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 1987 – 30 June 1988

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.

[Original: Arabic/English/French]

[16 September 1988]

CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

26 August 1988

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 1987 through 30 June 1988, in compliance with the request in paragraph 21 of resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949 and with paragraph 8 of resolution 1315 (XIII) of 12 December 1958.

In the introduction to the report (chap. I), I have briefly described the continuing emergency in Lebanon and the impact of the uprising in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on the operations of UNRWA. As a consequence of these situations, the Agency was functioning under extraordinary circumstances in three of its five fields when the period covered by the report closed. The effects of the uprising were reviewed with major donor and host Governments at an informal meeting in Vienna, 29 February to 1 March 1988 and at an extraordinary meeting of the UNRWA Advisory Commission on 2 March 1988. At these meetings, participants expressed general concurrence with proposals for coping with the new situation in the occupied territories.

Chapter II of the report reviews highlights of the Agency's operations during the reporting period, including emergency, relief, for refugees in Lebanon and special measures taken in the occupied territories. Relief and other emergency programmes in Lebanon have been funded from contributions made in response to my appeal of 26 February 1987; extraordinary measures in the occupied territories have been covered by special contributions received from a number of countries, including several that have not previously been regular contributors to the Agency's general funds. Additional donations will be required if UNRWA is to be able to complete its programmes for repairing Agency installations and refugee accommodations in Lebanon and to implement schemes for improving conditions for refugees living in camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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

As was the case last year, to provide Members of the General Assembly with the most up-to-date data possible, budget estimates for 1989 and other financial information will be presented in an addendum to this report in early October.

The members of the UNRWA Advisory Commission examined this report in draft form and their views have been given careful attention in preparing the final text. The views of the Advisory Commission are set forth in the letters from the Chairman of 2 March 1988 and 25 August 1988, copies of which are enclosed.

Once again I have deemed it appropriate to maintain the practice of showing the draft of my report to representatives of the Government of Israel and to give consideration also to their comments, given that a major part of the Agency's operations takes place in areas occupied by Israel since 1967.

Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

(Signed) Giorgio GIACOMELLI

Commissioner-General

The President of the General Assembly

United Nations

New York

LETTERS 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

A.  Letter dated 2 March 1988

Dear Mr. Giacomelli,

At the extraordinary meeting in Vienna on 2 March 1988, members of the UNRWA Advisory Commission reviewed recent developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the steps you and your staff have taken in response to the new circumstances there. It remains the firm conviction of the members of the Advisory Commission that all activities undertaken to alleviate hardship and to improve living conditions in the occupied territories should be carried out in a manner to support, to the greatest possible extent, international efforts to reach a comprehensive and just solution of political issues based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), taking fully into account the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The  members  took  note of the proposals outlined in the working paper distributed to participants in the informal  meeting  of  donor  and host Governments held in Vienna, 29 February to 1 March 1988, to enable the Agency to expand and improve its facilities for providing health, education and social services to refugees, while continuing to meet immediate emergency relief needs. They also support the recommendation that UNRWA seek, in consultation with actual or potential donors, the resources needed to provide greater assistance to refugees who wish to improve their accommodations and to upgrade basic amenities in the camps. These measures are, for the most part, within the traditional programme activities of UNRWA and are ones that had adequate resources been available, the Agency would already have been pursuing.

The members believe that the emergency measures UNRWA has already taken in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to alleviate hardships resulting from recent developments should be continued for as long as they are found to be needed. Furthermore, noting the observations contained in the report of the Secretary-General (S/19443 of 21 January 1988), the Advisory Commission urges the Commissioner-General to provide, as far as practicable, humanitarian assistance on an emergency basis and, as a temporary measure, to non-refugees in the occupied territories who are in serious need because of the present situation.

The members welcome the initiatives taken by the Agency to promote income-generating projects to assist refugee families in becoming self-sufficient. They consider that these projects could make it possible for beneficiaries to improve their standard of living as an interim measure, pending a permanent peace settlement.

The members of the Commission were gratified to learn of the steps the Agency has already taken to increase its ability to respond quickly to the need for providing additional assistance and protection to refugees in the occupied territories through the assignment of additional international staff to the UNRWA Field Offices in Jerusalem and Gaza. They urge the Commissioner-General, in co-ordination with other international organizations and voluntary agencies, to seek ways to assist in monitoring the maintenance of basic civil and human rights there.

Recognizing the need to develop the economy of the occupied territories, the members believe UNRWA could assure that economic and social initiatives undertaken will be a co-ordinated effort directed to the priority needs of the population. The Agency is requested, as a first step, to convene a meeting of principal development organizations active in the area, such as UNDP and UNIDO.

The members of the Commission were pleased to learn that the two UNRWA staff members kidnapped on 5 February 1988 have been released. They wish to express their appreciation for the untiring efforts of the Commissioner-General, his staff and others to achieve a satisfactory outcome to the crisis posed by the abduction of Agency staff. They appreciate, too, the steps taken by the Agency during the past few weeks to maintain the continuity of services to refugees in Lebanon, to the extent that circumstances permitted. Members urge all concerned to do what they can to enable UNRWA staff to pursue their humanitarian services unimpeded.

The Commission wishes to express its appreciation for the special pledges that have already been made to help UNRWA meet the extra costs involved to providing emergency relief assistance and in improving economic and social conditions of the refugees in the occupied territories. It urges donor Governments to make special donations over and above their contributions to the Agency's regular budget to enable UNRWA to meet the urgent challenges in the area. In addition, it invites other Governments that have not contributed to UNRWA to support the Agency's activities.

Finally, Mr. Commissioner-General, the Commission wishes to express, once again, its deep gratitude for the commitment you and your stiff have consistently shown in carrying out the important responsibilities for the refugees in the Near East given to UNRWA by the international community. On behalf of the members, I ask that this letter be brought to the attention of the Secretary-General.

(Signed) Erdem ERNER

Chairman of the Advisory Commission

Mr. Giorgio Giacomelli

Commissioner-General of the

  United Nations Relief and Works Agency

  for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

B.  Letter dated 25 August 1988

Dear Mr. Giacomelli,

UNRWA's Advisory Commission, at its regular meeting on 25 August 1988, considered your draft report on the Agency's operations during the period 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988, which is to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-third session. The Commission also examined UNRWA's current financial situation.

The Commission reiterates its conviction that the Agency's education, health and welfare programmes for Palestine refugees are of crucial importance while the search for a just peace and stability in the Middle East goes on.

The members of the Advisory Commission are pleased to note that through careful planning, stringent budgetary measures and increased contributions from some donors, the Agency's financial position has improved. The Commission wishes, however, to draw attention to the financial difficulties which will face the Agency in the short-term.  It therefore urges member Governments to contribute generously to UNRWA and invites those Governments which have not so far done so also to contribute to the Agency in order to enable it to meet both regular programme needs and emergency needs. The Commission also supports the point made in your report to the General Assembly that any proposals for increases in the activities of UNRWA should be considered together with their corresponding financial implications for the Agency.

The Commission is very concerned over the hardships now being endured by the Palestinians that appear likely to continue for some time. The Commission is particularly concerned about the disruption of programmes in health and education, which will have a lasting impact on present and future generations of Palestine refugees. While recognizing that the function of the Agency is to care for Palestine refugees, the Commission commends the Agency for the help it has on an exceptional basis provided in situations requiring immediate emergency assistance to those not registered as refugees.

The Commission appeals to all concerned to refrain from any action that increases the suffering of the refugees or hinders the Agency in carrying out its mandate.

The Commission took careful note of the recent decision of the King of Jordan to make changes in Jordan's relationship with the West Bank, and advised the Agency, while the implications of these changes remain unclear, to continue on its present course in both areas.

The Advisory Commission also took note of the changes planned by Jordan to its education system and decided to study further the implications of these for UNRWA's educational services in Jordan.

The Commission requests the Agency to continue, as long as needed its work and extended programmes in line with the suggestions contained in the Secretary-General's report of 21 January 1988 to the Security Council (S/19443) and with the conclusions of the special session of the Advisory Commission held in March 1988.

The members of the Commission thank the Secretary-General for his continued personal support of the Agency. They also wish to express their deep appreciation, Mr. Commissioner- General, for the unwavering commitment shown by you and your staff, and for the Agency's vigorous and flexible response to the many challenges it faces despite the difficult conditions in part of its area of operations.

(Signed) Gerald Edmondson CLARK

Chairman of the Advisory Commission

Mr. Giorgio Giacomelli

Commissioner-General of the

  United Nations Relief and Works Agency

  for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

I.  INTRODUCTION

1. In the introduction to my report last year, I commented on the changes that had taken place in the role of UNRWA over the 38 years since it was established by the General Assembly in its resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949. This resolution was not adopted in a vacuum but reflected the involvement at that stage of the General Assembly in the Palestine question following the position taken in earlier resolutions, for example, resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and resolution 212 (III) of 19 November 1948. Ever since the adoption of resolution 302 (IV), the Assembly has looked upon UNRWA as an organ by which it seeks to discharge part of its responsibilities concerning the Palestine question. These responsibilities do not relate to a static situation. From a body largely devoted to meeting the emergency relief needs of a population displaced by the 1948 war, the Agency had evolved into one primarily concerned with the administration of quasi-governmental services of public education, public health and social welfare. Events of the past year, however, serve as a vivid reminder that, concurrently with this evolution, the Agency is also required to meet urgent relief needs of Palestine refugees affected by the periodic upheavals that have taken place in the Near East. At such times, basic programmes of the Agency have occasionally been placed in jeopardy. The emergency conditions under which UNRWA has operated in Lebanon, for example, have posed severe challenges for UNRWA. There, throughout the more than 10 years since UNRWA was forced to relocate its headquarters temporarily from Beirut, the Agency has, I believe, demonstrated well an ability to cope with the special needs of the emergency while maintaining regular services to the extent that local circumstances have permitted. We have learned how to live and work in Lebanon by adapting our operations to prevailing conditions, but the process has not been without cost. Many thousands of Palestine refugees in Lebanon remain displaced from their normal places of residence; a number of UNRWA installations remain in need of major repairs; and the Agency's efforts to assist families with repairs to their severely damaged accommodations in camps continue to be stalled. Nevertheless, most UNRWA programmes continue to function satisfactorily. Paragraphs 11 through 27 of this report provide details of UNRWA activities in Lebanon during the past year.

