984. These premises have been made possible by a generous donation from the Danish Refugee Council. The continuing plan for improvement in dental care services has since 1982 seen an increase of two dental teams to five, and of three dental clinics to six, plus one mobile team with one fully equipped vehicle.
				

				80.	In Jordan, until an agreement is concluded by UNRWA and the Ministry of Health, no subsidized surgical beds are available for the refugees. The 30 Agency-subsidized medical and pediatric beds at the Italian Hospital and eight pediatric and minor gynecology beds at the Red Crescent Hospital are hardly sufficient. In the interim, the Agency operates a system of financial support. Refugees may apply for a refund of charges incurred if they need such help. There have been improvements, however, in dental care.  A dental team composed of a dental surgeon and practical nurse was established to provide dental services in Jarash and Suf camps for three days per week each instead of one day. This arrangement made it possible to provide dental services at Baqa’a Camp for six days per week instead of four.
				

				81.	In the West Bank, large amounts of medical supplies and equipment were received from American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc. (ANERA) for the Agency's health centres and for distribution to subsidized hospitals. The French Hospital in Bethlehem ceased operations at the end of January 1985 and arrangements were made to have eight ENT (ear, nose and throat) beds at the French Hospital in Jerusalem. A new ENT specialist was employed on contract.
				

				82. 	The Agency had to increase its subsidies to hospitals and other facilities serving refugee patients in all Fields except Gaza to match continuously rising costs in the area. In Gaza, the Agency increased the rate for reimbursing uninsured refugees for hospital costs. In Jordan, the Agency increased the amount, of money available to repay the medical costs of needy refugees. In addition, refugees in all Fields had direct access to local government, private and voluntary hospitals.
				

				83. 	UNRWA continued to meet part of the cost of specialized and emergency life-saving care, mainly in the form of cardiac and neuro-surgery, from which 25 patients benefited during 1984. In addition Terre des Hommes, Netherlands, contributed to such care by covering a substantial part of the hospital costs of 23 children who received cardio-vascular treatment at specialized centres in the area of UNRWA operations.
				

				84. 	There is a growing need for mental health care for children of Palestine refugees. UNRWA and United Nations Children's Fund had a meeting with World Health Organization in Geneva on 12-14 March 1985. Experts in child psychiatry, psychiatry, pediatrics, community health and representatives of interested non-governmental organizations discussed ways of developing mental health care activities. The participants at the meeting recommended setting up a research project to influence and observe behavioral patterns and the efficient use of existing health services. The strategy includes a practical plan for the training of health personnel.
				

				85. 	Crippled children are rehabilitated as out- or in-patients through physical and medical treatment. During 1984, some 808 children benefited from this service in four fields. In Jordan, crippled children receive similar care at the Government's rehabilitation centres in Amman. Patients from the West Bank and Gaza Strip are referred to the Jerusalem Crippled Children's Centre for out-patient and in-patient care. In south Lebanon, the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNRWA run a rehabilitation centre in Tyre which provides physical rehabilitation services to children and adults. In May 1985, the Norwegian People's Aid placed its rehabilitation centre at the Shatila Camp in Beirut under UNRWA authority together while continuing to pay for the centre's costs. UNRWA has continued to provide orthopedic and prosthetic devices in all areas as usual, but at a higher cost.
				

				86. 	Medical supplies to all fields have in general been satisfactory. Most of the medical supplies and equipment programmed by the Department of Health continued to be purchased on the international market and through the UNICEF Packing and Assembly Centre in Copenhagen.
				

				2.  Control of communicable diseases
				

				87. 	The Prevention and control of communicable diseases is, as it has always been, one of the Agency's main concerns. Infants and young children attending the maternal and child health clinics are immunized against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis and measles. Children receive reinforcing doses of vaccines when they enter school. UNRWA health staff work to improve environmental conditions. They emphasize personal and food hygiene in health education activities at schools and clinics, and they administer specific chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis treatment. They also maintain close co-operation with the Government's health authorities in disease surveillance and control.
				

				88. 	No case of cholera was reported among the refugee population. Nine cases of coetaneous leishmaniasis were reported six in the Syrian Arab Republic (Aleppo area) and three in the West Bank, mostly in the Jericho area.
				

				89. 	The following diseases occurred less frequently than in the previous year: diarrhoeal diseases, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, trachoma and respiratory tuberculosis. But there were more reported cases of typhoid fever, brucellosis, chicken pox, conjunctivitis, infectious hepatitis and measles. There was no significant change in the incidence of other communicable diseases.  (Further details are given in the annual report of the Director of Health.)
				

				90. 	The Agency operates a comprehensive tuberculosis programme, including case detection, hospital and home treatment, and follow-up of cases and their contacts. The incidence of respiratory tuberculosis continues to be less than one case in 10,000 of the population eligible for health services.
				

				91.	In Jordan, a National Immunization Week was launched as of 24 November 1984. The UNRWA health centres and points took an active part in this project.
				

				3.  Maternal and child health
				

				92. 	The health of pregnant women and children is monitored through a network of 98 health units. These services are supported by specialist and hospital referral services. Data on the maternal and child health programme are presented in table 6 of annex I.
				

				93.	Pre-natal care includes regular health supervision and the issue of extra rations and iron-folate tablets. Immunization of pregnant women with tetanus toxoid is now extended to all the five fields. Many women nowadays prefer to deliver in hospitals, but still more than a third deliver at home, attended by Agency-supervised dayahs (traditional birth attendants).
				

				94. 	Family planning is an integral part of the maternal and child health programme in Gaza, where a special family health course is also included in the school curriculum for girls in the third preparatory classes. Health centres in the Damascus area offer family planning services to women attending the maternal and child health (MCH) clinics, in co-operation with the Ministry of Health. The Jordan field is keeping a low profile in its family planning work, which mainly consists of advisory services by health centre staff.
				

				95.	Regular health supervision and immunization are provided in child health clinics for children up to three years of age. Early treatment of diarrhea with oral rehydration is carried out in all health centres. Children showing growth failure receive care in the nutrition rehabilitation clinics which are an integral part of the child health clinics.  Powdered milk is distributed to all children from six months to three years.
				

				96. 	The analysis and report concerning the retrospective study on risk factors, related to deaths in infancy in the entire camp population of the West Bank Field have been completed with the assistance of a WHO consultant, Dr. Brian McCarthy, in co-ordination with the East Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO/EMRO). A similar case-control study in Gaza Field on risk factors in relation to infants' deaths is continuing.  Further investigations, case reviews and subsidiary studies are being carried out in both Fields. The data of the risk study in the West Bank Field will be used in a workshop on the risk approach in maternal and child health, to be held An Amman in 1985 and organized by WHO/EMRO.
				

				97. 	School health teams from UNRWA health centres carry out medical examinations of children at school entry and give reinforcing immunizations, including the introduction of immunization against tetanus at 14 to 15 years of age. They make regular visits to schools for continued health monitoring of the pupils and to inspect school premises.  Teachers and health staff join together in efforts to provide a healthy school environment. Eye glasses are provided free of charge to all school children who need them. School children receive limited dental services.
				

				98.  Health education workers collaborate with camp health committees and Agency staff for promotion of good health practices in schools, health and supplementary feeding centres and are involved in a health education course for young women attending the Agency's sewing centres.
				

				99. 	The first two groups of teachers in Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic have completed their training as health education tutors. In addition to their ordinary teaching duties they are responsible for health guidance and information and for organizing regular health education activities in their schools. Training courses for health education teacher-tutors are continuing. An experimental three-day course for school attendants was held in Jordan. This type of course is also expected to be extended to other Fields.
				

				4.  Nursing services
				

				100. 	The nursing services of each of the five Fields continue to form an integral part of the Agency's health services, both preventive and curative. Nursing midwifery personnel continue to carry a large proportion of the work-load of these services. Auxiliary staff are widely used and are invaluable in all areas. Dayahs (traditional birth attendants) perform many of the home deliveries and carry out post-natal care. Some assist in the MCH clinics.
				

				101. 	In-service training, refresher courses and continuing education of the various categories of nursing staff are provided and are essential to the maintenance of good standards of care. Post-basic education has been made available to some qualified nurses and midwifery training is being provided for 19 trainees in Gaza, all funded by voluntary agencies.
				

