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 1988 – 30 June 1989

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OFFICIAL RECORDS: FORTY-FOURTH SESSION

SUPPLEMENT No. 13 (A/44/13)

UNITED NATIONS

New York, 1989

NOTE

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

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

[Original: Arabic/English/French]

[2 October 1989]

CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

2 October 1989

Sir,

I have the honor to submit to the General Assembly my annual report on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for the period 1 July 1988 through 30 June 1989, 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 concentrated on the impact on the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East of the continuing emergencies in Lebanon and the occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As a consequence of these situations, the Agency was functioning under extraordinary and difficult circumstances in three of its five fields throughout the period covered by the report.

Chapter II of the report reviews overall developments in the Agency's three main programmes, while summaries of activities in each of the five fields are contained in chapters III to VI. The emergency operations and reconstruction programme in Lebanon is set out in chapter IV. The programme of extraordinary measures of UNRWA to deal with the immediate effects of events in the occupied territory and its expanded programme of assistance to alleviate the miserable conditions under which refugees live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are set out in chapter VI. Those additional programmes have been funded by generous contributions from many countries, including several that are not regular contributors to the! Agency's general funds. Nevertheless, as I point out in the introduction to the report, temporary activities which have been undertaken in response to emergencies are becoming ongoing features of UNRWA operations with all the financial consequences which that entails. I am therefore concerned that the gratifying support that the Agency has recently received should be steady and sustained as long as necessary.

Legal matters are dealt with in chapter VII, while the two annexes contain statistical data and charts on UNRWA operations and programme 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, in order to provide Members of the General Assembly with the most up-to-date information, budget estimates for 1989 and other financial data will be presented in an addendum to the present report in early October.

The members of the UNRWA Advisory Commission examined the present report in draft form, and their comments have been given careful attention in the preparation of the final text. The views of the Advisory Commission are set forth in the letter of 31 August 1989 from the Chairman, a copy of which is 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, since a major part of the Agency's operations takes place in the territory 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

LETTER DATED 2 OCTOBER 1989 FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION OF THE

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

ADDRESSED TO THE COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

Dear Mr. Giacomelli,

At its regular meeting on 31 August 1989, UNRWA's Advisory Commission considered your draft report on the Agency’s operations during the period 1 July 1988 to 30 June 1989, which is to be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly at its forty-fourth session. The Commission also examined the current financial situation of UNRWA.

The Advisory Commission remains convinced that the Agency is indispensable until a Just and lasting solution has been found to the Palestine question. The intifadah and its consequences have produced sudden and unprecedented demands for services and assistance in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Through its active presence and its flexible response to those developments, the Agency has been able to meet changing needs through its emergency programme for the occupied territories which include increased medical and relief services and additional international staff to provide general assistance to the refugees. Emergency measures, in addition to regular programmes, have also been necessary to meet the special needs of refugees in Lebanon. In Jordan and in the Syrian Arab Republic, UNRWA has continued its regular programmes of education, vocational training, and health and relief services. In all fields of operation, the Agency continues to fulfil its mandate and plays a useful role in creating favorable conditions for the peace process in the region.

The Advisory Commission notes that the Agency, through stringent budgetary measures, will manage to fund its operations, including its emergency activities, through the end of 1989. The Commission, however, shares your concern that the emergency programmes for 1990 are still unfunded and that no systematic and orderly flow of resources has been established to meet the needs created by continuing emergency situations in three out of five fields of operations. In that respect, the Commission urges all Member States and other donors to participate in the timely funding of the Agency's emergency operations, as well as the regular programmes in 1990.

The Advisory Commission notes with appreciation the efforts of the Governments of host countries to facilitate the operations of UNRWA, as well as the Governments' activities, contributions and assistance on behalf of the Palestine: refugees.

The Advisory Commission is deeply concerned, however, over the increasing difficulties and interference UNRWA is encountering in carrying out its operations as a result of the actions of the government authorities, as described by you in the relevant parts of your report. In situations where the refugees are enduring severe hardship and when assistance is most needed, such interference adds to their suffering. The Commission therefore strongly appeals for support of UNRWA operations.