2. This year UNRWA has faced emergency conditions in two other fields – the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. While the new situation brought about by the uprising remains fluid and the scope of the challenges that the Agency will ultimately have to face there is not fully defined, it seems clear that I have an obligation to invite Governments to consider some of the possible long-term implications of the new demands upon UNRWA. We have already been obliged to make some adjustments in our operations to accommodate to the circumstances. We have expanded relief and supplementary feeding programmes to counter new hardships; health centres and other UNRWA medical facilities have substantially increased their operations; vocational, technical and teacher training programmes in the four UNRWA Training Centres in the territories were disrupted throughout most of the year and remained suspended at the end of June; and elementary and preparatory pupils were unable to complete their curricula when the authorities ordered schools to close.

3. Another consequence of the uprising has been the call upon UNRWA to improve its ability to provide general assistance to the refugee population in the occupied territories. Under present circumstances, both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, the refugees are in need of greater support from UNRWA to help them cope with the increased difficulties they are encountering, such as curfews, demolition of shelters, other forms of collective punishment and loss of income, UNRWA has recruited a number of new international staff under short-term contracts to strengthen its capability to meet this need as foreshadowed in the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council in January 1988 (S/19443). This development and a number of other important changes in UNRWA operations in the occupied territories are described in paragraphs 28 through 53 of the report. With special measures still required of the Agency owing to the continuing emergency in Lebanon, UNRWA is now functioning under abnormal conditions in three of its five fields, a situation that, from all indications, appears likely to continue for an extended period.

4. In view of all that has happened in the occupied territories since December 1987, most observers are convinced that the situation there is unlikely to return to what it was before the beginning of the uprising. These changes in conditions have added to the challenges confronting UNRWA and, in meeting them, expectations with respect to future levels of Agency services are being raised. However the situation eventually stabilizes, it seems probable that a higher level of activity will be required of UNRWA, a development that will have important implications for our planning and budgeting for future operations.

5.   In past crises, UNRWA has often had recourse to special appeals to raise the funds needed to cover emergency requirements. In both 1982 and 1987, the Agency followed this course to obtain the additional funding required to meet the extra needs of refugees in Lebanon, and this year there was also a de facto appeal by the Secretary-General in his report to the Security Council in January and in my presentations to an extraordinary meeting of the UNRWA Advisory Commission and to the informal meeting of governments earlier this year. While this approach to funding has been unavoidable, as the Agency has never had sufficient resources to be flexible in covering extraordinary expenses out of its regular budget, it does not take into account longer-term financial implications. There is a tendency for. each emergency to induce demands for permanent changes in "normal" programmes of UNRWA, and once the crisis subsides and public attention and interest wane the extra funding that is readily obtainable to help the Agency respond to urgent humanitarian needs is often no longer available. Thus the longer-term costs to the Agency of meeting extra demands tend to become an added burden on the regular budget.

6. This year donations both in cash and in kind from a number of new sources have been forthcoming to help UNRWA meet extra needs resulting from the uprising in the territories, and I want here to pay tribute to all those that have contributed. But as welcome and as important as these special donations have been in helping us to meet emergency needs, they do not enable the Agency to meet the additional costs of running regular programmes. I consider the broad support that has been consistently expressed for our operations in the General Assembly to be a clear indication that Members wish UNRWA to continue its basic services to refugees. These have been made more difficult and more expensive by the emergency. Furthermore, in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where the Agency is being pushed to operate regular programmes at higher levels of activity, normal contributions of funds are not increasing correspondingly. Despite the relatively forthcoming response of donors to help UNRWA meet emergency needs, there is no indication that it can count on receiving the additional financial support that will be needed for general programmes once the crisis is over. I trust that the international community will bear in mind the need to extend the appropriate financial support if it calls upon UNRWA to undertake new tasks.

7. Having passed through a serious financial crisis during the first half of the 1980s, the Agency managed, through a series of austerity measures and with the help of special additional contributions from some Governments, to re-establish a balance between its income and expenditure. In 1986 and 1987 it was able to start restoring some of its depleted working capital. In 1988 the working capital is, however, still very limited and would in fact cover the costs of the Agency's regular operations for only about six weeks. This makes the Agency vulnerable to unexpected shortfalls in its funding. Unfortunately, the 1986 trend towards financial stability will not be sustained in 1988. Partly due to substantial cuts in the contributions from some of our donors  and insufficient increases in other contributions and partly to increased requirements in the Agency's services, income will probably not meet expenditure this year. Serious efforts will of course be made to reduce this deficit to an absolute minimum and, there is some hope that additional contributions will be received to enable the Agency to cover its regular expenditures in 1988. Looking at the financial prospects for the next few years I feel a need, however, to express my serious concern. As pointed out on previous occasions, UNRWA requires an average yearly increase of about 5 per cent, in its funding just to maintain basic programmes at current levels. This growth is due to the natural increase in the refugee population and the estimated impact of inflation on costs in the areas of our operations. From the information available regarding 1988 income and drawing on our experience in developing estimates of future contributions, it does not seem right now – realistic to expect that income over the next few years will keep pace with the expenditures required to maintain basic programmes at their present levels. As mentioned earlier, a number of the Agency's traditional donors have not found it possible to increase their contributions to UNRWA's General Fund and there have even been decreases. If this trend continues it will have inevitable consequences for our ability to continue our regular programme operations at current levels.

8. There is another aspect of the Agency's increasing involvement in emergency operations that deserves comment. To a significant extent, extraordinary aspects of the Agency's operations have become, for all intents and purposes, the norm. As a result, we have been forced to consider what implications this reality may have for the Agency's role in the long term. Over the years UNRWA has in fact come to be considered a semi-permanent agency of the United Nations system that should continue its humanitarian activities until a solution to the Palestine problem has been achieved. Recent events have drawn attention to the different and difficult conditions under which we operate. They have also tended to highlight the differing circumstances under which the refugees have been living for the past 40 years. While sharing common aspirations with respect to their ultimate destiny, the refugees have, in fact, been living in very different conditions with different needs in each of the fields. These differences have required us to remain flexible in planning the Agency's future programme activity to meet requirements in the various fields.

9. To examine the longer-term implications of these trends systematically, a new Program Planning and Evaluation Office has been established in UNRWA headquarters. This Office is responsible for assessing what realistically can be accomplished with the resources we expect to be made available and to assist programme and field office directors in developing their budgets and operational plans for the future. This new effort will, I am confident, not only assist us in monitoring and evaluating our operations, but it will also be helpful to governments when considering their future support for the Agency. Preparation of our new medium-term plan for the years 1989-1991 is well in hand and is based on an assumption of zero growth in administrative costs. Though this will mean preservation of some of the austerity measures taken in the spirit of budgetary restraint that has characterized UNRWA planning for many years, I believe it is a prudent measure, when one looks carefully at current projections of future income. A policy of zero growth in administrative costs will have implications for the support the Agency can provide for its field operations in the future. Regrettably, it seems clear that we will not be able to do all that should be done and that we must recognize that this will increase the already heavy burden placed on the host Governments and on our staff.

10. What is the answer to this basic divergence between mounting demands for lest, a stable level of income? The most agency services and the prospect of, at best obvious answer is, of course, that we' hope to be relieved of this dilemma through the commencement of a viable Middle East peace process that would, inter alia, point the way for UNRWA to begin making plans for gradually relinquishing the responsibilities given to it by the international community. At the same time, while the uprising in the occupied territories has made the need for a political solution even more urgent, it has, paradoxically, perhaps increased the complexities in arriving at such a solution because of the level of tension and bitterness that has now built up. It is not, of course, up to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA to suggest what form a settlement should take or how best to achieve it. But I would be remiss in my duty if I did not urge in the strongest possible way that the peace process, whatever form it may take, start at the earliest possible moment. In the meantime, to the extent that our resources allow, we will continue to do our best in maintaining services and providing assistance to the Palestine refugees in the Near East.

II.  PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES

A.  Emergency operations in Lebanon

11. During the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988, UNRWA operations once again were profoundly affected by the conditions of emergency prevailing throughout much of Lebanon. These conditions also impeded compliance with the General Assembly's request in its resolution 42/69 A of 2 December 1987 regarding the eventual relocation of the Agency’s headquarters to its former site within its area of operations "as soon as practicable". The Agency nevertheless made strenuous efforts to continue to provide essential education, health and relief services for the Palestine refugees, despite the difficulties and dangers caused by recurrent waves of intense armed conflict. Most schools managed to remain open most of the time; basic health services, bolstered by mobile medical teams where Agency facilities were inaccessible or heavily damaged, continued with only limited interruptions related to security conditions; and the relief programme was expanded to include four general distributions of emergency rations to all registered and non-registered Palestine refugees in Lebanon.

12. As the year covered by this report began, UNRWA was once again seeking access to the three besieged refugee camps in Lebanon, two in the southern outskirts of Beirut, Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh, and a third, Rashidieh, located near Tyre in the south of the country. Normal entry to these camps for Agency vehicles, supplies and employees had not been possible since the beginning of the siege in 1985. The situation was further complicated by pressures of various kinds being exerted upon refugees to evacuate camps in the south. As a result, several hundred families fled northward seeking alternative shelter where they could find it. By mid-summer nearly 100 of these displaced refugee families, having nowhere else to go, had occupied UNRWA schools in the region of Saida. The Agency expressed its concern over this development and the growing number of violent incidents affecting refugees in southern Lebanon and made representations to government officials, to leaders of militias and to popular committees in an effort to stem the new flow of displaced refugees and to obtain assurances that they could return safely to Rashidieh and other camps in the vicinity of Tyre. Despite the continuing high level of tension in the region, especially following periodic clashes between Palestinians and al-Amal militia and Israeli air attacks against targets in southern Lebanon, those displaced were eventually able to return or found alternative accommodations.

13. Meanwhile, in Beirut, although still not permitted to provide normal services to inhabitants of the two besieged camps, engineering staff were allowed to carry out surveys of damage to UNRWA installations and refugee shelters. From these surveys it was determined that 1,530 shelters in Shatila and 2,390 shelters in Burj el-Barajneh had been damaged. The average extent of damage in Shatila was evaluated to be 85 per cent and that in Burj el-Barajneh, 60 per cent. The estimated cost of repairing refugee shelters inside the two camps was set at $3.2 million. A subsequent survey of damage within Rashidieh and two other camps south of the Litani River, El-Buss and Burj el-Shemali, revealed that a further $1.2 million would be required to repair tome 2,100 damaged shelters there.

14. Funding of UNRWA emergency operations in Lebanon has been covered from the special contributions made in response to the Commissioner-General’s appeal of 26 February 1987 for $20.6 million. To date, $15.5 million has been received or pledged and some $9.8 million has been obligated or expended. Major items funded through 30 June 1988 have been $4.9 million for food commodities and other emergency supplies, $1.6 million for hospitalization and other health services, $1.0 million for additional staff costs and $650,000 for replacement of school supplies and furniture. The remaining balance of $5.7 million will be used for additional emergency relief expenditures authorized through the remainder of 1988, the cost of repairing Agency installations and cash grants under the accommodation assistance programme to refugee families whose homes in the camps were damaged or destroyed. Although the accommodation assistance programme in Lebanon had not gotten under way as at 30 June, as a minimum, the balance of the $20.6 million requested in the February 1987 appeal will be needed once the Agency is allowed to proceed with these activities.