				5.  Environmental health
				

				102. 	The environmental health services continued to provide the camps with basic community sanitation, including the provision of potable water, sanitary disposal of wastes, drainage of rain-water, latrine facilities and control of disease-carrying insects and rodents. The main objective, prevention of communicable diseases transmitted through environmental channels, was satisfactorily achieved. A total of 789,000 refugees and displaced persons living in camps benefited from the services. Host Governments, local councils and municipalities have further extended their co-operation with the Agency in the improving sanitation activities. UNICEF assistance in the improvement of water supplies and liquid waste disposal facilities in camps has been significant. Through the Agency-subsidized self-help schemes and with the sustained support of the local authorities concerned, some essential works were carried out during the period, as described below.
				

				103. 	Necessary financial and technical support was provided by the Agency to the self-help programme involving construction of drains, laying of sewers, installation of family latrines and pavement of pathways, particularly in Lebanon where most of the facilities were damaged by the fighting. Seven camps in Lebanon, six in the Syrian Arab Republic, five in Jordan, three in Gaza and 12 in the West Bank benefited from the programme, which continues to be popular with the refugee communities.
				

				104. 	The Government of Jordan has completed a water augmentation project for Suf camp. Another water scheme to provide indoor taps to refugee shelters is in progress at Baqa'a, Jarash and Hosn (Martyr Azmi al-Mufti) Camps. In Syria, indoor water taps have been provided to all refugee shelters at Khan Dannoun camp and water supply schemes with provision for indoor taps are under way at Jaramana and Sbeineh camps. In the West Bank, with the financial assistance of the Agency, the local municipal authority has improved the water supply at Tulkarem camp; Deir Ammar camp is expected to benefit soon from a regional water-scheme. UNICEF has started the financing and execution of a scheme at Bin el-Hilweh camp in south Lebanon to provide indoor water taps. UNICEF has also helped in solving water shortage problems at Burj el-Shemali and Beddawi extension.
				

				105. 	The sewerage network at Shufaat camp in West Bank has been connected with a regional scheme. Also in the West Bank, the 1984 self-help programme for concrete pavement of pathways with drains was completed in 12 camps. With substantial cash assistance from the Agency through a special donation and from the Agency's general funds, the Ramallah municipality is laying a 2,700 meter sewer line to the Ramallah Women's Training Centre. This work is near completion and construction of the two sewage pumping stations has begun. In south Lebanon, integration of the Ein-el-Hilweh sewerage system with the municipal network is in progress. A project by the United Nations Development Programme for improving waste water situation in the Gaza strip is under formulation. In Syria, the Government continues with its plans to improve camp sewerage systems, and Agency sanitation workers, sometimes with contracted help, remove blockages. Execution of a UNICEF-assisted self-help sewage scheme is due to start shortly at Mar Elias camp in Beirut. The Agency plans to subsidize self-help sewerage schemes in camps near suitable municipal or regional sewerage networks.
				

				106. 	Refuse transport systems continue to be a serious problem as disposal places are moved farther from the camps. Two skip-lift trucks with matching containers have been provided for Beach and Jabalia camps in Gaza. UNRWA gave financial and staff assistance to a rodent control campaign conducted by the municipality in Gaza Town and Beach Camp. Further progress in modernization of refuse collection and transport facilities is impeded by the scarcity of funds and a need to improve roads, streets, and alleys in the camps.
				

				107. 	Through a WHO fellowship programme, UNRWA is seeking to train sanitary engineers and sanitarians to meet the Agency's programme needs. A sanitary engineer trained at the University of London has been assigned to Gaza. Two sanitarians have completed post-graduate courses abroad and one is being trained at the University of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
				

				108. 	A WHO short-term consultant was engaged to review the sanitation programme in the Gaza Strip. His findings and recommendations for upgrading the services are under consideration.
				

				6.  Nutrition
				

				109. 	In its health programme, UNRWA places importance on the supervision, protection and promotion of the nutritional conditions of the refugees in general, and of the most vulnerable groups in particular. These include infants, pre-school and elementary school children, pregnant and nursing women, non-hospitalized tuberculosis patients and members of special hardship families. In addition to the routine surveillance of the growth and development of children attending the child health clinics, a nutrition survey was carried out in collaboration with WHO during April/May 1984 in Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. There has been continued improvement since the previous survey in 1978 in the nutritional status of children as indicated by the weight-for-height ratios, but in contrast there has been no improvement in the growth in length-for-age which indicates that chronic malnutrition of some degree is a problem. Nutritional anemia was also found throughout the female population.
				

				110. 	The supplementary feeding programme provides midday meals and monthly distribution of milk powder and extra rations to selected groups. At the 90 UNRWA supplementary feeding centres and four voluntary agency centres, nutritionally balanced midday meals are served six days a week to children up to the age of six, all of whom are eligible to receive them, and on medical grounds to older children, sick adults and the destitute. In Lebanon, the authority given in 1982 for the issue of the midday meals to all refugee children up to the age of 15 was extended through 1984 and resulted in a large increase in the number of recipients, from about 3,500 to about 12,800. From 1 January 1985 the number of recipients was limited to 10,000.
				

				111. 	A special high-protein, high-calorie diet is also available daily for infants and children suffering from diarrhea and malnutrition. They receive vitamin A and D capsules with their meals. Whole and skim milk powder are distributed to non-breast-fed infants up to six months and to all children from six to 36 months attending the child health clinics, a total of more than 75,000 children (see annex I, table 7).
				

				112. 	In Jordan, as in previous years, the Agency has provided, on behalf of the Government and against reimbursement, milk and midday meals for persons displaced in 1967 (other than UNRWA-registered refugees) who live in camps.
				

				113. 	In the West Bank, food centre managers and assistant manager's attended a training course in March 1985 designed to upgrade standards and to provide guidelines for supervisors of group-feeding programmes.
				

				7.  Medical and para-medical education and training
				

				114. 	In 1984/85, the Agency maintained and further developed its programme of education and training in health. Some 134 refugee students held UNRWA medical university scholarships (see annex 1, table 5) and 223 refugee trainees were enrolled in courses for laboratory technicians, public health inspectors and assistant pharmacists in Agency training centres. Of these, 26 university students and 114 trainees either successfully completed their courses of study or were expected to pass their qualifying examinations.
				

				115. 	Scholarships for basic university education come from donations made by voluntary agencies. While the need for nursing staff in UNRWA is very great, the Agency has no means of providing basic nursing training itself and relies entirely on outside sources. It is becoming more and more difficult to fill vacant nursing posts with properly qualified staff.
				

				116. 	Intensive in-service training was carried out by the Department of Health for its own staff In the various disciplines of the programme. In the Syrian Arab Republic, training courses organized with the co-operation of UNICEF were conducted for selected local staff; they focused on the need to improve primary health care. In Jordan, new approaches have been made, including the training of teachers to be health education tutors, with the objective of promoting awareness of personal hygiene among refugee children.
				

				117. 	Within the framework of WHO-sponsored training and fellowship programmes for health personnel, two fellowships were granted by WHO/EMRO in the academic year 1984/85 to two medical officers from Jordan – one for an eleven-month, post-graduate training  course leading to a degree in public health administration at the High Institute of Public Health in Alexandria, Egypt, and the other to pursue a one-year post-graduate training course leading to a master's degree in clinical, tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. WHO/EMRO also granted two short-term fellowships in 1984/85 – one to the Field Health Officer from Jordan for a six-week training course in personnel and fiscal management at the Department of Community Medicine, Usher Institute, Edinburgh, and the other to a dental surgeon from Syria to attend the WHO/DANIDA course in dental public health at the Demonstration Training and Research Centre, Damascus.
				

				118. 	In addition, WHO/EMRO sponsored a one-month refresher course for eleven supplementary feeding staff members from all fields except Lebanon. Three staff members who were granted WHO/EMRO fellowships in the academic year 1983/84 have successfully completed their studies – one medical officer from Syria in community health at the School of Tropical medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom, in December 1984; one senior sanitarian from Jordan in public health at the Department of Community Medicine, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, in October 1984 and one assistant field sanitation officer (water) from Gaza in public health engineering at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, in October 1984. APHEDA fellowships of six months' duration were granted to two staff nurses (one each from Jordan and Gaza) in community health nursing in New South Wales, Australia, starting 30 September 1984; two other senior staff nurses from Gaza were granted one-year APHEDA fellowships for a diploma programme in community health nursing at Cumberland College, Sydney, Australia, starting 18 February 1985.
				

				D.  Relief services
				

				119. 	Agency relief services comprise assistance for hardship cases, including the provision of basic food commodities, blankets, clothing, shelter repair or reconstruction and cash grants; and, for all eligible refugees, welfare case-work, the organization of youth and women's activities, adult training courses and rehabilitation of the disabled. In addition, a small measure of humanitarian assistance is still provided for persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 war.
				