The Advisory Commission was briefed on the question of the compulsory tenth year of education in Jordan and urges you to take the necessary steps in order to enable the Agency to work with the Government of Jordan to ensure that, after the expiration of the three- year transitional period, those Palestine refugee children provided for by UNRWA in Jordan will continue their studies for a tenth year, in line with the agreement arrived at between the Government of Jordan and the Agency.

The Advisory Commission requests the Agency to pursue its programmes as set out in the report, and to continue to respond flexibly to the emergency needs of the population concerned.

The members of the Advisory Commission thank the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his continued support of UNRWA and his endeavors to ensure the Agency's financial viability. We also wish to express our deep appreciation, Mr. Commissioner- General, for the unwavering commitment shown by you and your staff, and for the Agency's vigorous-and creative response to the many challenges it faces in the difficult conditions in its area of operations.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Michael H. NEWLIN

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 order to fulfil the humanitarian mandate entrusted to it by the General Assembly under resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the-Near East (UNRWA) has had to adapt to an environment that is ever-changing and often unpredictable. Having provided emergency relief to the refugees who fled Palestine as a result of the 1948 war, the Agency developed over the years into an entity managing quasi-governmental education, health and welfare programmes. The events that took place before and throughout the reporting period have created additional needs among the refugee population and, at the same time, raised new expectations of the Agency on the part of the international community. The spectrum of requirements has never been so wide: traditional programmes, emergency assistance, protection in the form of general assistance social and developmental functions – in a revival of the “works" component in the Agency's title – all have come to be seen as different but equally necessary elements in the performance of the mandate.

2. UNRWA is striving to meet those expectations under varied and, often, difficult circumstances. During the past year, the Agency was at times hard-pressed to satisfy the requirements of programme implementation while keeping up with the quickened pace of refugee needs. In strengthening programmes, in pursuing new concepts and activities in the daily realities of the fields, many obstacles had to be overcome. These were political, related to security, or derived from the insufficiency of financial and human resources.

3. Recent developments led not only to the establishment of what are defined as separate emergency, or extraordinary, programmes. The complex humanitarian, social and political circumstances demanded that UNRWA – like all parties involved in one way or another in the Palestine question – keep under constant review its traditional work methods and activities. For example, emergency treatment, casualty care and rehabilitation were strongly emphasized with regard to health. Alternative ways to pursue the same goals had to be sought in education, and relief services were gradually adapting to a changing economic environment. Specific information about the activities carried out during the reporting period is provided elsewhere in the present report. In this introduction, I should like to highlight some special concerns.

4. Between July 1988 and June 1989, Palestine refugees were confronted with emergencies in Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere, too, they encountered hardships, particularly in the economic sphere. In Lebanon, the camps' war in west Beirut abated in July 1988 and confrontations between rival militias decreased markedly following an accord in January 1989. In February 1989, however, major clashes erupted again. By mid-March, hostilities affecting east and west Beirut were widespread and serious, while random, violence, kidnappings and strikes intensified throughout the country. It is estimated that at least 40 refugees were killed as a direct consequence of the turmoil.

5. Against such a background, this was a period of emergency operations and consolidation for UNRWA in Lebanon, particularly in the wake of the wholesale damage inflicted on Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps in west Beirut. Roads wore cleared in the camps, water supplies and piping restored, heavy rubble gradually removed. In September 1988, the Agency started to make payments to selected families to help them repair their shelters. While those activities proceeded, albeit intermittently, new casualties occurred and hundreds of families were displaced from Beirut as a consequence of the fighting. In central Lebanon, some of the heaviest shelling in years forced the closure of all schools in mid-March. Palestine refugees were also among those most severely affected by the economic disruption and shortage of basic goods. At the same time, the distribution of medical and food supplies and equipment, as well as numerous relief initiatives, were hampered by the prevailing circumstances. The importation of goods, their clearance through customs and their subsequent distribution met with constant difficulties for reasons ranging from-lack of access to the ports to major security constraints.

6. In mid-April 1989, the shelling of west Beirut caused heavy damage to offices and vehicles at the Agency's central warehouse compound. On 26 April, in order to safeguard the staff and to ensure the continuity of administrative and supervisory work, I ordered that essential field office personnel be temporarily relocated from Beirut to the Siblin Training Centre near Saida. On 8 May, just three hours after the last staff member had been evacuated, several shells landed very close to the field office and central Lebanon area office in west Beirut sending shrapnel through protective metal sheets and reinforced windows. As the reporting period ended, Agency operations and central warehousing were still being managed from Siblin and an emergency distribution of rations was under way – the fifth such distribution since May 1987.

7. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Agency's performance in Lebanon during this period was that services to Palestine refugees continued at all in spite of the chaotic situation and dangers involved. By using a great deal of flexibility and adaptability in the implementation of its programmes, the Agency strove to pursue its mandate under often appalling circumstances. In addition to the difficulties of refugees, the situation of Agency staff caused concern. Their living and working conditions were difficult: in the last few months of the reporting period, the residences of 10 out of 12 Agency international personnel based in Lebanon were hit and damaged to varying degrees by-shell fire. I must draw attention to the dilemma caused by the need to manage and control operations throughout the country, while trying to ensure staff safety. Far-reaching decisions had to be made almost every day, and lasting, equitable solutions became increasingly difficult.

8. In the occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the intifadah and the Israeli response thereto continued to affect virtually all activities, including the Agency's operations. While the level of unrest fluctuated during the reporting period, the underlying trend was clearly one of escalating violence and casualties. The Israeli authorities adopted harsh measures when faced with incidents and demonstrations; gunfire was frequently used. The use of live rounds, including conventional live ammunition and so-called plastic bullets, rose substantially. Between 1 July 1988 and 30 June 1989, 107 Palestine refugees were killed in Gaza and 196 in the West Bank. From mid-November onwards, the level of violence remained very high. During the first nine months of the intifadah in Gaza, there was a total of about 560 injuries from live rounds; in June 1989 alone, the figure was 244, 11 of whom died. The information available to UNRWA – which is not comprehensive – indicates that, since the beginning of the intifadah in the West Bank and Gaza, more than 30,000 Palestinians have sought medical attention for injuries. The Agency's health services were stretched to the limit in trying to cope with the increased caseload.

9. In addition to the use of firearms, other severe measures were employed against Palestine refugees in the occupied territory. Individuals were arrested or detained without charge or trial in substantial numbers, the treatment of prisoners or detainees was often harsh and demeaning, and there were indiscriminate beatings and deliberate damage to property, including Agency property. Houses were demolished or sealed and entrances to camps were blocked.

10. Together with strikes, curfews severely affected the mobility of people and their capacity to work. In Tulkarm camp in the West Bank, for example, a curfew, lasted as long as 17 days. The problem, however, was particularly acute in Gaza, where the reporting year ended with the level of curfews at its highest since the beginning of the intifadah. In the first 15 months of the intifadah there were 15 days of general curfew in the Gaza Strip, while between April and June 1989 there were 17. The days of curfew in 11 camps or areas throughout the Gaza Strip were 143 in April, 151 in May and 101 in June i989, as compared to 57, 34 and 47 for the same months in 1988.  At the same time, stronger economic pressures were applied, for example, by restricting the fishermen's movements at sea, or by limiting access to work in Israel. The increasing 'military and economic pressure could cause further escalation in the level, of violence.

11. In the West Bank, schools remained closed for most of the reporting period by order of the Israeli authorities, thus depriving children – 36,600 in UNRWA schools alone – of their basic right to education. Providing education for young refugees is a fundamental task of UNRWA, indeed a source of historic pride for the Agency. On various occasions and in different forums, I brought the Agency’s extreme concern to the attention of the Israeli authorities – unfortunately, to no avail. As months went by, and short of the only acceptable solution, which would be to reopen the schools, the Agency sought alternative ways to reach out to the children with some educational initiatives. The Israeli authorities, however, did not allow UNRWA teachers to visit first, second and third grade children in their homes to distribute educational material. Since that decision could not be understood on security grounds, it strengthened the argument of those who claimed that the closure of schools was a form of collective punishment.