15. Reports circulating in late 1987 of an agreement in principle between the PLO and al-Amal that would lead to an end of the blockade of the three refugee camps in Lebanon raised hopes that UNRWA would at last be able to re-enter the camps and resume normal activities, including the repair of shelters before winter weather added a further hardship to the lives of residents. In a note verbal, the Commissioner-General informed the Government of Lebanon that UNRWA proposed to initiate a repair programme by making cash grants to refugee families left with no roof over their heads so that they could start work on their habitations. Militia elements controlling access to the two Beirut camps eventually allowed UNRWA to take limited quantities of materials into the camps solely for use in repairing Agency facilities and, except for one very severely damaged rented building in Shatila, all of the UNRWA installations were eventually repaired. It was not possible, however, to resume other normal Agency activities or to assist refugee families in restoring their accommodations.

16. In the course of exploring options to break the impasse in initiating its programme of accommodation assistance for camp residents in Lebanon, UNRWA discussed with non-governmental organizations the possibility of introducing parallel programmes to assist Palestine refugees, both those in the camps and those outside, and Lebanese civilians living in the areas affected by the fighting, all of whom were in need of help. These efforts had not, as of the end of the reporting period, been successful.

17. As at 30 June 1988, a solution may at long last be in the offing as a result of the initiative taken by the Secretary-General to organize a comprehensive relief and reconstruction programme for Lebanon, an undertaking that had been encouraged by UNRWA. An inter-agency group, headed by the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO), visited Lebanon to assess immediate relief needs – in particular food, temporary shelter and health – of those population groups most seriously affected by the situation and, based on its recommendations, the Secretary-General issued an appeal in December 1987 for funding of emergency relief programmes for non-Palestinians. He also appointed A Special Representative for the Reconstruction and Development of Lebanon, who is expected to take up his new duties in July 1988. The Agency hopes that in the context of overall programmes sponsored by the United Nations to assist non-refugees, UNRWA will at last be enabled to proceed with its plans for providing accommodation assistance to the Palestinians.

18. Throughout the year, the Agency has been preoccupied with problems of security in Lebanon. Two international staff members were assigned full-time to security duties and special precautions have been taken to reduce risks. Staff were required to travel in groups and were often accompanied, bodyguards and escorts from the militia group in control of the particular area.  The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has also provided helicopter, transport for international staff between Beirut and Nagoura. The number of Agency international staff allowed to be within the country at any one time was limited and staff movements were continuously monitored. Despite these extra measures, on 5 February 1988, two UNRWA international staff members, a Norwegian and a Swede, were kidnapped near Saida by unknown persons. The Agency immediately had to adapt to this new situation while seeking to minimize the impact on refugees. The number of international staff in Lebanon was reduced to the minimum required to pursue all avenues for securing the release of the victims and to maintain essential services at levels permitted by security conditions.  The two colleagues were freed, unharmed, on 1 March. The Agency is deeply grateful for the substantial support extended by the Governments concerned, non- governmental, organizations and individuals in the area in securing the release of the two staff members.

19. The kidnapping was a dramatic reminder of the constant danger to which all UNRWA staff in Lebanon are exposed. Indeed, during the year another four area staff were killed, bringing to 33 the total number of staff killed in Lebanon since 1982. A further 14 individuals were missing or detained as at 30 June, including, Alec Collett, a journalist who was kidnapped in March 1985 while working for UNRWA. No word has been received from his kidnappers since 1986 and his present whereabouts are unknown.

20. Normally, the type and extent of services provided by the Agency vary with the economic and social circumstances of individual refugees. In view of mounting and generalized hardships brought about by the worsening economic conditions, the Commissioner- General in December 1987 authorized provision of Agency services to all categories of Palestine refugees in Lebanon through the end of 1988. Accordingly, the expanded distribution of basic rations, which had begun as a temporary, emergency measure in the second quarter of 1987, was continued, and a fourth distribution of some 230,000 to 240,000 rations was under way as the period covered by this report ended. Among the recipients are more than 30,000 refugees who remain displaced from their normal places of residence. In addition to food, UNRWA has supplied displaced refugees with clothing, blankets, mattresses and cooking materials.

21. The emergency also adversely affected UNRWA health and medical services in the Beirut area, Saida and the south. Until the siege was lifted in January 1988, health teams did not have free access to these camps and UNRWA often found it impossible even to assure deliveries of adequate medical supplies, thus limiting the medical care that could be provided. In addition, the Agency's environmental health, nutrition and supplementary feeding programmes were seriously disrupted. The UNRWA clinic in Shatila camp was heavily damaged during the fighting in 1986 and could no longer be used until repairs were made. In Burj el-Barajneh, in co-operation with the Palestine Red Crescent hospital, UNRWA was able to maintain adequate supplies of medicines for basic health care services. Before the lifting of the siege of Rashidieh in January, the Agency was only able to supply limited amounts of medical supplies sufficient to treat women and children. The displacement of refugees from the south and from Beirut camps also made it difficult for some families to receive UNRWA services.

22. To help displaced families and others in areas when regular health facilities were inoperative, UNRWA established two mobile medical teams that operated in the Beirut and Saida areas. Late December a team was able to enter Shatila camp or the first time in over 14 months. Shortly thereafter continued sniping kept the team from returning until the siege was lifted; services were then also reactivated in Burj el-Barajneh and Rashidieh. UNRWA was able to resume services at its health centre in Nabatieh 1n November, following a period during which it had not had access to the facility.  The gradual restoration of full services in all areas was again disrupted by new clashes between militia groups that began in the south in April 1988 and soon spread to the Beirut area. Health facilities sustained heavy damage and refugee families that had returned to the camps after the lifting of the siege fled once again.

23. Despite periodic disruptions to the Agency's health services, there were no reports of major epidemic's of communicable diseases.  In spite of the difficulties encountered, UNRWA managed to carry out its regular vaccination programmes without interruption for some 10,000 refugee children throughout the year. Also, in co-ordination with UNRWA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local health authorities, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) carried out a mass immunization campaign for all children in Lebanon, including Palestinians that had not previously been vaccinated. UNRWA medical care and supplementary feeding programmes were also made available as an emergency measure to Palestinians not normally eligible for these services.

24. The education programme was also seriously affected by the disturbed conditions in Lebanon. To complete the 1986/87 academic year, many schools were kept open with a restricted curriculum well into the summer vacation period. By early August all had finished the revised programme and the new school year was able to get under way more or less on time in most areas. In Saida, however, where refugee families displaced, from Tyre were still living in schools, the beginning of the new year had to be deferred.  To compensate for the lost time, the school year there was extended to 10 July 1988. In Burj el-Barajneh, where none of the Agency's 11 schools were able to operate late the preceding year, some pupils, particularly those at the elementary level, were able to attend classes in schools outside the camp. Pupils who were unable to leave their camp attended classes organized by popular committees, with support and assistance from the Agency. By March 1988, seven UNRWA schools in the camp had been repaired and were again operating. The school year was extended to 20 July and pupils were attending classes seven days a week in an effort to complete the curriculum. Schools in Shatila could not be repaired and pupils attended schools in the nearby Sabra quarter of Beirut.

25. The renewed fighting between rival Palestinian factions inside Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh that began in late May caused a further interruption as some schools were again damaged by artillery shelling and many families fled to safer areas. Three schools in Burj el-Barajneh were heavily damaged and four other schools in Sabra were occupied in June by refugees displaced by the fighting. As of the time of preparation of this report, it is unclear just what additional special measures may have to be adopted to enable affected refugee students to complete the 1987/88 school year.

26. One encouraging development during the year was the reopening of the Siblin Training Centre near Saida, closed since September 1983. During the four-year period the centre was closed, UNRWA had made arrangements to provide training for 225 refugee boys and girls in other locations in Lebanon. As the 1987/88 school year ended, nearly 400 trainees were completing one year of studies at the Centre and plans were being reviewed for rehabilitating additional facilities and replacing outmoded and missing equipment.

27. In addition to its adverse affect upon UNRWA programmes, the renewed fighting that erupted in May and June 1988 between rival Palestinian factions within the Beirut camps has resulted in a high number of casualties – estimated at 100 killed and 500 wounded – and a new displacement of refugee families. Agency services continued to function to the extent circumstances permitted but by the end of June heavy shelling by artillery, mortars, rockets and machine-guns had all but destroyed Shatila camp and only about 40 families' remained; there were signs that the same fate might be in store for Burj el-Barajneh. While this latest outbreak of violence has added new and severe obstacles to UNRWA plans for realizing programmes to help refugees, as the period ended there were indications that calls for a cease-fire, might soon be heeded. If so, the Agency would then hope to reactivate its plans for helping refugee families to repair their homes. The security climate, however, remains unsatisfactory and the need to exercise maximum prudence will continue to hamper efforts to ensure proper supervision of Agency activities. Nevertheless, UNRWA remains committed to doing everything possible to alleviate the hardships of the Palestine refugees and to facilitate the efforts of other United Nations organizations to help other groups in the country.

B.  The occupied territories

28. The Palestinian uprising in the Israeli occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and its impact on UNRWA activities have added greatly to the challenges faced by the Agency during the last half of the year covered by this report. In his reports to the forty-first 1/ and forty-second 2/ sessions of the General Assembly, the Commissioner- General drew attention to the difficult conditions under which the refugees were living, especially those in the Gaza Strip, and the growing bitterness and despair over the lack of any sign of movement towards resolving the problems that inhabitants continue to face after more than 20 years living under occupation. For its part, throughout this period UNRWA sought to do whatever it could with the means available and in light of prevailing circumstances to alleviate the plight of the refugees. It constructed new schools, additional classrooms and other education facilities, improved camp infrastructure, augmented health facilities, enriched education and training programmes and expanded welfare and relief services to the neediest refugee families. These improvements, however, necessarily fell short of what refugees living in the territories were seeking. Clashes with the occupation authorities, as they sought to put down the mounting unrest, resulted in a growing number of casualties and a further heightening of tension.