				120. 	The continued occupation of parts of south Lebanon and the sporadic and violent outbreaks of fighting in other areas of the country coupled with unemployment among the refugees has affected the Agency's relief operations in Lebanon. This is described in more detail in chapter I.
				

				121. 	In the West Bank and to a lesser extent in the Gaza Strip, the relief services continued to be interrupted over the past year by local unrest. A steady rise in the cost of living and some increase in unemployment among refugees in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have resulted in protests and demonstrations. During one such demonstration in Gaza, the Jabalia Camp ration distribution centre was attacked and looted, resulting in damage to the centre and equipment and the loss of some 45 tons of food commodities worth $32,000. The looting occurred over a period of several hours during which the Israeli authorities were requested several times to provide protection for Agency staff and premises. The Agency considered the response of the authorities unsatisfactory. Following this incident, an agreement was reached with the authorities to provide police protection for the rations distribution. In the West Bank, refugees in some camps have refused to allow rations to be distributed to hardship cases on the ground that all refugees are in need of food aid, and unless they all receive it, none will be permitted to do so.
				

				122. 	The position of the 4,350 refugees who were left stranded in the Egyptian sector of Rafah as a result of the withdrawal of the Israeli forces in April 1982 to the international border between the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, remains unchanged. The majority are unemployed and living in hardship.  With the co-operation of the Egyptian and Israeli Governments, UNRWA distributes food, blankets and clothing to these refugees. The Agency also provides elementary and preparatory schooling for about 1,200 stranded refugee children and some basic health care. It has been the Agency's understanding that prior to the withdrawal from Egyptian territory, the two Governments had reached an agreement in principle to permit these refugees to return to the Gaza Strip. Towards the end of the reporting period, the Agency was informed by the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip that, in recent discussions between the two Governments, it was agreed that the refugees would return to the Gaza Strip, perhaps commencing at an early date. UNRWA would welcome implementation of such an agreement and will facilitate the relocation, including the provision of schooling, health care and welfare services for the returnees at UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip similar to the situation which existed prior to April 1982.
				

123. In resolution 39/99 C and other resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Agency was requested to provide humanitarian assistance, as far as practicable on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure to persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities but who are not registered with UNRWA as refugees. In Lebanon the relief operation was extended to non-registered Palestinians who sought help during the period June 1982 to March 1984. In Jordan, at the request of the Government, the Agency has continued to distribute rations on the Government's behalf to some 193,000 persons, and to provide schooling, supplementary feeding, milk, medical, sanitation-and other camp services to people living in the post-refugee camps. The Government reimburses the Agency for the cost of supplies used in the supplementary feeding and milk programmes and the cost of distributing basic rations to displaced persons.

				1.  Eligibility and registration
				

				124. 	The number of refugees registered with the Agency on 30 June 1985 was 2,093,545 compared with 2,034,314 on 30 June 1984. The eligibility of refugees Agency services is continually monitored to the extent possible. Essentially, there are two categories of registration for refugees one for those who are eligible for all Agency services and the other for those who, mainly because of income, are eligible for limited services.
				

				125. 	In 1982, the Agency decided to provide all refugees with individual registration cards. Previously, registration cards were issued to the head of family only. The individual cards were intended to facilitate provision of services to refugees and to reassure the refugees that certain rights acknowledged by General Assembly resolutions would not be affected because UNRWA had suspended the basic ration. The small plastic cards were also expected to be more convenient and durable than the old family cards. In the Gaza Strip, most of the refugees received individual cards before distribution was stopped in March 1985 at the request of the Israeli authorities. No cards were issued in Jordan and the West Bank after strong representations by the Government of Jordan. More than half of the refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic had received new cards when the Government compelled the Agency to stop issuing them. No attempt was made to issue the cards in Lebanon because of the security situation there. Family registration cards are again being issued in all fields.
				

				2.  Rations
				

				126. 	In its decision 36/462 of 16 March 1982, the General Assembly, inter alia, called upon Governments and organizations making contributions in kind to UNRWA either to give cash instead or to allow UNRWA to sell the contributions for cash. In the light of that decision, the Agency henceforth has sought contributions of enough foodstuffs to meet the needs of the hardship cases, the supplementary feeding programme and catering at the residential vocational and teacher-training centres. The basic ration programme, which offered only a token food supplement to persons most of whom were not hardship cases, had long had the lowest priority among the Agency's programmes. Thus, if the General Assembly decision led to additional cash contributions which could be used to support higher priority services, the basic ration programme could be phased out.
				

				127. 	The need to conserve remaining stocks of food to provide assistance to the refugee victims of the War in Lebanon accelerated the introduction of this change and in September 1982 the Agency suspended distribution of the basic ration in all Fields, except Lebanon. The programme in Lebanon ceased in March 1984.
				

128. General Assembly resolutions 38/83 F of 15 December 1983 and 39/99 F of 14 December 1984, which also called upon all Governments to offer the necessary resources, requested the Commissioner-General "to resume on a continuing basis the interrupted general ration distribution to Palestine refugees in all fields". Given the efforts to implement General Assembly decision 36/462 and the lack of sufficient resources, it has not been possible for the Agency to comply with this request.

				129. 	UNRWA continues to give food rations to the hardship cases, which include widows, orphans, the aged, the physically and mentally handicapped and the chronically sick. They also received clothing, token cash aid, cash grants for self-support projects, assistance in the repair or reconstruction of shelters and preferential access to vocational and teacher training. Refugees must apply for this assistance, which is given after verification (and periodic re-verification) by Agency staff, following strict criteria, that the family cannot support itself. The level of Agency support still leaves hardship-case families dependent on relatives and neighbors. After the general ration distribution was suspended, the Agency made a public commitment to develop its assistance to this group, but the additional resources needed have not yet become available. Furthermore, because of the strict criteria, based on a family's capacity for employment rather than on whether the refugee is actually employed or not, this assistance programme is not reaching an increasing number of refugee families who are experiencing serious hardship in areas where, unemployment is a problem, such as Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
				

				130. 	By the end of June 1985, the programme of assistance to hardship cases was benefiting persons, Agency-wide:
				

Number of
hardship case families

Number
of persons

Percentage of registered refugee population

Gaza
West Bank
Jordan
Syrian Arab Republic
Lebanon

				131. 	The relatively high percentage of hardship cases in Lebanon is readily explained by the ravages of war and the devastation of the economy. In Jordan, the Agency believes that the more favorable economic situation has enabled most refugees to find work and support themselves.
				

				132. 	In 1984, persons registered as hardship cases received, by Field, the following quantities of food commodities:
				

Flour

Rice

Sugar

Cooking

oil

Corned beef or sardines

Tomato paste

Burghol

Skim
milk
powder

(Kilogrammes per year)

Gaza
West Bank
Jordan
Syrian Arab
  Republic
Lebanon

  –
  –
7.00
  –
1.00

				_______________
				

				*	For eight months only. During the first four months of 1984 hardship cases in Lebanon received the emergency ration.
				

				3.  Camps and shelters
				

				133. 	The total population of the 61 refugee camps, including non-registered refugees, has increased from 763,773 to 788,971 since June 1984. The registered refugees living in camps represented 35.25 per cent of the registered refugee  population, varying from 55.27 per cent in the Gaza Strip to only 25.50 per cent in the West Bank. UNRWA provides services to eligible Palestine refugees whether they live in camps or not.
				

				134. 	The camps were constructed on government land or on private land made available (with one or two minor exceptions) by the host Governments, which remain responsible for the maintenance of law, and order and other functions as part of their normal responsibilities towards the population within their borders. In the occupied territories, the Israeli civil administration has assumed these responsibilities.  It is 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; shelters (huts) constructed by the Agency, which are the dwellings of in the  possession of refugees, who have maintained them in repair and in many cases added to and improved them; and houses and other buildings constructed and occupied or otherwise used by refugees (or others), for some of which the Agency might have given some assistance at the time they were constructed. It should be noted, too, that some camps contain large-numbers of persons who are not registered refugees or even registered camp inhabitants. Camps established on the edges of towns and cities have in the course of time, tended to blend into the surrounding urban areas and to become all but indistinguishable from their surroundings.
				

				135. 	Only essential maintenance of Agency buildings and installations is now carried out, and much important and overdue maintenance work has once again not been done because of lack of funds.  This postponement adds to the problems for the following financial year, when the maintenance required might well be more serious and costs will have risen.
				

