Organization manual – UNRWA – SecGen bulletin

UNITED NATIONS

SECRETARIAT

O R G A N I Z A T I O N   M A N U A L

Functions and organization of the

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR

PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

SECRETARY-GENERAL'S BULLETIN

95-39345 (E)   131295

ST/SGB/Organization

Section:  UNRWA

7 December 1995

SECRETARY-GENERAL'S BULLETIN

To: Members of the staff

Subject:  UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY

FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

1. The present bulletin describes the current functions and organization of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

2. Document ST/SGB/Organization, section Y, of June 1977 is hereby superseded.

Boutros BOUTROS-GHALI

Secretary-General

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR

PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

An overview

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established by General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1948, thus succeeding the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees, which had been established by General Assembly resolution 212 (III) of 19 November 1948.

Mandate

The main functions of the secretariat of UNRWA are as follows:

To maintain liaison and collaborate closely with Governments, intergovernmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, specialized agencies and other United Nations offices in the provision of services and support to the Palestine refugees;

To provide a major programme of education services, which includes general education, teacher and higher education and vocational and technical education to meet the basic educational needs of Palestine refugees and enhance their educational opportunities, with professional and technical assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;

To provide a wide range of health services, which includes preventive, curative, health protection and promotion, environmental health and family health programmes, to meet the refugees' basic needs and improve their overall state of health, with professional and technical assistance from the World Health Organization;

To provide relief and social services to assist refugees in meeting their needs for maintaining a reasonable standard of existence and for improving their capacity to become more self-reliant and to provide basic requirements for survival to the most needy Palestine refugees classified as special hardship cases;

To reduce refugees' dependence on material assistance through the provision of skill training, income-generation projects and a wide range of community services;

To develop initiatives in the field of social and economic development in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Main organizational elements

Commissioner-General

UNRWA is headed by a Commissioner-General who is the chief executive officer of the Agency responsible to the General Assembly for the planning and implementation of the Agency's programmes.  The Commissioner-General maintains close contacts with member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, specialized agencies and other bodies of the United Nations system in order to ensure the provision of the required assistance to the Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank (including the self-ruled Jericho area) and the Gaza Strip.

In pursuance of these objectives, the Commissioner-General:

Establishes general policy guidelines and priorities for the work of the Agency;

Establishes fund-raising strategies and maintains liaison with donors and potential donors to Agency funds;

Oversees and directs the activities and operations of various organizational entities at Headquarters and in the field responsible for the delivery of services to the refugees;

Plans and coordinates the interaction between Headquarters and the field offices in respect of the Agency's programmes of assistance and support services;

Deals with the local and international press and other public sources, and provides briefing, information material, posters and films on Palestine refugees.

Other organizational elements

The Agency provides health, education, relief, social and support services programmes through its various organizational entities at Headquarters and its five field offices as shown in the attached organization chart.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS

AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

 ______________

   | |

   | COMMISSIONER-GENERAL  |

   |                        USG |

   |______________________ |

   |    |

   |                   DEPUTY |

   |  COMMISSIONER-GENERAL |

   |______________________ |

|

|

|

|

|

|  ___________________

| |   |

|______ |             EXECUTIVE |

______________ | |                OFFICE |

|     NEW YORK | | |___________________|

|        LIAISON   |___________ |

|        OFFICE   | |

|_____________ | |

|

|

                       _______________________________________________________ | ___________________________________________________________ _________|___________   __________|___________ _______|__________    _______|________ ______|_______      _______|_______

|  HQ COORDINATOR | |            PROGRAMME | |     COORDINATOR      |   |                           | | |    |   |

|    OF OPERATIONS | |           PLANNING AND      | |        UNRWA HQ           |   |          EXTERNAL        |    PUBLIC |    |   INFORMATION    |

| WESTBANK & GAZA       | |            EVALUATION | |         (AMMAN)             |   |         RELATIONS       | | INFORMATION  |    |        SYSTEM           |     |___________________ | |_____________________ | |________________  |   | _______________| |____________  |    |______________ |

| |

|  ________________ |

| | | |

|__|             AUDIT | |

| | |

|________________ | |

|

 _____________________________________________________ |________________________________________________

 __________|__________           ________|_______   _____|________ |  _______|_____  ______|______    _______|_____

|   ADMINISTRATION   | | | | | | |           RELIEF | | | | |

|     AND HUMAN | |       FINANCE | |       LEGAL | | |        & SOCIAL | |     EDUCATION   | |     HEALTH |

|     RESOURCES | | | | | | |        SERVICES | | | | |

|____________________| |_______________ | |______________|   | |____________  | |____________  | |____________  |

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

_____________________________________________ |___________________________________________________

 _________|_______ ________|_______  ______  |_________  _______|_________  ________|_________

| | | | | | | | | |

| JORDAN | |         LEBANON | | SYRIA | |         WEST BANK | |         GAZA STRIP |

|________________ | |_______________ | |________________ | |________________ | |_________________ |