29. Incidents that took place in early December 1987 spread quickly throughout the Gaza Strip and then to the West Bank, and soon the Agency found itself facing a new and serious situation in the territories. What at first seemed clearly to be a spontaneous uprising by the inhabitants turned into a broader confrontation characterized by more and more frequent and varied incidents between the Palestinians and the occupation authorities. By the end of the year more than 20 Palestinians had been killed and dozens wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces. Six months later, nearly 200 Palestinians had been killed and thousands injured as the authorities employed a variety of tough measures in their efforts to quell the uprising or intifadah, the Arabic word by which the movement has widely come to be known. In addition to live ammunition, including high velocity bullets, riot control equipment such as rubber bullets and tear gas were introduced; subsequently, the widespread resort to beatings resulted in broken bones and other severe injuries.

30. Other measures taken by the occupation authorities to deal with the uprising have also had an impact on the lives of refugees and, consequently, on the need for services and other assistance from UNRWA. Some of these measures have also affected the Agency's ability to meet these new demands. Administrative detention of large numbers of refugees suspected of involvement in the demonstrations, the demolition or sealing of houses occupied by families of Palestinians accused of security violations, the imposition of curfews and other restrictions on travel, the expulsion of individuals considered to have played a role in directing the resistance to the Israeli occupation, fines, taxation, confiscation of identity cards (without which residents of the territories cannot work or even move freely), closure of schools, cutting off water, electricity and telephone service to communities, and other economic and political measures have all added to the difficulties confronting the residents of the territories.

31. By early January, it was already apparent that there would be no quick end to the uprising or to the mounting demands upon the Agency to increase its services to refugees in the occupied territories. At a special meeting with permanent missions accredited to the United Nations at Vienna, the Commissioner-General emphasized the expanded relief effort required and the need to improve living conditions for camp residents. Later in the month, in his report to the Security Council (S/19443), the Secretary-General noted that he had requested the Commissioner-General to examine adding extra international staff in the territories to improve the general assistance extended to the refugee population. He also noted that he had asked the Commissioner-General to prepare proposals for improving the infrastructure of the camps and to seek the necessary funds. The Secretary-General also suggested it would be appropriate for UNRWA to be permitted to provide humanitarian assistance as far as practicable, on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure, to non-refugees who were in serious need of assistance because of current events.

32. At an-informal meeting at Vienna on 29 February and 1 March 1988, UNRWA presented to representatives of major donor and host Governments a plan of action for addressing these needs. This plan was estimated to cost some $65 million and to require a period of three years, from 1988 to 1990, for implementation. Three working groups considered issues related to the expansion of relief activities, the improvement of camp infrastructure and the creation of now employment opportunities through economic development schemes. The Agency's approach was generally welcomed and a detailed account of the views expressed at the informal meeting was presented to an extraordinary meeting of the UNRWA Advisory Commission on 2 March. The Commission members noted the Agency's proposals for expanding and improving its facilities for providing health, education and social services to refugees, while continuing to meet immediate emergency relief needs. They supported the recommendation that UNRWA seek the resources necessary to provide greater assistance to those refugees living in sub-standard housing who wished to improve their accommodation and to upgrade basic amenities in the camps. They also urged the Commissioner-General to provide humanitarian assistance to non-refugees and, in co-ordination with other international organizations and voluntary agencies, to seek ways to assist in monitoring the maintenance of basic civil and human rights in the occupied territories.

33. Although no general appeal for special funding has been issued, as at 30 June 1988 pledges and payments of nearly $32.2 million in both cash and commodities had been made to help UNRWA meet extraordinary needs in the occupied territories. More than half of this amount was specified for food commodities, medical supplies and equipment, hospitalization and related costs for expanding UNRWA relief assistance for refugees and non-refugees.  Included were several donations of commodities from countries that had not previously contributed to the Agency and from others, e.g. certain members of the League of Arab States, that had not been regular donors. More than $10 million was also pledged towards special projects to improve living conditions for refugees in the territories. An account of all contributions to help UNRWA meet extraordinary requirements the occupied territories is included in the financial addendum to this report.

34. The Agency's relations with the Government of Israel are conducted on the basis of among other international instruments, the Comay-Michelmore Exchange of Letters dated 14 June 1967.  While co-operation with the Israeli authorities at higher levels continues to be normal, there are indications that recent events have heightened tensions on the ground. Considerations of security that have recently been raised by the Israeli authorities have had the effect of inhibiting UNRWA operations and its initiatives to alleviate hardships of the refugees. Telephone connections between Agency headquarters in Vienna and its field office in Gaza have been inoperative since 16 March 1988. Invoking health and security considerations, the Israeli authorities have refused to allow entry through the port of Ashod of several donations of foodstuffs and medical supplies. The Agency's efforts to overcome the reasons given for these refusals were unsuccessful and, with the consent of the donors, they were diverted to Lebanon for use in the Agency's emergency relief programmes there.

35. Israeli officials have also indicated that the present circumstances make it difficult, for budgetary reasons, to comply with some of their financial commitments deriving from the Comay-Michelmore Agreement. Thus, for instance, they have proposed a temporary suspension of the undertaking to provide free warehousing, clearance and, transport services in respect of UNRWA supplies arriving at Israeli ports. The Agency appreciates the difficulties that the authorities face, but must assume that the Government of Israel will continue to fulfil its obligations with respect to UNRWA operations in the occupied territories.

36. A large number of UNRWA area staff have been arrested, detained and released without charges being leveled against them or UNRWA being informed of the reasons for their detention. In addition, in many instances staff members have complained of maltreatment at the hands of the authorities both while in detention and elsewhere. The practice of summoning staff for interrogation during working hours has continued unabated. There has been interference in the freedom of staff to move around in the performance of their duties.  In some instances, for example, an urgently required ambulance or medical services have been impeded. An increase has also been recorded in the violations of the privileges and immunities of the Agency and the misuse by Israeli authorities of UNRWA premises and property. By notes verbal UNRWA expressed its serious concern at the increasing resort to force by the military authorities in the occupied territories. It called for the investigation of specific complaints of ill treatment of refugees and staff with a view to having offenders identified and punished. UNRWA also protested the deportation of several Palestine refugees and one staff member and requested the authorities to permit the latter to return to his post in the Gaza Strip. The response so far of the Government has not dealt with the specific issues raised and has not facilitated UNRWA efforts to carry out its operational responsibilities.

37. As in other areas of operations, health services in the occupied territories emphasize preventive rather than curative medicine. They are provided through a network of 41 health centres, 6 maternal and child health sub-centres, 15 dental clinics, 8 maternity wards, 13, laboratories and 46 supplementary feeding centres. UNRWA also subsidizes more than 400 beds in private hospitals for use by Palestine refugees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Because of the substantial increase in demands upon the Agency's health services resulting from the uprising, the number of hospital beds subsidized by UNRWA was insufficient for all the serious cases requiring in-patient care. Additional funds were therefore allocated to reimburse refugees with grave and disabling injuries who were obliged to pay for non-subsidized beds. Other refugees requiring treatment, even if covered by the government-sponsored health insurance scheme were refused admission in government hospitals and were obliged to turn to UNRWA for help in meeting costs at private hospitals. The stocks of medical supplies were often inadequate or unsuitable for the needs that arose and substantial additional quantities of medicines and medical equipment were purchased with contributions from Canada, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Kuwait, the European Community and other donors. These included local anesthetics, suture materials, plaster of paris and physiotherapy equipment.  Specialized items such as external fixators, intensive care equipment, orthopedic and surgical equipment also had to be purchased and positioned in hospitals where they could be used by trained staff to treat refugees. Donations of medical supplies were also received from several government and non-governmental contributors.

38. Curfews and other administrative measures imposed by the authorities impeding free movement of staff adversely affected UNRWA environmental health services in camps and access to facilities by Agency health staff and by those requiring medical attention, including the chronically ill who, in some cases, had need of life-support services.  Health centres had to cope with hundreds of casualties, including both the very young and the very old. Casualties could be grouped under three main headings: injuries sustained as a result of beatings, often severe and involving multiple contusions and fractures; injuries and deaths resulting from the use of both rubber bullets and live ammunition; and the effects of exposure to crowd control gases. To cope with the great number of injuries, regular working hours of the health centres in Gaza were extended and, during critical times, some centres remained operational 24 hours a day. Medical transport services were strengthened by the purchase of 13 additional vehicles.

39. In Gaza, an additional medical officer and nurse have been employed at each of the health centres in camps. The Agency also plans to add up to 10 additional doctors at health centres located in West Bank camps subject to frequent curfews. Arrangements have been made with UNICEF to recruit physiotherapists to be deployed for one year in health centres in the Gaza Strip for help with rehabilitation treatment arising from the large number of injuries requiring post-hospital care. Also in Gaza, UNICEF contributed the necessary equipment and a, physiotherapy specialist for six months to provide in-service training and technical guidance for UNRWA staff. In addition, there is an urgent need to establish facilities in the West Bank for providing physiotherapy treatment for the growing number of refugees who have sustained serious injuries. UNRWA is discussing this matter with a number of non-governmental organizations that have expressed an interest in sponsoring such an undertaking.

40. Some refugees, as well as non-refugees, reportedly were reluctant to seek treatment from medical institutions, especially at government facilities for fear of being accused of involvement in proscribed activities, with consequences for themselves and their families. The following tables show casualties in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank that required medical treatment, broken down by camp or area and cause of injury. The information has been gathered primarily from UNRWA health centres and private hospitals, and without claiming to be complete, indicates the magnitude of the problems. Comprehensive, data of casualties treated at government hospitals, particularly those in the West Bank where the population is spread over a much larger area than that of the Gaza Strip, are not available.

41. UNRWA expanded its supplementary feeding programmes for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, and infants. The mid-day meal programme, which had been applicable to registered refugee children from one to six years of age, was extended to any child up to the age of 10 years of age and, if medically certified, to those above 10. The powdered milk distribution programme was extended to all children, including non-registered refugees, below three years of age. The dry ration programme was extended to all pregnant women and nursing mothers, irrespective of whether they were in the eligible category of registration, including, as a temporary measure, some who had not previously been registered as refugees.

42. The major effect of the uprising on the Agency's education programme has been the serious loss of instruction time in schools and training centres. As a result of the enforced closure of all educational institutions in the West Bank from 4 February through late May and other disruptions, pupils in elementary and preparatory schools missed approximately 40 per cent of their scheduled class time. The authorities allowed elementary schools to reopen on 23 May and preparatory schools on 29 May. Most schools immediately began operating with very high attendance. Although the civil administration at first declared that the school year would be extended through 18 August, thus affording time to implement a 10-week crash programme based on a restricted curriculum for completing the syllabus, it subsequently directed all schools – government, UNRWA and private – to close as at 21 July. The Agency plans to make up important parts of the syllabus, which could not be completed before schools closed, at the beginning of the 1988/89 year.