				136. 	The Agency assisted 432 families registered as special hardship cases in repairing or reconstructing their camp shelters during 1984 at a cost of $170,036.
				

				137. 	Many self-help projects were completed, with the Agency contributing part of the cost and the refugee communities, Governments, municipalities or other local sources contributing the remainder in the form of labor, materials or cash.
				

				138. 	The present situation of the 35 families whose shelters on the borders of Beach Camp in the Gaza Strip were demolished (see paras. 139 and 184 of last year's report) is as follows: Twenty-eight families are living in temporary shelters they have built either on or near the same site, five families left the site, and two families moved into the shelters of nearby relatives. In response to the Agency's representations, the authorities have stated that these shelters were demolished as contraventions, having been built on government land outside the camps, and that arrangements are being made to provide alternative accommodation.
				

				139. 	Details of the housing situation of the 2,554 refugee families whose shelters were demolished by the occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip in 1971 are given in the Secretary-General’s report to the General Assembly (A/39/457). Some of these refugees are among those who have moved into new housing projects developed by the Israeli Authorities. Other refugees have willingly moved to plots of land in these housing developments and built their own homes. But UNRWA remained concerned for families still living in unsatisfactory conditions, many of whom have been living in hardship for many years (see para. 140 of last year’s report). An Agency survey conducted last year found that 23 families were still living in wretched accommodations. The authorities agreed to try to help these families, 19 of whom were still living in hardship conditions at the end of the reporting period. The Agency continues to take up the matter with the authorities, who have stated that these families are being rehoused.
				

				140. 	In the year under review, according to UNRWA records, 326 refugee families comprising 2,075 persons and nine non-refugee families of 70 person's moved to 194 and nine plots of land respectively in Israeli government-sponsored housing projects in the Gaza Strip. In addition, three refugee families of 14 persons moved to ready-built houses at the al-Amal housing project in Khan Younis.  The rate of movement by comparison with last year has decreased, perhaps because of the refugee community's increasingly difficult economic circumstances. The housing projects provide those refugees who can afford it an opportunity to construct a higher standard of accommodation than generally exists in the camps. The refugee community therefore readily accepts voluntary moves, although it remains concerned that some refugee families may be induced to move through fear or pressure. About 50 families living on the northern edge of Jabalia camp adjacent to a government housing project were threatened by the Israeli authorities that their shelters would be demolished because they allegedly had been built illegally. In fact, 14 private rooms which constituted parts of shelters were demolished as contraventions, and a number of boundary walls and gardens were bulldozed. This created apprehension, and several families have taken their cases to the Israeli High Court of Justice. As a result of the moves of refugees from camps to government housing projects, 501 rooms were demolished, comprising 245 Agency rooms plus 27 Agency-assisted rooms and 220 private rooms, because the Israeli authorities require such demolition before the occupants move to their new quarters. The Israeli Government's position is that materials from demolished houses are used by the refugees in new construction, and congestion in the camps is also relieved. The Agency opposes such demolitions and believes they add to the acute housing crisis in the Gaza Strip as the rooms thus demolished are not available to rehouse other poor families living in over-crowded conditions.
				

				4.  Welfare
				

				141. 	There are now 26,864 families registered with UNRWA as special hardship cases, comprising 103,857 persons. Small cash grants totaling $294,871 were given to 76,324 persons, while assistance in other forms was given to 107,083 persons. Welfare workers helped solve individual and family problems through counseling and guidance. Artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices were given to 598 handicapped refugees, while 25 destitute persons, 109 old people and 24 orphans were placed in institutions, most of them free of charge. Voluntary agencies gave 81 tons of used clothing and 5,430 blankets to UNRWA for distribution to refugee welfare cases. And 432 destitute families were helped to repair or reconstruct their shelters.
				

				142.	Pre-school activities for children are directed to the particular needs of the three- to six-year-olds and aim to develop their potential through play periods supervised by trained teachers. There are 51 centres serving 4,812 children. The American Friends' Service Committee obtained funding for 16 UNRWA-operated centres in the Gaza Strip, including one in the Egyptian sector of Rafah; the Holy Land Christian Mission finances and operates seven in the West Bank and the United Kingdom Save the Children Fund runs three in Lebanon. The remaining centres are financed either by local groups or other voluntary agencies.
				

				143. 	Youth activities are carried out in co-operation with the World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations in 38 refugee camps. Over the past year, 17,253 young refugees participated, including 1,475 boys under 16 years of age who took part in self-improvement projects and recreational programmes. Twelve self-help projects were completed in camps by the members of youth activities centres. In the West Bank, five of the centres were closed by the Israeli authorities, four of them throughout the reporting period, and in the Gaza Strip, the Rafah Centre has remained closed since August 1983, in both cases for activities regarded as hostile (see para. 181 of last year’s report). In the West Bank, the Agency itself closed the Centre at Jalazone for the entire year under review and the Fara’a Centre from 12 February 1983, because of disturbances. But at other centres, there has been increased interest in the youth activities programme. In the Arroub camp in the West Bank, refugee youngsters have completed a new centre, which is now in use. In the West Bank, the Agency also runs three carpentry centres where 48 young refugees, who otherwise would not receive further education or training, are equipped with basic skills du ring a one-year course.
				

				144. 	Many of the refugee girls and young women, who are unable to complete formal schooling, are nevertheless keen to acquire skills which will enable them to provide more for their families and raise their standard of living. The Agency's women's activities, embroidery and sewing centres are popular for this reason. The 17 women's activities centres offer a varied afternoon programme of instruction in crafts, health education and child care, as well as literacy classes and cultural and sporting activities. A new women's activity centre was opened in the Gaza Strip, and an extension to another, reported last year as stopped by the Israeli authorities, was co-ordinated and built this year. A more formal one-year course is offered at the 33 sewing centres in dressmaking, embroidery and knitting, by hand and machine. At the end of the course, which was followed by 943 young women over the past year, the successful graduates are awarded a diploma which helps them obtain employment. In Lebanon, the demand from women for training which will enable them to make money is greatly increased with the loss of normal sources of income. In the Gaza Strip, extensions were made to two sewing centres.
				

				145. 	Special training was provided for 212 disabled refugee children to integrate them into the life of their community. Seventy of them attended the Centre for the Blind in Gaza, which is operated for refugees by the Agency and financed by the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, and the others were training at similar specialized institutions in the area.
				

				146. The programme to enable families to become self-supporting has been extended and now includes the Gaza Strip, Jordan, and Lebanon. The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) has provided funds to enable the Agency to employ an expert in the establishment of self -supporting/income-generating projects in the Sidon area of south Lebanon. The expert was evacuated from Lebanon soon after his arrival there and is now carrying out a similar task in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As soon as it is considered that he can safely continue his work in Lebanon, he will return there. During 1984, seven self-support projects have been established in the Gaza Strip, 17 in Jordan and three in Lebanon at a cost of $54,857 in grants.
				

				147. 	Two community projects to assist the disabled within two camp communities (Suf and Jarash) in Jordan have proved very successful. These projects are organized with the assistance and financial support of OXFAM (United Kingdom).
				

				E.  Personnel and administrative matters
				

				1.  Changes in the staffing table
				

				148. 	Over the year, there was an increase of 47 posts in the staffing table:
				

			30 June 1984	30 June 1985
(a) International posts
	(i) (ii) (iii)	UNRWA UNESCO (filled on non-reimbursable loan) WHO (filled on non-reimbursable loan)	110 20 6 129	103 20 6 134
(b)	Local posts		17,340 a/ 17,469	17 382 17,516

				_______________
				

					a/	See annex I, table 8, for details of the distribution of local posts.
				

				149. 	The total number of staff occupying these posts is at present 16,830. Women represented 14.2 per cent of international and 36.6 per cent of local staff, compared with 14.6 per cent and 35.1 per cent respectively a year ago.
				

			30 June 1984	30 June 1985
(a)	International staff
	(i)	UNRWA Male Female	99 85 14	99 84 15
	(ii)	UNESCO Male Female	18 16 2	18 16 2
	(iii)	WHO Male Female	6 4 2	6 4 2
(b) (c)	Local staff Male Female Total staff Male Female		16,808 10,912 5,896 16,931 11,017 5,914	16,702 10,759 5,948 16,830 10 863 5,967

				150. 	Of the 108 UNRWA international posts, 92 are funded from the United Nations regular budget, 12 are funded from the Agency's own budget and four by non-governmental, organizations (one, funded, by the Norwegian People's Aid and three funded by the Norwegian Refugee Council). The latter posts were established in part to assist with the emergency operation in Lebanon and they will be phased out when operations return to normal. The number of posts at Headquarters decreased from 366 to 330 mostly as the result of austerity measures announced late in the year (see para. 151 below).
				