43. In the Gaza Strip there was no general order issued closing schools although there were instances of individual schools ordered closed following allegations of disturbances originating from their pupils. Schools generally remained open throughout the year and UNRWA staff did their best to encourage pupils to attend classes whenever circumstances permitted. Frequent curfews and the pervasive air of tension affected school attendance and sometimes, too, pupils were forced by demonstrators from outside to leave their classes after only a few periods. The overall result has been a loss of about 35 per cent of scheduled classroom instruction time in Gaza schools. Contingency plans were prepared to extend the school year for two months to allow time to complete a modified curriculum. The authorities, however, initially ordered schools to close as originally scheduled. Following representations by the Agency, they agreed to allow schools to remain open through the end of June, a two-week extension of the school year for preparatory students and a four-week extension for elementary pupils. Accordingly, students in their third year of preparatory school graduated in June and all others were upgraded. When schools reopen in September, the first few weeks will be spent completing the 1987/88 syllabus before starting the new year's programme.

Casualties in the occupied territories as at 30 June 1988 a/

A.  Gaza Strip

a/ This is based on information available to UNRWA and is not a full listing of all casualties. However, it is believed that the number of deaths shown in the table is correct.

44. The impact on training centres has been even more devastating. All but 44 days of the scheduled instruction time for the three training centres in the West Bank were lost, and the centre in Gaza was able to complete only about 50 days before the Agency was obliged to suspend classes.  For all intents and purposes, the 1987/88 academic year for the 2,100 trainees enrolled in the 48 courses of instruction offered at the four centre's in the territories has been lost. Thus, students in the UNRWA training centres who would normally have graduated in the summer of 1988 will have to continue their courses of instruction for another year.

45. In addition to the class time missed due to school closures, children in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have been exposed to all kinds of traumatic and tragic experiences. At this stage it is not possible to evaluate the psychological effects these experiences may have had and the special care and attention that may be required in the future.

46. The Agency's programmes to assist the most needy among the refugee population, the special hardship cases (SHCs), have felt the impact of the disturbances. The Agency provides dry food commodities, blankets, clothing, cash and other assistance, including help in repairing and reconstructing of shelters occupied by families that have been registered as SHCs. In 1987, there were some 8,000 SHC families comprising over 35,000 persons in the Gaza Strip and about 5,300 families comprising some 21,000 persons in the West Bank. The uprising and the imposition of curfews and other forms of military restrictions have delayed and in some cases prevented the distribution of food and other essential items, as well as assistance for repair of shelters. The number of registered special hardship families is constantly revised as new families apply for assistance but verification of these applications has often been difficult under prevailing circumstances.

47. Whenever possible, normal relief programmes were carried out and additional measures were adopted. In the Gaza Strip, dry food commodities sufficient for one person for one month, pre-packed in plastic bags, were distributed through schools, and ad hoc arrangements were made to reach families without school-age children. The contents of the bags varied according to availability of supplies. Approximately 2,750 tons of various supplies, either purchased by or donated to UNRWA were distributed to registered refugees throughout the Gaza Strip. On average, 87,000 school children and 6,166 families benefited monthly from these distributions. A one-time issue of various commodities was also made available to private kindergartens and benevolent societies.

48. In the West Bank, some 1,840 tons of various commodities, also purchased by or donated to UNRWA, have so far been distributed to registered refugees and non-refugees. An average of 62,770 refugees, 4,700 non-refugees and 14,500 school children benefited monthly from these donations. Shortages of kerosene and electricity cuts affected cooking facilities and UNRWA has distributed some 36,000 litters of kerosene and over 200,000 loaves of baked bread, as occasions permitted. Other food items were also pre-packaged and distributed whenever possible.

49. In addition to relief in the form of foodstuffs and other emergency supplies, the Agency has paid one-time cash grants to individual refugee families in need owing to the death, disability or detention of a family member or to damage to their accommodation and/or household goods. This assistance is provided within the framework of the Agency's basic welfare programme and has also benefited some non-refugees on an emergency basis and as a temporary measure, as suggested by the Secretary-General in his report of 21 January 1988 to the Security Council. Through 30 June, 148 needy families in the Gaza Strip and West Bank had received emergency assistance in the form of cash grants totaling some $55,000. Of these, 112 were registered refugees, 12 were non-registered refugees and 24 were non-refugees or local residents.

50. Youth activities centres, of which there are eight in the Gaza Strip and 17 in the West Bank, have virtually not operated during the reporting period. One centre in the Gaza Strip and three centres in the West Bank have been closed by order of the authorities. Attendance at other welfare centres, such as youth and women's activities and adult education courses, has also been affected.

51. Maintenance work on UNRWA premises, camp pathways and other infrastructure work has been seriously affected, as was the construction of new buildings. For example, work on a new school being built in the West Bank with financing from the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) remained at a virtual standstill during most of the period. A rise of approximately 30 per cent in the costs of maintenance and construction work was noted in the Gaza Strip in the past few months, a trend that appears to be continuing.

52. UNRWA has sought to provide a greater measure of general assistance or protection to registered refugees.  In the current situation, the presence of UNRWA international staff has served to support and reassure area staff in the performance of their duties under very difficult circumstances. At times Agency officials have also been able to ease tense situations and prevent ill treatment or injury to refugees and damage to their homes. UNRWA has noted physical ill treatment of refugees and the destruction of their property, the sealing and demolition of houses, instances of intimidation, deportations and the application of collective punishment.

53. Additional staff were recruited to improve the Agency's capability to provide services. The refugee community has appreciated and welcomed the higher level of international staff presence. The field staff has been further strengthened as an interim measure by temporarily posting international staff to the area from Headquarters and other fields. With a view to strengthening its capability for carrying out special projects in the occupied territories, UNRWA has also established a task force to oversee preparation of detailed proposals for improving conditions in the refugee camps and to ensure that, once funded, they are implemented as expeditiously as circumstances allow.

C.  Education services

54. The UNRWA education programme provides nine grades of general education, vocational and technical training, in-service teacher training and some higher education for Palestine refugees in conformity with their educational needs, identity and cultural heritage. The curricula followed in the five areas of operations are those prescribed by the host countries in Lebanon, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and, in the case of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, by the governments of Jordan and Egypt, respectively.

1.  General education

55. During the 1987/88 academic year, the Agency provided schooling for nearly 3 50, 000 Palestine refugee children, through six grades of elementary education and the first three years of secondary education, the preparatory cycle, in 633 schools. Schools in both the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan operated satisfactorily throughout the year. In Lebanon, some schools that, owing to the disturbed conditions in the country, could not complete the 1986/87 school year, continued operating with a restricted curriculum into the summer vacation period and by 3 August 1987 all had completed the programme of tuition. Out of a total of 83 Agency schools in Lebanon, 75 were open and operating more or less normally by the end of June 1988.

56. Out of an estimated school population in Lebanon of nearly 33,500, over 31,000 pupils were attending the 75 UNRWA schools functioning as of March 1988. There is no precise information available regarding the more than 2,400 pupils from the schools that remain closed, but some were reported to have moved to other locations within Lebanon and entered schools there, some have enrolled in private or government schools and some have traveled abroad with their families to other Arab countries (see paras. 24-26 for more. information on the UNRWA school programme in Lebanon).

57. In the occupied territories, the first quarter of the year witnessed widespread, scattered but short-lived disruptions of school operations mainly in observance of anniversaries of important events in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict or associated with local incidents. As tensions mounted with the spread of the uprising, in the third week of December the Civil Administration ordered all schools in the West Bank closed for one week beginning 21 December. With mid-year examinations scheduled in the first week of January 1988, followed by the mid-year vacation extending to the end of January, the full impact of the uprising was not felt in the school system until 4 February 1988, when the authorities ordered all schools in the West Bank to close for an indefinite period. This order was extended subsequently at monthly intervals through 23 May 1988 when elementary schools were permitted to reopen. Preparatory schools reopened as from 29 May, generally with very high attendance. At the end of June, however, several Agency schools had again been closed for short periods.

58. The situation in the Gaza Strip was different in that no general order closing schools was issued after the start of the uprising. There have, however, been cases of individual schools being ordered closed following allegations of disturbances originating from their pupils. Schools have also been affected by-the frequent curfews and, at other times, pupils have been forced by demonstrators from outside to leave their classes after only a few periods (see paras. 42-45 for further details of the effects of the uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the UNRWA education programme).

59. In the Agency's medium-term plan for the period 1988-1990, UNRWA has identified priority school construction requirements, including the construction of additional classrooms to avoid triple-shifting, replacement of unsuitable Agency-built and rented premises and improvements to existing school facilities. For the most part, such construction needs have been financed by especially earmarked donations, over and above voluntary contributions to support the Agency's regular budget. To the extent that construction of new facilities replaces rented premises there are usually savings on rents and teacher salaries, since fewer teachers are needed when standard size classrooms are provided. In addition, the new school promises provide an improved learning environment.

60. During the year under review, progress continued with the UNRWA school construction programme. A new elementary/preparatory school in the Rukn al-Din quarter of Damascus, funded by a grant from the Netherlands Government, was completed. This facility will accommodate some 1,300 boys and girls when it opens in September 1988.  It replaces three rented premises containing 21 sub-standard classrooms. A new school at Rumanneh in the West Bank, built with funds contributed by AGFUND, was finished and two others will be constructed with AGFUND grants once conditions in the West Bank permit. Five other new schools in the Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan and the West Bank are in various stages of construction or preparation with special contributions from the Governments of Japan and Australia and with Agency funds. A total of 27 new classrooms were also completed or under construction during the year.

61. In a step towards reducing the problem of crowded classrooms in UNRWA schools, the number of classes with more than 50 pupils was reduced from 327 to 107 in the 1987/88 school year. It is envisaged that the maximum class occupancy should be further reduced to no more than 48 in the course of the current medium-term plan extending to 1990, provided sufficient funds are available.

2. Training programmes

62. The Agency's training programmes cover teacher and higher education as well as vocational and technical education. Places were provided for some 4,754 trainees in eight training centres located throughout the UNRWA area of operations (see annex I, table 6).

63. During the reporting period, UNRWA continued to provide both pre-service and in-service teacher training. Pre-service teacher training was given to some 850 trainees in three training centres, one in Jordan and two at Ramallah in the West Bank, while a variety of in-service training courses were conducted through education development centres located in each of the five fields of operation. In addition, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided five fellowships for short training courses in Egypt and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for UNRWA senior education area staff. UNESCO also provided technical equipment for in-service teacher training. In 1987/88 a total of 397 university scholarships were awarded to enable gifted refugee students to continue their education (see annex I, table 7).

64. Within its mandate for providing education to the Palestine refugees, UNRWA places great emphasis on its vocational and technical training courses. The primary aim of such courses is to offer to as large a number as possible of young refugees the opportunity to acquire skills that are in demand, both in local job markets and elsewhere in the Near East, thereby enhancing their prospects for finding employment. Other benefits of the programme are the support that the graduates can contribute to their families, once they are employed, and the contribution to the economic development of the Near East that they make by applying their skills within that region.

65. Constant monitoring is maintained to ensure that courses at UNRWA training centres are relevant to the needs of the region and therefore prepare trainees for obtaining employment. On the basis of market research in some of the main employing countries, UNRWA visualizes that, in the foreseeable future, development of the vocational and technical training programme will concentrate mainly on the introduction of new courses at a higher, semi-professional level. The new courses will offset recent reductions in the numbers of teacher trainees and will also replace some vocational courses that are being eliminated because of a declining level of demand for graduates of such courses.

66. Additional emphasis will also be placed on expanding the level of vocational training for women at UNRWA centres. At present, apart from teacher training where more than half the trainees are women, men trainees exceed women by a ratio of about five to one. The Agency wishes to reduce this large discrepancy as quickly as possible by encouraging more women to apply for existing courses and by introducing new courses more likely to attract female trainees. It therefore plans to introduce courses over the next three years that reflect the aims referred to above, including completely new courses in nursing and computer science and the addition of training in business and office practice, physiotherapy, industrial electronics, auto electrician, assistant pharmacist and dental assistant at centres that did not previously offer these courses.

67. Training at the UNRWA centres in the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan proceeded normally throughout the year.  In Lebanon, the Siblin Training Centre, which had remained closed for a period of four years, reopened in September 1987 with an intake of 386 trainees, comprising 352 first-year and 34 second-year students. The second-year trainees had attended classes in a Saida school during the previous year.

68. As was the case for elementary and preparatory schools, operations at the four UNRWA training centres in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been seriously affected by events. In the first three months of the 1987/88 academic year starting in September 1987, the centres operated with only minor interruptions. Since the start of the uprising in early December, however, courses of instruction have been suspended. An Israeli Government order on 22 December closed the two centres in Ramallah for one month and the subsequent order in February closing all educational institutions in the West Bank effectively ended the academic year for the West Bank centres. The Gaza Training Centre has been closed since the beginning of January 1988 (see also para. 44).

69. Graduates of UNRWA training centres in Jordan and the West Bank once again attained excellent results in the Jordanian Government examinations at the end of the 1986/87 school year. The Amman and Wadi Seer Centres had pass rates of 96 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively; in the West Bank, the pass rate at the three UNRWA centres was 97 per cent. Trainees completing their courses of instruction in Lebanon, Gaza and the Syrian Arab Republic achieved similar pass rates in examinations given by the Agency.

70. The Agency continues to receive earmarked contributions in support of many of its training programmes. The Government of Denmark continued to fund the two training centres in Ramallah; the Government of Italy supports the Gaza Training Centre and has made funds available to cover the costs of introducing two new courses of instruction. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany maintained its partial support for the Wadi Seer Training Centre in Jordan. The Government of Japan provided experts and equipment for courses at the Wadi Seer Training Centre and provided scholarships through the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 1987 to enable a further 15 UNRWA vocational training instructors to receive special training in Japan. The European Community provided funds for the introduction of an additional two new courses at the Gaza Training Centre.

D.  Health services

71. The UNRWA health care programme, which is primarily community health oriented, provides basic health care for the eligible Palestine refugee population. The programme comprises medical care services (both curative and preventive), environmental health services in camps and nutrition, and supplementary feeding for particularly vulnerable, groups within the refugee population. Its main objective is to meet the basic health needs of the refugees in a manner consistent with the humanitarian policies of the United Nations, the basic principles and concepts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the level of medical care provided by host Governments to their own populations at public expense.

1.  Medical care

72. UNRWA medical care services are provided through a network of health centres/points, maternal and child health clinics, specialist and special care clinics, dental clinics, laboratories, rehabilitation centres, maternity centres and beds reserved at private hospitals under contractual agreements.

73. The demand for UNRWA medical care services continued to increase during the year ending 30 June 1988 due in large measure to the increased range of services offered in UNRWA facilities and the inability of the refugee population to obtain needed care at alternative facilities at a cost they could afford. The total number of out-patient consultations in the Agency's clinics increased by more than 20 per cent during the year covered by this report, to nearly six million. The security situation in Lebanon and, since December 1987, the uprising in the occupied territories adversely affected use of some health facilities, which were inaccessible or paralyzed because of curfews and other restrictions on movements of staff, refugees, vehicles and supplies.

74. Consistent with the activities envisaged in the Agency's medium-term plan for the period 1987-1989, important accomplishments in the medical care programme were attained. These included the establishment of additional medical, dental, nursing and other support staff posts and the provision of new facilities, thereby making it possible to improve services at the primary health care level. Fifteen new dental units were provided through the UNRWA budget or generous donations from governments, non-governmental organizations or individuals. Six of the new units, including one mobile, are in Jordan, five in the West Bank and two each in Gaza and Lebanon. Dental teams to service these units and new posts of dental hygienists were established to assist in the preventive oral health programme. Four more clinical laboratories were established, two in the West Bank and one each in Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.

75. UNRWA also improved its facilities for diagnosis and treatment at a number of its clinics through the acquisition of new and specialized equipment. These included a radiographic machine for the West Bank and specialized items for equipping two eye disease clinics and one respiratory disease clinic in Gaza. New facilities for treating patients with ear, nose and throat (ENT), cardiology, ophthalmology and dermatology disorders were established in the Amman and Baqa’a health centres in Jordan UNRWA continued to upgrade the standard of equipment in its general clinics, field pharmacies and laboratories. These improvements were funded in part from the Agency's budget and in part from generous donations by the OPEC Fund, UNICEF, Canada, Soka Gakkai (Japan) ant the Near East Council of Churches (NECC).

76. Significant progress was achieved in implementing and funding of projects for construction and extension of health premises. In Jordan, new health centres in Baqa'a and Marka camps, funded by the Canadian Government, were completed in August 1987 and April 1988, respectively. Construction of a health centre in Jarash camp, funded by the Danish Refugee Council has been started and is expected to be completed in April 1989.  In addition, AGFUND has agreed to cover the cost of constructing and equipping maternal and child health sub-centres at Baqa’a and Marka camps. The Canadian Government also agreed to fund a similar facility in. Amman New Camp and to cover the cost of renovating and equipping premises to serve as a health training centre in Amman. In the West Bank, extension of the health centre in Asker camp to facilitate the work of the maternal and child health centre and the diabetes clinic was completed. A project for constructing a new surgical ward at the UNRWA hospital at Qalqiliya and a new complex to accommodate the dental clinic, X-ray unit and laboratory at the Am’ari health centre could not be completed because of prevailing conditions in the occupied territories. Meanwhile Libya's Supreme Popular Committee agreed to fund projects for constructing and equipping a health centre in Deir Ammar camp and for extensions to the Balata, Hebron and Fara'a health centres. The Finnish Government has undertaken to fund construction of a health centre in Gaza town to replace the old rented premises from which UNRWA is being evicted. The Swedish Save the Children, Radda Barnen, agreed to fund construction of three maternal and child health sub-centres and three supplementary feeding sub-centres in Gaza. In the Syrian Arab Republic, plans are underway to construct a combined health and feeding centre at Muzeireb, in the Dera’a area. The polyclinic in Beirut was expanded and a new health centre was established in the town of Saida to meet the added demand from displaced refugees living in the area.

77. The continuously rising cost of curative medical care services in the area of operations, especially hospitalization, had its impact on UNRWA expenditures. The Agency was obliged to increase the rates at which it subsidized beds in local hospitals in all fields during the period under review. It also proved necessary to increase the number of beds available both in Gaza and the West Bank to meet growing needs. In Gaza, the number of beds subsidized at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was increased to 40 beds. In Jerusalem, four additional beds for ENT cases were subsidized at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, thereby increasing the total number of beds reserved for the treatment of refugee patients at this hospital from 100 to 104 effective December 1987.

78. UNRWA was also able to provide essential medical equipment for treating refugee patients at subsidized hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank including the Augusta Victoria, St. John's Ophthalmic and Maqassed hospitals in Jerusalem, Al-Ittihad Hospital in Nablus and the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. These improvements were made possible through generous donations from Sweden, Denmark and Canada.

79. The preventive medical care programme continues to be a major component of the Agency's primary health care programme. It includes epidemiology and communicable disease control, maternal and child health services, a school health programme and health education.  Increased emphasis is also being placed on development of special health programmes directed towards non-communicable disease control, mental health and health care for the elderly.

80. The incidence of communicable diseases continued to show a steady, decreasing trend, due in part to the impact of the expanded programme of immunization supported by UNICEF and in part to the use of effective intervention strategies supported by health education activities. No major epidemics of communicable diseases were reported during the period under review. However, the increasing prevalence of non-communicable disease's among the refugee population represents a new challenge that is receiving more recognition and attention in planning for the future. In this connection, assistance is readily available from WHO for development of intervention strategies that will be integrated within the primary health care programme.

81. Successful monitoring of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers continued to be one of the major achievements of the UNRWA primary health care programme. In all five fields of operations, the camp refugee population has already improved upon the target of 50 deaths per thousand live births by the turn of the century set by WHO for developing countries. In West Bank camps, where infant mortality statistics have been closely monitored for over two decades, the rate in 1987 declined to 24 per thousand compared with 64 per thousand 10 years earlier (see charts 2 and 3 in annex I for data on infant mortality rates and causes of infant mortality). More emphasis is being placed on increasing coverage of the service through expansion of community outreach programmes. A third mobile health team was established to service the six maternal and child health care (MCH) sub-centres in Gaza through the support of Radda Barnen, and two new MCH centres were established in Dahiriyyeh and Ramadin in the West Bank. More maternal and child health care sub-centres are planned in all fields of operations, subject to receipt of funds to cover construction costs.

82. The benefits from the Agency's small family-planning programme, begun in Gaza in the mid 1960s to advise women of child-bearing age on the health Advantages from proper spacing of children, are more and more recognized by those members of the refugee community who have had an opportunity to participate. The programme is now offered on a limited basis through UNRWA clinics in Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and will be extended further through other Agency facilities to the extent resources become available. Under the health and family life education programme, supported by Radda Barnen, the Agency has for some years provided health education for teen-aged girls in their third and final year of preparatory school in Gaza, Radda Barnen agreed to increase its funding of the programme in 1987 and 1988 to enable the Agency to extend health education to UNRWA boys preparatory schools. That organization has informed the Agency that it is prepared to consider a multi-year commitment of support for this expanded programme.