				2.  Austerity measures
				

				151.	 With the Agency in a critical financial position, the Commissioner-General announced a number of austerity measures in December 1984 designed both to reduce expenditure and increase productivity without mass termination of staff or reduction in the existing level of services to the refugees. Measures affecting staff included the following:
				

					(a)	Deferment of a $9.4 million pay increase due on 1 January 1985 for locally recruited staff in Jordan, Syria, West Bank and Gaza. These increases were based on salary surveys.
				

					(b)	Suspension of all cost-of-living increases for local staff which become due for 1985.
				

					(c)	Abolition of 38 posts in Headquarters.
				

					(d)	Abolition of flexible working hours and an increase in the work week from 37.5 to 40 hours in Headquarters.
				

					(e)	Cancellation of extensions of staff over age 60.
				

				3.  Local staff pay administration
				

				152. 	While the Commissioner-General suspended all pay increases in 1985, pay and cost-of-living increases which became due in 1984 were authorized as follows:
				

					(a)	Egypt
				

				For  the  three staff members in the Agency's Cairo Office who had not had a pay increase  since  May 1980,  a  new  salary  scale was promulgated on 1 September 1984 which represented an average increase of 19.8 per cent and an annual cost of $2,844.
				

					(b)	Jordan
				

				In November 1984, the general service and manual worker staff received an increase of 3.02 per cent, in the form of a cost-of-living allowance, with retroactive effect to 1 August 1984 at an annual cost of $233,000. The teachers received no increase.
				

					(c) 	Syria
				

				In January 1985,  all local  staff  received an increase of 4.5 per cent, in the form  of  cost-of-living  allowance,  with  retroactive  effect  to 1 September 1984 at an annual cost of $600,000.
				

					(d)	Lebanon
				

				Interim pay adjustments between salary surveys are based on Government decrees for employees in the public and private sectors and are granted in the form of a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) outside of the salary scales. The last survey in Lebanon was in 1981. As the result of interim adjustments in 1982 and 1983, approximately 46 per cent of pay was in cost-of-living allowance outside of the salary This had an adverse effect on the Agency's and the staff member's contribution to the Provident Fund and placed the staff in Lebanon in a less advantageous position than staff in the other Fields where ail COLA had been incorporated into salary in November 1983. For this reason the Commissioner-General authorized the incorporation of as much COLA as possible into the salary scale without causing distortion to the structure of the scale. This incorporation was effective from 1 January 1985 at an annual cost of $200,000. It still left about 22 per cent of remuneration in the form of COLA. When the Government later issued a decree increasing pay for public sector employees with effect from 1 January 1984, the Agency incorporated the remaining COLA into revised salary scales And gave staff an average increase of about 12.9 per cent with effect from 1 January 1984 at an annual cost of $1.2 million. In March 1985 the Government issued a new decree providing a further increase of approximately 20 per cent to public and private sector employees effective 1 January 1985 in recognition of the rapid inflation during 1984. The Agency gave a similar increase to its staff with retroactive effect to 1 January 1985, at an-annual cost of $1.2 million.
				

				4.  Job classification
				

				153. 	The design and testing of a job classification standard for senior area (local) staff was completed. The standard is a point-factor system complemented by benchmarks. It is envisaged that the new standard will eventually apply to approximately 275 staff members in grades 12 to 18 who are performing supervisory and management functions similar in nature to those performed by the professional category staff in the United Nations common system. The job classification unit has also completed a review of all professional and higher category posts according to International Civil Service Commission standards.
				

				5.  Staff training
				

				154. 	Increased attention has been given to staff development through training. To increase efficiency, four areas of training priority have been established: work- related professional training, secretarial training, language training and general skill-oriented training (e.g. selection interviewing, effective drafting, work simplification methods and time management). In addition to these in-house courses, some staff have been sent to selected management courses offered by other institutions.  A register identifying suitable correspondence courses also has been established.
				

				155. 	Additionally, training in specific professional areas is given to teaching and medical staff of the Departments of Education and Health, with the help of UNESCO and WHO fellowships, and to welfare staff of the Department of Relief Services. Staff members generally are encouraged to study for higher academic and professional qualifications. Where these are of direct relevance to the Agency's work, financial assistance may be provided in the form of scholarships and special leave with pay.
				

				F.  Legal matters
				

				1.  Agency staff
				

				156. 	The number of staff members arrested and detained without charge or trial in the period under review is given-in the table below:
				

Gaza

West
Bank

Jordan

Syrian Arab
 Republic 

Lebanon*

Arrested or detained and
  released without charge
  or trial
Charged, tried and
  sentenced
Still detained without charge at 30 June 1985

5
1
1

7
0
3

 2
 0
 0

5
0
0

 1
 0
 0

				*	In addition to the one staff member who was arrested and subsequently released by the Lebanese authorities, the following detentions have also taken place: (a) three staff members were detained and subsequently released by the Syrian Armed Forces in Lebanon, (b) nineteen were detained by various militias, of whom 12 have been released and (c) three were detained in south Lebanon and subsequently released by the Israeli military forces.
				

				157. 	The three staff members detained by the Israeli military forces in south Lebanon and referred to in paragraph 165 of last year's report were held in detention during the reporting period and released shortly thereafter. Two of them had been in detention for more than three years contrary to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946, and the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949.
				

				158. 	The Agency was unable to have access to any of its staff in detention. It continues to have difficulties in obtaining adequate and timely information on the reasons for the arrest and detention of its staff. As reported in previous years in the absence of sufficient information, the Agency is unable to ascertain whether staff members' official functions are involved, or to ensure that their rights and duties flowing from the United Nations Charter Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946, and UNRWA pertinent staff regulations and rules are given proper effect.
				

				159.	The Agency is pleased to report progress in securing adequate recognition of first arrival privileges for expatriate staff in Jordan.
				

				160. 	In the reporting period, international staff, seeking to travel on duty to West Bank and the Gaza Strip did not face any impediment. The Israeli authorities have however, prevented five area staff members from travelling on duty to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the reporting period. The Agency has taken up these cases. No progress has been made with regard to the denial of entry and exit visas in United Nations laissez-passers to area staff members in the Syrian Arab Republic who are required to travel on duty.
				

				161.  Two area staff members have been restricted in their movement within the West Banks, one to his place of residence and work in Nablus, and the other to Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities withheld permission for an area staff member from the Gaza Strip to travel to Amman, to attend an in-service training course in July 1984. Three other area staff members from the Gaza Strip were also not allowed to travel on duty outside the Strip, the reason given being that all residents of the district in Gaza where the staff lived were prohibited from leaving Israeli-controlled territory for-reasons of security. Two of the three staff members were able to travel later.
				

				162. 	Both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip the Israeli authorities have continued to summon staff for interrogation during working hours, without adequate notice. The Agency has expressed its concern on repeated occasions over this disruption of its programmes, particularly in the case of teachers whose responsibilities include supervision of pupils' conduct on Agency premises.
				

				163. 	In last year's report the Agency emphasized the need for all its staff in Lebanon to be able to function without intimidation so that the Agency could carry out its operations in the difficult circumstances which prevail. Problems relating to the protection and security of its staff have become more acute in the reporting period. An Agency consultant was kidnapped and has been held in captivity now for more than three months. The Agency’s then Director in Lebanon and four other international staff members had to be recalled to Vienna in April 1985 in the face of threats to British nationals working in Beirut. The Agency's Deputy Director and Field Relief Services Officer in Beirut was kidnapped on his way to work and held in captivity for almost two days in May by unknown armed personnel. There were two incidents in April/May 1985 in which armed militiamen intruded into the Agency's central warehouse in Beirut and under threats to Agency staff present there, searched the premises. On 7 June 1985, the Director of UNRWA Affairs, Lebanon, who was leading a relief convoy to Burj el Barajneh camp, was forced with others (including the Austrian Ambassador in Beirut) to leave his vehicle. They were restricted in their movements for a while, before being released on the intervention of the Lebanese Minister for Justice.
				