83. With completion of the research phase of the project carried out in co-ordination with WHO, UNICEF and Radda Barnen to assess the psychological problems of refugee children in Jabal el-Hussein and Marka camps in Jordan, UNRWA is planning to start a pilot project in Jordan under which special care will be directed to children identified as having mental problems. In addition, this initiative will focus on promoting a better understanding of the psychological needs and problems of children and on developing a multi-disciplinary approach for dealing with their problems. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO/EMRO) has expressed its willingness to fund a new mental health programme for the biennium 1988-1989 that will include furnishing specialized consultants, training of UNRWA physicians and teachers, and providing equipment and supplies.

84. UNRWA nurses in all-fields have participated in a community health programme through which basic family and community data are collected and analyzed with a view to identifying existing and potential problems and situations that may adversely affect the health of refugees. These problems are then assigned priority and appropriate action is taken with the people and communities concerned. The programme has been well accepted by the refugees. UNRWA nurses have also organized meetings with selected women from the camps for the purpose of gaining their co-operation and assistance in providing health education to families in camps as well as in promoting relevant health care activities.

2.  Environmental health

85. Basic community sanitation services provided by the Agency  in the camps comprised the provision of potable water supply, sanitary disposal of solid and liquid wastes, drainage of storm and waste water, and control of insect and rodent disease vectors. There have been steady improvements in sanitary conditions in several camps, with community participation and continued support by municipalities, local and village councils and host Governments.  Much remains to be done, however, especially for camps in the Gaza Strip.

86. The Agency continued to provide financial and technical support for self-help activities such as construction of drains, laying of sewers and paving of pathways. Support for such projects was also made available for the West Bank by AGFUND and the OPEC Fund.

87. It is established Agency policy to have every refugee shelter in camps connected to a municipal water supply and sewerage scheme.  Co-ordination of arrangements for indoor connections with host Governments and local municipalities continued. In Jordan the government water authority completed a scheme for connecting Talbieh, Marka, Baqa’a, Suf and Jarash camps with municipal schemes, and refugees are connecting their shelters to these schemes. Zarqa, Marka and Baqa'a camps were also connected to the municipal sewerage schemes, and work to implement similar project for Irbid camp is well in progress. Refugees are making the necessary indoor connections and UNRWA will continue to assist special hardship families to carry out such improvements through generous donations from the Federal Republic of Germany and the NECC. In the West Bank, the Central Water Authority installed a new water supply network in Aqabat Jabr camp, and refugees started connecting their shelters to this net. The Federal Republic of Germany has also agreed to fund an internal sewerage system in Dheisheh and Am'ari camps and the cost of connecting Dheisheh camp to the municipal sewerage scheme. In Gaza refugees living in Beach camp completed indoor water connections to the municipal system, and the two water plants in Deir el-Balah and Beach camps became redundant following ties to municipal sources. Also, a major new plan for construction of a sewerage scheme for Jabalia town, including the adjacent refugee camp, was adopted by UNDP. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the UNICEF joint project for indoor water supply and sewer connections in Qabr Essit camp is progressing well. In Lebanon two independent water-supply projects were completed in Wavell and Mar Elias camps through the sustained support of the Nordic Voluntary Aid Committee (NORVAC) and UNICEF, respectively.

88. UNRWA continued its efforts to improve management of solid waste material in camps by entering into agreements with local municipalities for refuse disposal. In Jordan, an agreement to this effect was concluded with Ruseifeh municipality for disposal of refuse from Marka camp and a similar agreement will be concluded with the municipality concerned with Dera’a camp in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Agency will provide garbage containers matching municipal equipment through a donation from the Netherlands Embassy in Damascus. Where such arrangements are not feasible, UNRWA provided skiplift trucks and matching containers to mechanize garbage disposal. Five additional skiplifts and matching containers were made available, two each for Gaza and Lebanon and one for the Nablus area in the West Bank.

3.  Nutrition and supplementary feeding

89. The initial phase of a pilot project, carried out in four of the Agency's five fields of operations, aimed at identifying malnourished children aged 0 to 5 years of age and those at risk of malnutrition e.g. premature babies and those suffering from gastroenteritis, was completed. Investigations were carried out to determine, to the extent possible, the underlying causes of malnutrition and to devise corrective measures, including medical treatment, supplemental feeding and special health education for mothers and pregnant women. One health centre in each of the four fields served as a model for a gradually expanding programme of integrating specialized care and treatment for malnourished children and those identified as at risk more closely into the primary health care programme (preventive and curative). The Agency's supplementary feeding programme is being restructured to focus particular attention on these target groups. With the successful completion of the evaluation of the initial results from this project, a decision was taken to expand the programme to four health centres in each field during 1988. This will enable the UNRWA health staff to reach approximately 15 per cent of the refugee camp population. The Agency has established a goal in its new medium-term plan to integrate this new programme into all health centres by 1991.

4.  Medical and paramedical training

90. The Agency continued its efforts to develop the professional skills of its health staff through in-service training and outside education programmes. Five medical officers, two sanitation supervisors and one supervising nurse completed WHO-sponsored, post-graduate fellowships in community health, maternal and child health care, food and nutrition and sanitary engineering. In addition, seven Agency nurses completed post-basic or graduate level courses in community health, midwifery and care of the aged sponsored by the Australian People for Health Education and Development Association (APHEDA) (Australia), the United Kingdom Save the Children Fund and the United Kingdom Help Age International. One hundred ten trainees graduated from paramedical courses at UNRWA vocational training centres in the scholastic year 1987/88. Many of these graduates will be offered employment within UNRWA as laboratory technicians, assistant pharmacists, dental hygienists, public health technicians and physiotherapists.

E.  Relief services

91. The Agency's relief services, consist of assistance to special hardship cases (SHCs), welfare case work, women’s activities, adult training courses, education and training of the disabled, promotion of income-generating projects, assistance to refugees in emergency situations and the provision of facilities for pre-school activities. The Agency also encourages but does not organize or administer youth activities.

92. In order to qualify for SHC assistance, a family must be in financial need and have no male member between the ages of 18 and 60 capable of earning a living. Families applying for this assistance are subject to strict verification and, once enrolled, to annual verification. As at 30 June 1988, 31,965 families, representing 135,375 refugees, were recorded as SHCs (for details see annex I, table 3). Approximately 1.8 million of the registered refugees are eligible to benefit from the other relief programmes.

93. Assistance to SHCs consists of food, blankets, clothing, small amounts of cash aid, cash grants for self-support projects, help in the repair or reconstruction of shelters and preferential access to UNRWA vocational and teacher training programmes. The types and amount of food distributed to SHC families in 1987 are set out in annex I, table 4. In the calendar year 1987, the Agency provided direct cash assistance amounting to $581,548 to SHCs and other families qualifying for emergency assistance in the five fields It also assisted 826 families in repairing or reconstructing their shelters at a cost of $603,033 and provided 47 families with cash grants amounting to $191,097 to assist them in becoming partially or wholly self-supporting.

94. In 1987, some 4,147 young men and 671 women participated in sporting, cultural and educational activities in 47 centres. The youth activities centres are organized and supervised by their members with assistance and support from the Agency and the World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations. The women's activities centres are organized and supervised by the Agency. In the Gaza Strip and the West Bank the youth activities centres have not been able to function and the women's activities centres have had very low attendance since the beginning of the uprising in December 1987.

95. The Agency offers one-year training courses in carpentry, sewing and embroidery for young refugees with limited formal education who would not otherwise receive further education and training; 46 young men and 845 young women attended these courses during the past year. This training has been interrupted in the occupied territories, but it is hoped the courses can be completed in time for new courses to commence next year.

96. In 1987, the Agency provided education and training for 210 disabled children in specialized institutions in the area. Of these, 106 attended the Training Centre for the Blind in Gaza, which has long been operated by the Agency, largely with funds coming from the Pontifical Mission for Palestine. The Japanese Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei Kai and other non-governmental organizations have contributed funds for the expansion of the Gaza Centre, which plays an important role in the Gaza Strip in providing education and training for blind children.

97. In Jordan, day care centres for the mentally disabled in Suf, Jerash and Husn camps, administered jointly by UNRWA and OXFAM (UK) or the Mennonite Central Committee (USA), have found strong community support. OXFAM and the Mennonite Central Committee meet the recurrent costs. Contributions towards the non-recurrent costs have been received from local communities and individuals, international and local non-governmental organizations and the diplomatic community in Amman. The local communities have also made major contributions in the form of materials and volunteer help. A fourth centre will open in the near future in Baqa'a camp. The recurrent costs of this centre will be met by Diakonia of Sweden.

98. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, projects for assisting refugees to establish or develop small enterprises are making progress but are handicapped by the present situation. The projects are funded by the United Kingdom-based organization Co-operation for Development (CD) and administered jointly with UNRWA. Loans are made to project beneficiaries from the funds provided by CD and administered by local banks.

99. Artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices were given to 653 disabled refugees. Fifteen destitute persons, 46 aged people and 12 orphans were cared for in institutions run by voluntary agencies, mainly at no cost to the Agency. Some 171 tons of used clothing contributed by voluntary agencies were distributed to needy refugees.

100. The Agency has continued to make representations to the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip to ensure proper housing for the families affected by the demolitions carried out in a number of refugee camps in 1971 and more recently in Beach camp in 1983. As at 30 June 1988, 14 families affected by the 1971 demolitions were still living in conditions of hardship. The authorities continue to assure the Agency that a solution has been developed for these families, but it remains to be implemented. Of the 35 families affected by the demolitions in 1983, 13 remain in temporary shelters on or near the sites of their demolished shelters. Further details are set out in the report of the Secretary-General on Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip (A/42/507).

101. In 1986, after prolonged negotiations, the Governments of Egypt and Israel reached agreement on the terms of a solution to the problem of some 4,600 refugees left on the Egyptian side of the international boundary at Rafah when Israel withdrew from the Sinai in April 1982. The solution provides for a phased return of these refugees to the Gaza Strip for resettlement in an Israeli government housing project at Tel el-Sultan near Rafah. Financial help to build new houses will be given to the refugees by the Egyptian Government and the Israeli authorities will provide land and other facilities. The first phase of the plan was implemented over the summer months of 1986 when the heads of families in groups of 25 visited plots assigned to them in the Tel el-Sultan housing project and registered their belongings with the Israeli authorities. The second phase, construction of new homes by the heads of family, is yet to be completed. The Agency has made provision for education, health care and relief services within its regular programme for the refugees upon their return. In the meantime, UNRWA continues to provide them with services including elementary and preparatory education for some 1,200 refugee children and basic health care, focusing mainly on mother and child health services where they are living in the Sinai. These activities are supervised during regular visits from the Gaza field office staff. Rations, blankets and clothing are distributed to the majority of these refugees, most of whom are unemployed and living in hardship.

F.  Legal matters

A.  Agency staff

102. There has been a substantial increase in the number of staff arrested and detained without charge or trial in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the period under review. One staff member was deported to Lebanon from the Gaza Strip. In Lebanon, the total number of staff kidnapped or detained has decreased (see annex 1, table 10). The Agency remains unable to obtain adequate and timely information on the reasons for the arrest and detention of its staff. In the absence of such information, the Agency is unable to ascertain whether the staff members' official functions are involved or to ensure that their rights and duties flowing from the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946 (General Assembly resolution 22 A (I)) and the pertinent Staff Regulations and Rules of UNRWA are duly observed. An added cause of concern to the Agency has been the treatment accorded to several staff members while in detention.

103. In the West Bank, the Agency has had access only to four detained staff members and in the Gaza Strip to the one staff member who was later deported. The Agency's efforts to visit other staff members in detention whether in the occupied territories or in other fields have so far not proved successful.

104. The Agency has continued to meet difficulties in the movement of staff into and out of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Some staff have been denied exit even when in possession of permits to do so and others have been subjected to substantial delays upon entry on various occasions. As a result of unannounced changes in the procedures, the Agency has faced increased uncertainty, difficulty and delay in obtaining clearances for staff to undertake duty travel. Movement of staff within each of the fields has been affected by frequent imposition of curfews.

105. The Agency has continued to take up with the Israeli authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip their practice of summoning its staff for interrogation during office hours without adequate notice.

2.  Agency services and premises

106. Since the uprising began in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in December 1987, there have been various developments affecting the Agency's rights, privileges and immunities and its ability effectively to discharge its functions. These developments and the Agency's reaction to them are described in paragraphs 28 to 53 above. By way of example, the following incidents may be mentioned. On 10 December 1987, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) forcibly entered the Kalandia Training Centre using tear gas bombs and truncheons. When the military personnel left the Centre, they left behind 11 severely beaten trainees and 6 trainees unconscious from exposure to tear gas. In the Gaza Strip, the IDF took over the Bureij Elementary 'B' Girls School to carry out checks of identity cards and, despite Agency protests, refused to vacate the premises until 23 June 1988. In the West Bank, the IDF are continuing to occupy a part of the Agency's school premises at the Aqabet Jabr camp. The Agency has pointed out that violations of its premises serve only to escalate tension and to undermine efforts of Agency staff to maintain discipline. The Agency has repeatedly called upon the Israeli authorities to respect the privileges and immunities of the Agency and its premises.

107. The main entrance to the Balata camp remains barricaded. In addition, the main entrances to the Dheisheh, Kalandia, Nur Shams and Am’ari camps have been barricaded during the reporting period. Secondary entrances also have been barricaded in Askar New and Old camp, in addition to the secondary entrance to the Dheisheh camp, which had been barricaded during the last reporting period. A fence six meters high has been erected along the main road, forming a barrier between the Dheisheh camp and the road, and another fence three meters high has been erected on the main road on one side of the Nur Shams camp. The main access road to Deir Ammar camp has been blocked, making access by Agency vehicles very difficult. These actions in the West Bank, as well as the declaration of curfews both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, have caused hardship to camp residents and impeded the provision of Agency services.

108. Telephone connection between the Agency's Headquarters in Vienna and its Field Office in the Gaza Strip has been inoperative since 16 March 1988. Despite repeated assurances, these facilities have not been restored.

109. During the reporting period, there has been an increase in the number of refugee shelters sealed or demolished for punitive reasons. In the Gaza Strip the Israeli authorities demolished five Agency-built rooms And 20 privately-built rooms on punitive grounds affecting 13 families comprising 67 persons. In the West Bank the authorities demolished 15 Agency-built rooms and 11 privately-built rooms affecting 42 persons. As a result of these demolitions, 35 other shelters were damaged affecting approximately 250 persons. In addition, one Agency-built room and four privately-built rooms were sealed Affecting 12 persons. The Agency has protested these actions as being incompatible with articles 33 and 53 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949, and with the legal and human rights of the refugees.

3.  Agency operations

110. The Agency remains unable to open a bank account denominated in Jordan Dinars in a branch of the Cairo-Amman Bank in the West Bank. This facility is required for operational reasons. The continuing delay in getting the clearances from the Israeli authorities is naturally severely handicapping the Agency's ability to enter into and discharge local contractual obligations.

4.  Claims Against Governments

111. The Agency regrets that no progress has been made with regard to its various claims against Governments.

Notes

1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/41/13 and Corr.1).

2/ Ibid., Forty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/42/13).

ANNEX I

Statistical information*

Table

 1. Number of registered persons

 2. Distribution of registered population

 3. Number and distribution of Special Hardship Cases

 4. Food commodities distributed to each person receiving rations under the Special Hardship Case programme in 1987

 5. Distribution of refugee pupils receiving education in UNRWA schools

 6. Training places in UNRWA training centres

 7. University scholarship holders by faculty and country of study

 8. Medical care services

 9. Contributions (cash and in-kind) by Governments

10. Staff members arrested and detained (1 July 1987-30 June 1988)

Chart

 1. Growth of UNRWA school population: elementary and preparatory cycles 1950/88

 2. Infant mortality rates, 1962-1987

 3. Leading causes of infant mortality

 4. Incidence trends of selected communicable diseases

 5. Trends in sources of income

__________

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

(a) UNRWA Department of Education, Statistical Yearbook, 1986-87;

(b) Annual Report of the Director of Health, 1987.

For more detailed information on the financing of the Agency's programme, see the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 1987 and the report of the Board of Auditors (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/43/5/Add.3)).

Table 1

Number of registered persons a/

(as at 30 June each year)

a/ These statistics are based on UNRWA's registration records, which are updated periodically. The number of registered refugees present in the Agency's area of operations, however, is almost certainly less than that recorded. The Agency's budget is based not on the registration records but on the projected numbers of beneficiaries of its services. In 1987/1988, 354,539 refugees enrolled in education or training programmes, 1.82 million were eligible for health care and 135,375 persons received special hardship assistance.

b/ This total excludes 45,800 persons receiving relief in Israel, who were the responsibility of UNRWA until June 1952.

Table 2

Distribution of registered population

(As at 30 June 1988)

a/ It is estimated that a further 52,000 persons, who are not registered refugees, live in camps. About 37,000 of these are persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 hostilities.

Table 3

Number and distribution of Special Hardship Cases

(As at 30 June 1988)

a/ Includes children under one year of age, men serving compulsory military service or imprisoned, students studying away from home, etc.

Table 4

Food commodities distributed to each Person receiving rations

Under the Special Hardship Case Program in 1987

(In kilograms)

Table 5

Distribution of refugee Pupils receiving education in UNRWA schools a/

(As at October 1987)

a/ Does not include 104,017 refugee pupils that attend elementary, preparatory and secondary, government and private schools.

b/ Including 54,080 non-eligible children attending UNRWA schools. Of these, 17,252 are in the Gaza Strip, where all refugee children have always been regarded as eligible for education services.

c/ In October 1987, no enrolment figures were received. This figure shows the January 1988 enrolment in operating schools and an estimate for the schools that were closed.

Table 6

Training places in UNRWA training centres

(Academic year 1987/88)

a/ Courses are offered to post-preparatory level students in mechanical, metal, electrical and building trades.

b/ Courses are offered to post-secondary level students in technical, commercial, electronics and paramedical fields.

Table 7

University scholarship holders by faculty and country of study

(Academic year 1987/88)

a/ Other countries were: Iraq (two male and two female students) Turkey (four male students), Democratic Yemen (one male and two female students) and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (one male and one female students).

Table 8

Medical care services

(1 July 1987-30 June 1988)

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

b/ Information restricted-to statistics from UNRWA-hospitals/maternity centres and beds utilized by UNRWA under contractual agreements with private hospitals.

c/ Health monitoring is monthly for age group 0-1 year, bimonthly for age group 1-2 years and trimonthly for age group 2-3 years.

Table 9

Contributions (cash and in-kind) by Governments

(1 May 1950-3l December 1987)

(United States dollars)

a/ Actual receipts, including contributions for the Lebanon emergency.

Table 10

Staff members arrested and detained

(1 July 1987-30 June 1988)

a/ Sixteen kidnapped by militias and seven understood to be detained by the Syrian forces in Lebanon.

b/ Understood to be detained by the Syrian forces in Lebanon.

CHART 1

GROWTH OF UNRWA SCHOOL POPULATION

ELEMENTARY AND PREPARATORY CYCLES

1950 – 1988

CHART 2

INFANT MORTALITY RATES

CAMP POPULATION

1962 – 1987

CHART 3

LEADING CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY

CHART 4

INCIDENCE TRENDS OF SELECTED

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

(RATE PER 100,000 ELIGIBLE POPULATION)

1970 – 1987

CHART 5

TRENDS IN SOURCES OF INCOME

(CASH & IN-KIND)

ANNEX II

Pertinent records of the General Assembly

and other United Nations bodies a/

1. General Assembly resolutions

2. General Assembly decision

Decision number Date of adoption

36/462 16 March 1982

3. Reports of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA

4. Audited financial statements

1986: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/41/5/Add.3).

1987: Ibid., Forty-second Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/42/5/Add.3).

5. Reports of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine

1986: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda

1987: Ibid., Forty-second-Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/515.

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

1986: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/555.

1987: Ibid., Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/633

7. Reports of the Secretary-General

1986: Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 D of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, Agenda item 75, document A/41/563 (Offers by Member of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training, for the Palestine refugees))

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 E of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/564 (Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip))

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 F of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the general Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/565 (Resumption of the ration distribution to Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 G of 16 December 1985, (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/566 (Population and refugees displaced since 1967)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 H of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/543 (Revenues derived from Palestine refugee properties)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 I of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/567 (Protection of Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 J of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/568 (Palestine refugees in the West Bank)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 40/165 K of 16 December 1985 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/41/457 (University of Jerusalem "Al-Quds" for Palestine Refugees)).

1987: Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 D of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/445 (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 41/69 E of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/507 (Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 F of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/446 (Resumption of the ration distribution to Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 G of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/480 (Population and refugees displaced since 1967)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 H of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/505 (Revenues derived from Palestine refugee properties)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 I of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/481 (Protection of Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 J of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/482 (Palestine refugees in the West Bank)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 41/69 K of 3 December 1986 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/309 (University of Jerusalem "Al-Quds" for Palestine Refugees)).

1988: Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council in accordance with resolution 605 (1987), document S/19443, dated 21 January 1988.

___________

a/ A list of pertinent reports and other documents of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies concerning UNRWA (notably those prior to 1985) can be found in the publication UNRWA at the United Nations 1948-1986, available from the UNRWA Public Information Division.

—–