				2.  Agency services and premises
				

				164. 	In addition to the barricading of the main entrances of Arroub, Dheisheh, and Kalandia camps mentioned in paragraph 177 of last year's report, the Israeli authorities  blocked  the  remaining  entrance  at Dheisheh Camp from the main road on 1 November 1984, while the entrance which had been blocked earlier was reopened on 8 May 1985. The main entrance to Balata Camp was blocked on 6 May 1985. The barricading of the main entrances to these camps and the blockage of some, parts of the main streets of Jalazone and Askar camps continued to cause hardship to camp residents and to impede the provisions of Agency services. On all these occasions, the Israeli authorities stated that the reason for blocking entrances to camps was to counter stone-throwing incidents.
				

				165. 	One room in the respective shelters of two families living in Kalandia camp was sealed off by the Israeli authorities is a punitive measure-against them for criminal acts, including loss of life, believed to have been committed by one or the other of their family members. The Agency has taken up these matters with Israeli authorities.
				

				166. 	The Israeli authorities have reacted in various ways to stone-throwing incidents, some of which have resulted in bodily  injury to persons, property damage and traffic disruption, in and around camps. These have included entering classrooms in search of the alleged perpetrators, closing the Kalandia Boys' School for 30 days, and the summoning of school personnel for interrogation and warnings. The occasional use by military personnel of the roofs of Agency installations as observation posts is another example of action taken by the authorities which show little respect for the Agency's premises.
				

				167. 	Since 1 July 1984 there has been a noticeable increase in instances in which the Israeli authorities have summoned UNRWA employees, principally camp services officers and school officials, to their offices, whereupon they hold these officials accountable for law enforcement within the camps and order them to foresee and interdict any potential incidents before they arise. The Agency has pointed out to the authorities that it is not responsible for law and order in the camps.
				

				168. 	The Agency protested military exercises carried out in the empty Nuweimeh Camp.
				

				169. 	The arrangements by which the Agency co-ordinates new construction projects in the Gaza Strip with the Israeli authorities have on the whole worked smoothly. However, there were no developments concerning the authorities' objections over certain construction work as explained in paragraph 183 of last year's report.
				

				170. 	Following an incident on 17 April 1985 when an Israeli soldier was shot and wounded in a Gaza town by a Palestine refugee, who was in turn shot dead by an Israeli officer, the Israeli authorities demolished or rendered uninhabitable on 18 April, four privately constructed rooms of the refugee's father's shelter in Bureij camp. The accommodation left available for the nine refugees registered as living there was two Agency-built rooms. Some of the family moved in with relatives. In response to the Agency's protest that the demolition was punitive and amounted to collective punishment contrary to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of war, 1949, the Israeli authorities have stated that the demolition was limited to extensions which were contraventions of building regulations.
				

				171. 	Before the Israeli military withdrawal from south Lebanon, the Agency experienced substantial difficulties relating, for example, to the movement of personnel and supplies from Beirut to south Lebanon (between mid-September and end October 1984), and to the continued occupation of Agency school premises. Under the existing circumstances, there were also difficulties in obtaining access to Israeli officials who could have dealt with issues expeditiously as and when they arose.
				

				3.  Claims against Governments
				

				172. 	On 24 July, 1984 the, Agency presented the Government of Israel with a claim for $4,381,867 as compensation due to the Agency for loss and damage, caused to its property and facilities as a result of the invasion of Lebanon in 1982.  A separate claim was also made for $194,901 for loss and damage caused by Israeli military action in Lebanon before June 1982. There has been no response from the Government of Israel nor has there been any indication as to when it expects to complete its examination of the Agency's claims, lodged in 1969, arising out of the 1967. hostilities. Reminders have been sent in writing and the matter has also been taken up at a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel.
				

				173. 	No progress has been made over claims against the Government of Jordan despite the understanding, in October 1984, that the Government would nominate its representatives to a committee of Agency and Government representatives to study these claims amounting to $675,000. These claims include those arising out of the hostilities in 1967 and the disturbances of 1970 and 1971.
				

				CHAPTER III
				

				FINANCIAL REPORT ON UNRWA’s OPERATIONS
				

				A.  1984 operations
				

				174. 	Actual income for 1984 was well below the levels projected. As a result, the 1984 budget had to be further reduced to levels consistent with available financial resources. Final expenditures in 1984 were $191.3 million against a final programme budget of $202.7 million. Total income received by UNRWA in 1984 was $181.2 million, including a one time special contribution of $8.8 million transferred to UNRWA upon the closure of the United Nations Special Emergency Operations Trust Fund. Total income for the year was $10.1 million less than expenditures, which resulted in a corresponding decrease in the Agency's working capital. 1/
				

				175. 	Income for the Agency has been declining since the late 1970s and the accompanying chart illustrates this trend. It shows contributions to regular programmes and does not include $60.2 million given for the Lebanon Emergency and Reconstruction Funds.
				

				Total contributions (cash and in kind)
				

				(millions of United States dollars)
				

				Contributions by Governments and the European Community
				

				(millions of United States dollars)
				

				176. 	This deteriorating income position is clearly mirrored in the state of the Agency's buildings and plant. Vehicles have not been replaced, buildings are crumbling and some have had to be abandoned because they are unsafe. Conditions of employment and local salary scales are slipping behind those of local Governments. This decline in income has occurred at a time when the demand for UNRWA services is increasing because of worsening economic conditions and civil strife in the Agency's areas of operation.
				

				B.  1985 budget estimates
				

				177. 	The Commissioner-General submitted preliminary information on the 1985 Budget to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session. Estimates have since been revised to follow the following factors: exchange rate and non-utilization savings ($12 million), a change in accounting policy with respect to the cancellation of a reserve for unforeseen staff separations in future years ($5.25 million), a recalculation of staff costs, in particular cost of living increases ($8.3 million), and adjustments to operating reserves ($1.1 million). The table below shows a summary of the original and revised budget estimates.
				

				Revised 1985 budget estimates
				

				(in thousands of United States dollars)
				

		Proposed 1985 Budget	Revised 1985 Budget
Part I – Education services General education
	Elementary Preparatory Other activities Subtotal Vocational	81 242 46 565 7 150 134 957 18 257	76 070 43 146 7 176 126 392 17 031
	Total, part I	153 215	143 423
Part II – Health services
	Medical Supplementary Feeding Environmental Sanitation	23 230 12 733 10 452	22 092 9 108 8 522
	Total, part II	46 525	39 722
Part III – Relief services
	Special Hardship Assistance Relief and Welfare Shelter	12 352 4 925 1 410	11 469 4 829 1 054
	Total, part III	18 687	17 352
Part IV – Common costs
	Supply and Transport Services Other Internal Services General Administration	11 065 15 704 6 790	9 537 14 653 5 878
	Total, part IV	33 559	30 068
Part V – Other costs
	Adjust provision local staff separation benefits Adjustment for repatriation Lebanon Emergency Winding down basic rations Total, part V	5 000 250 – 978 6 228	– – 115 872 987
Grand Total		_______ 258 213 =======	_______ 231 552 =======

				178. 	UNRWA receives contributions in two forms: unrestricted contributions to its work as a whole, which are credited to the General Fund and special-purpose contributions which are used to finance specific projects. The 1985 revised budget is, accordingly, subdivided into the General Fund and project funds. The following table shows the portion of the UNRWA budget falling within each category:
				

				1985 General Fund and Project Budgets
				

				(in millions of United States dollars)
				

 General
 Fund  

 Project
 Funds 

Total

Education Services
Health Services
Relief Services
Common Costs
Other Costs

 4.2
 8.9
 0.4
  –
  – 

Total

218.1
=====

13.5
====

231.6
=====

				C. 1985 income estimates
				

				179. 	Income estimates for 1985 total $164.4 million. The following table shows estimated cash and in-kind income for the General Fund and project funds:
				

				1985 income estimates
				

				(in millions of United States dollars)
				

General Fund

Project Funds

Total

Cash
In-kind

138.3
 13.0

 9.2
 3.9

147.5
 16.9

Total

151.3
=====

13.1
====

164.4
=====

				180. 	A comparison of the budget estimates shown in the table in paragraph 177 with the income estimates shown in the table in paragraph 179 indicates that while approved projects are expected to be fully funded, there is a gap of $67 million between the estimated budget and income for the General Fund.
				

				D.  1985 austerity measures
				

				181. 	In January 1985, the Commissioner-General ordered a series of austerity measures to reduce the gap between expected income and expenditures. The measures included reductions in staff costs, in particular the deferment: of area staff salary and cost of living increases, across-the-board reductions in travel, maintenance, supplies and other costs and deletion of major repair and construction programmes. These measures reduced all budgetary expenses that did not impair direct services to refugees. They resulted in a reduction of $40 million in the 1985 budget, narrowing the gap between, income and expenditures to $27 million. The Secretary-General and the Commissioner- General issued urgent appeals to donor governments in early 1985 to increase their contributions to UNRWA so as to allow the Agency to continue the essential work necessary to provide services to refugees in accordance with the mandate of the General Assembly.
				

				E.  1986 budget estimates
				

				182. 	The Agency's 1986 budget estimates will be necessarily affected by the contributions received in 1985 and the level of contributions which may reasonably be expected for 1986. To take account of the latest information available, the 1986 budget estimates, together with an updated report of the financial status of the Agency will be submitted during the fortieth session of the General Assembly as a supplement to this document.
				

				Notes
				

					1/	Detailed information on UNRWA's accounts for -1984 is contained in the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 1984 (Official Records of the General Assembly, fortieth session, Supplement No. 5C (A/40/5/Add.3)).
				

				ANNEX I
				

				Statistical information*
				

				Table
				

				1.	Number of registered persons (as at 30 June each year)
				

				2.	Distribution of registered population (as at 30 June 1985)
				

				3.	Distribution of refugee pupils receiving education in UNRWA schools (as at end October 1984)
				

				Chart 1: 	Growth of UNRWA school population, elementary and preparatory cycles, 1950-1985
				

				4.	Training places in UNRWA training centres (academic year 1984/1985)
				

				5.	University scholarship holders by faculty and country of study (academic year 1984/1985)
				

				6.	Medical care services (as at 30 June 1985)
				

					Chart 2: Communicable diseases Agency-wide, 1967-1984
				

				7.	Number of beneficiaries of UNRWA food aid programmes (1 July 1984-30 June 1985)
				

				8.	Distribution of area and international posts (as at 30 June 1985)
				

					(a)	UNRWA-UNESCO Department of Education Statistical Yearbook, 1983-1984
				

					(b)	Annual Report of the Director of Health, 1984.
				

				For more detailed information on the financing of the Agency's programmes, see the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 1984 and Report of the Board of Auditors (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fortieth Session,Supplement No. 5C (A/40/5/Add.3).
				

				____________
				

				*	Further statistical information on UNRWA education and health programmes is given in the following UNRWA publications:
				

				Table 1
				

				Number of registered persons a/
				

				(as at 30 June each year)
				

Field

Lebanon
Syrian Arab
 Republic
Jordan
West Bank
Gaza Strip

Total

914 221 b/

905 986

1 120 889

1 280 823

1 425 219

1 623 707

1 844 318

2 093 545

					a/	These statistics are based on UNRWA’s registration records which are updated continually. The number of registered refugees present in the Agency’s area of operations, however, is almost certainly less than the population recorded. The Agency's budgeted expenditure is based not on the registration records but on the projected numbers of beneficiaries of its services. In 1984/1985, a total of 333,287 refugees enrolled in education or training programmes, 1.8 million were eligible for health care and 103,8857 destitute persons received special hardship assistance. Additionally, temporary emergency programmes were mounted for 4,350 stranded in the Egyptian sector of Rafah following the re-establishment of the border between the Sinai and the Gaza Strip.
				

					b/	This excludes 45,8800 persons receiving relief in Israel, who were the responsibility of UNRWA until June 1952.
				

				Table 2
				

				Distribution of registered population
				

				(as at 30 June 1985)
				

Field

Population

Number of
camps

Total camp
population a/

Registered persons not in camps

Percentage of
registered population not in camps

Lebanon
Syrian Arab
 Republic
Jordan
West Bank
Gaza Strip

Total

2 093 545

61

788 971

1 355 588

64.75

				a/	The total camp population is made up as follows:
				

					737,957 registered persons
				

				35,349 persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 hostilities and subsequent fighting in the Jordan Valley in early 1968 who are not registered with the Agency (see para. 124)
				

				15,665 persons who are neither registered persons nor displaced persons.
				

				Table 3
				

				Distribution of refugee pupils receiving education in UNRWA schools a/
				

				(as at end October 1984)
				

Field

Number of UNRWA schools

Number of teachers

Number of
pupils in elementary classes b/

Number of
pupils in preparatory classes b/

Total number
of refugee
pupils

Boys

Girls

Total

Boys

Girls

Total

Lebanon
Syrian Arab 
 Republic
Jordan
West Bank
Gaza Strip

Total

640

10 163

123 096

118 300

241 396

53 791

50 657

104 448

345 844

					a/	Excluding 100,896 refugee pupils attending elementary, preparatory and secondary government and private schools.
				

					b/	Including non-eligible children attending UNRWA schools, who now number 52,386. Of these, 12,566 are in the Gaza Strip, where all refugee children have always been regarded in practice as eligible for education services.
				

					c/	1,027 refugee pupils displaced from Lebanon are at present attending UNRWA schools in the Syrian Arab Republic.
				

					d/	Excluding 1,578 refugee children attending 16 pre-school centres served by 42 teachers.
				

				Chart 1
				

				Growth of UNRWA School Population
				

				Elementary and Preparatory Cycles
				

				1950-1985
				

				Table 4
				

				Training places in UNRWA training centres
				

				(academic year 1984/1985)
				

		Lebanon		Syrian Arab Republic		Jordan				West Bank						Gaza Strip		Total M F		Grand Total
		Siblin Training Centre M F		Damascus Vocational Training Centre M F		Amman Training Centre M F		Wadi Seer Training Centre M F		Kalandia Vocational Training Centre M F		Ramallah Women's Training Centre M F		Ramallah Men's Teacher Training Centre M F		Gaza Voca- tional Training Centre M F		Total M F		Grand Total
A.	Vocational and technical education 1. Post- preparatory level (a) 2. Post- secondary level (b)	352 256	– –	533 126	11 62	– 102	32 130	528 196	– 72	328 192	– –	– –	120 168	– –	– –	604 –	– –	2 345 872	163 432	2 508 1 304
	Total	608	–	659	73	102	162	724	72	520	–	–	288	–	–	604	–	3 217	595	3 812
B.	Pre-service teacher training	–	–	–	–	235	215	–	–	–	–	–	390	350	–	–	–	585	605	1 190
	Grand Total	608	–	659	73	337	377	724	72	520	–	–	678	350	–	604	–	3 802	1 200	5 002

					a/	Courses are offered in metal, electrical and building trades.
				

					b/	Courses are offered in technical, commercial and para-medical fields.
				

					c/	Centre was inoperative throughout the year.
				

				Table 5
				

				University scholarship holders by faculty-and country of study
				

				(academic year 1984/1985)
				

Faculty

Lebanon

Syrian Arab
Republic

Jordan

West
Bank

Egypt

Others a/

Total

Total

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

Engineering
Medical and
 para-medical
Arts and
 sciences

15
 –
 2

–
–
4

11
58
 –

 3
31
 1

101
 21
  3

 5
15
10

45
 –
 –

6
–
3

 3
 2
 3

–
–
–

3
5
1

–
2
–

178
 86
  9

14
48
18

192
134
 27

Total

–

9

2

273

80

353

					Note: In addition, during 1984/85, two scholarships from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) were awarded to refugees in response to an appeal by the General Assembly in its resolution 39/99 D of 14 December 1984. A third scholarship from the same source is currently being negotiated. These scholarships are tenable outside the area of operations.
				

					a/	Other countries were: Algeria (1 male student), Iraq (3 male and 2 female students), Saudi Arabia (2 male students), South Yemen (1 male student) Sudan (1 male student) and Turkey (1 male student).
				

				Table 6
				

				Medical care services
				

				(as at 30 June 1985)
				

Type of service

Lebanon

Syrian
Arab
Rep.

Jordan

West
Bank

Gaza
Strip

Total

A.

Out-patient care

1.

Curative Services

Number of patients
Number of attendances
  Medical treatments a/
  Dental treatment

 172 020
 846 171
  22 002

107 561
513 803
 22 295

  283 308
1 227 055
   56 587

 117 568
 821 649
  30 197

  112 209
1 222 656
   28 039

  796 666
4 631 334
  159 120

2.

Maternal and child health care

Pregnant women
(Average monthly attendance)
Children below 3 years
(average attendance) b/
School children examined
Routine immunizations

B.

In-patient care

Hospital beds available
No. of patients admitted
Annual patient/days per 1,000 
population ratio

     345
  15 346
     408

     56
  3 458
     68

252c/

946

15

     274
  12 364
     321

550d/

   30 497

311

    1 487
   62 611
      179

					a/	Includes attendance for medical consultations, injections, dressings and skin and eye treatment.
				

					b/	Consultations are monthly for age group 0-1 year; bi-monthly for age group 1-2 years, and tri-monthly for age group 2-3 years.
				

					c/	Includes 38 beds subsidized by the Agency at private hospitals, the remaining 214 are available against reimbursement scheme.
				

					d/	Includes 59 beds at UNRWA maternity centres, 35 at Bureij TB hospital and the remaining 466 are available against reimbursement scheme.
				

				Chart 2
				

				Communicable Diseases – Agency-wide
				

				1967 – 1984
				

				Table 7
				

				Number of beneficiaries of UNRWA food aid programme a/
				

				(1 July 1984-30 June 1985)
				

Lebanon

Syrian Arab Republic

Jordan

West
Bank

Gaza
Strip

Total

A.

Supplementary feeding

Mid-day meal for
beneficiaries below 15 years
Milk programme for
beneficiaries below 3 years
Extra dry rations

  10 304
   6 373

  5 056
 11 972

   8 303
  27 568

   7 907
  10 478

   8 404
  24 128

   39 974
   80 519

Pregnant and
nursing women
TB out-patients

     
     978
      87

  4 346
     19

   7 832
     134

   6 106
     280

  12 152
     145

   31 414
      665

B.

Special hardship programme c/

  22 510

 11 809

  18 155

  21 317

  23 631

   97 422

					a/ The figures in this table are average monthly numbers, except for the midday meal programme, which is an average daily number.
				

					b/ Includes 2,175 displaced persons who were given hot meals and 2,094 who were given milk on behalf of the Government of Jordan.
				

					c/ As at 30 June 1985.
				

				Table 8
				

				Distribution of area and international peace
				

				(as at 30 June 1985)
				

EDUCATION SERVICES

Head-
quarters
(Vienna)

Head-
quarters
(Amman)

Lebanon

Syrian Arab
Republic

Jordan

West Bank

Gaza Strip

Total

A a/

I b/

A

I

A

I

A

I

A

I

A

I

A

I

A

I

General
Teaching
Manual
  
  Sub-total

 –
 –
 – 
 –

 –
 –
 – 
 –

HEALTH SERVICES

General
Manual
  Sub-total

 10
  –
 10

  3
  –
  3

 3
 –
 3

 3
 –
 3

   147
   362
   409  

 4
 – 
 4

  155
  221  
  376

 –
 – 
 –

   263
   453
   716

 –
 – 
 –

  217.5
  347  
  564.5

  –
  –
  –

  230
  508
  738

 –
 – 
 –

 1 025.5
 1 791  
 2 816.5

 10
  –
 10

RELIEF SERVICES

General
Teaching
Manual
  Sub-total

  –
  –
  –
  –

COMMON COSTS

General
Manual
  Sub-total

162
  –
162

 61
  –
 61

12
 2
14

  2
  –
  2

   190
    50
   240

 7
 – 
 7

  151.5
   49  
  200.5

 5
 – 
 5

   204
    66
   270

 7
 – 
 7

  197.5
  121  
  318.5

  7
  –
  7

  189.5
  121  
  310.5

 5
 – 
 5

 1 106.5
   409  
 1 515.5

 93
  –
 93

OTHER COSTS
General
Manual
  Sub-total

  –
  –
  –

–

–

–

  –
  –
  –

–

–

–

     4
     –
     4

–

–

–

    –
    –  
    –

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

    –
    –  
    –

–

–

–

  –
  –
  –

  TOTAL

184

68

74

20

 2 089

15

2 467

6

 5 412

10

2 663

10

3 818

7

16 707

134

				ANNEX II
				

				Pertinent records of the General Assembly
				

				and other United Nations bodies a/
				

				1.  	General Assembly resolutions
				

Resolution No.
 194 (III)
 212 (III)
 302 (IV)
 393 (V)
 513 (VI)
 614 (VIII)
 720 (VIII)
 818 (IX)
 916 (X)
1018 (XI)
1191 (XII)
1315 (XIII)
1456 (XIV)
1604 (XV)
1725 (XVI)
1856 (XVII)
1912 (XVIII)
2002 (XIX)
2052 (XX)
2154 (XXI)
2252 (ES-V)
2341 (XXII)

Date of adoption
11 December 1948
19 November 1948
 8 December 1949
 2 December 1950
26 January 1952
 6 November 1952
27 November 1953
 4 December 1954
 3 December 1955
28 February 1957
12 December 1957
12 December 1958
 9 December 1959
21 April 1961
20 December 1961
20 December 1962
 3 December 1963
10 February 1965
15 December 1965
17 November 1966
 4 July 1967
19 December 1967

Resolution No.
2452 (XXIII)
2535 (XXIV)
2656 (XXV)
2672 (XXV)
2728 (XXV)
2791 (XXVI)
2792 A to E (XXVI)
2963 A to F (XXVII)
2964 (XXVII)
3089 A to E (XXVIII)
3090 (XXVIII)
3330 (XXIX)
3331 (XXIX)
3410 (XXX)
31/15 A to E
32/90 A to F
33/112 A to F
34/52 A to F
35/13 A to F
36/146 A to H
37/120 A to K
38/83 A to K
39/99 A to K

Date of adoption
19 December 1968
10 December 1969
 7 December 1970
 8 December 1970
15 December 1970
 6 December 1971
 6 December 1971
13 December 1972
13 December 1972
 7 December 1973
 7 December 1973
17 December 1974
17 December 1974
 8 December 1975
24 November l976
13 December 1977
18 December 1978
23 November 1979
 3 November 1980
16 December 1981
16 December 1982
15 December 1983
14 December 1984

				2.  	General Assembly decision
				

					Decision number	Date of adoption
				

					36/462		16 March 1982	
				

				3.	Reports of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA
				

				1983:	Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/38/13)
				

						Ibid., Thirty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/38/13 and Corr.)
				

					1984:	Ibid., Thirty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/39/13)
				

				4.	Audited financial statements
				

				1983:	Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/38/5/Add.3)
				

					1984:	Ibid., Thirty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/39/5/Add.3)
				

				5.	Reports of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA
				

				1983:	Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/388/558.
				

				Ibid., Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/38/558.
				

					1984:	Ibid., Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/575.
				

				6.	Reports of the Secretary-General
				

				1983:	Report  of  the  Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 37/120 C of 16 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73 document A/38/386 (Question of the establishment of a University at Jerusalem)).
				

					Report of the Secretary-General  in pursuance  of  resolution 37/120 D of 16 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/38/149 (Offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training, for the Palestine refugees)).
				

					Report of  the Secretary-General in  pursuance  of resolution 37/120 E of 16 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/38/418 (Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip)).
				

					Report  of  the  Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 37/120 G of 16 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/38/419 (Population and refugees displaced since 1967)).
				

					Report  of the Secretary-General in  pursuance  of resolution 37/120 I of 16 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 73, document A/38/382 (Special identification cards for all Palestine refugees)).
				

					Report  of the  Secretary-General  in pursuance  of resolution  37/163 of 17 December 1982 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 81 (b), document A/38/217 and Add.1 (Assistance for the reconstruction and development of Lebanon)).
				

				1984:	Report  of the  Secretary-General in pursuance  of  resolution 38/83 D of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/375 (Offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training for the Palestine refugees)).
				

					Report  of the  Secretary-General in  pursuance  of resolution 38/83 E of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/150 (Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip)).
				

					Report  of the Secretary-General  in  pursuance  of resolution 38/83 G of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/411 (Population and refugees displaced since 1967)).
				

					Report of  the Secretary-General in  pursuance  of resolution  38/83 I of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/538 (Protection of Palestine Refugees)).
				

					Report  of  the Secretary-General  in  pursuance of resolution 38/83 J of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/372 (Palestine refugees in the West Bank))
				

					Report  of  the  Secretary-General  in pursuance of resolution 38/83 K of 15 December 1983 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/39/528 (University of Jerusalem "Al Quds" for Palestine refugees in the Near East)).
				

				Notes
				

					a/	A list of pertinent reports and other documents of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies concerning UNRWA (notably those prior to 1982) can be found in the publication UNRWA at the United Nations 1948-1984, available from the UNRWA Public Information Division.
				

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UNRWA – Annual report of the Commissioner-General

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