12. Contacts and co-operation with the Israeli authorities at the higher official levels remained normal during the reporting period. There was, however, heightened tension on the ground. Agency premises were violated more often than before and used as observation posts or even interrogation or detention centres. There was deliberate large-scale destruction of Agency property, especially boundary walls. Interference with the freedom of movement of staff increased. Starting in late 1988, passes were required when curfews or similar measures were imposed; few such passes, however, were allotted for the Agency's staff. That seriously affected essential services, including emergency health assistance, when they were needed most. A number of local staff were arrested and detained without charges being leveled against them or the Agency being informed of the reasons for their detention. Many complained of maltreatment at the hands of the authorities while in detention and elsewhere. Aggressive behavior and physical harassment became more frequent also towards international staff and some were briefly detained during the performance of their official duties. Israeli settlers in the occupied territory occasionally harassed refugees and staff alike. This was a growing phenomenon of great concern to the Agency. Advance warning was seldom given by the Israeli authorities when measures were taken affecting the premises, operations and personnel of the Agency. Communications drawing attention to major concerns generally received no substantive reply.

13. While different in scope and implications for both the refugees and the Agency, some other events in the area of operations should be mentioned. Following a decision announce in August 1988, Jordan took a series of measures to sever legal and administrative links with the West Bank. As part of those measures, the services of almost all personnel employed by the Government of Jordan in the West Bank were terminated and the validity of West Bankers' passports was limited to two years. The Government also cancelled its West Bank development plan, abolished the Ministry of Occupied Territories Affairs and replaced it with the Department of Palestinian Affairs, and announced that only those whose normal place of residence was in Jordan before 31 July 1988 could be considered Jordanian citizens.

14. During the reporting period, Jordan's national economy faced hard times and the price of many basic commodities rose. And in the Syrian Arab Republic, the economic situation created difficulties for the Palestine refugees. Such developments in two countries that had provided a relatively stable financial environment for refugees would appear to be indicative of a regional trend. To compound the difficulties in the Israeli-occupied territory and in the Arab host countries, the economy slackened in other parts of the Middle East, such as the Gulf States, which traditionally absorbed an important share of the Palestinian skilled and semi-skilled labor force. The consequences for Agency programmes became obvious during the past year and required, inter alia, special care in the organization and management of relief services.

15. For over a year, the Agency has been running programme and administrative work only double track in three of its five fields. Unfortunately, the fear I expressed last year proved well-founded: temporary activities that had to be undertaken in response to emergencies are becoming ongoing features of UNRWA operations. 1/  This does not simply raise costs for a limited time, but it also creates the need for contributions of greater size and assured continuity. So far, the response to the additional needs resulting from the situation in the occupied territory and to a lesser extent, in Lebanon, has been generous. Donations in cash and in kind have been coming from traditional contributors, as well as from new ones; indeed, the spectrum of support for Agency programmes broadened somewhat, particularly among Arab countries. During the reporting period, there was also an important and welcome surge of interest and financial help on the part of inter- governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and other institutions such as trade unions.

16. All this, however, occurred outside the requirements of regular operations and was mostly seen as ad hoc assistance related to special circumstances that caused immediate humanitarian and political concern. Thus, while I am encouraged and grateful for this response, which, according to current forecasts, will allow the Agency to meet its financial obligations until the end of 1989, continue to be concerned that support should be steady and sustained as long as necessary. Indeed, when looking ahead to 1990, there are obviously serious concerns. The Agency anticipates increased requirements in emergency food, health and relief assistance. More money will be needed to ensure the flexibility in operations and logistics that alone enables the Agency to continue to work in Lebanon. Even more would be necessary to meet the repeated requests by the General Assembly to resume the interrupted general ration distribution to refugees in all fields. 2/

17. These are but a few factors that have to be considered in relation to a regular programme of activities, whose rigid cost components allow very little room for maneuvering, and where many important needs, particularly in construction and infrastructure work, remain unmet. Increasingly volatile exchange rates and money markets in most of the countries in which the Agency operates also complicate the financial planning and management. The Agency will continue to use its limited resources with utmost care and according to strict priorities. At the same time, hope that traditional donors, as well as other Governments that could broaden the Agency’s financial basis, recognize that oft-repeated appeals are not at all perfunctory and that their assistance is truly indispensable.

18. The Secretary-General and his offices continued to lend UNRWA most valuable support, which I appreciated very much. The Agency welcomed the appeal for assistance to Lebanon that was launched by the Secretary-General in April 1989. I had long advocated an integrated approach to the problems of that beleaguered country, in which the Agency has a specific role to play. The Agency reiterated its offer to share the burden of this difficult but most necessary undertaking. During the reporting period, the Agency established closer contacts and exchanges of information with organizations in the United Nations system. An informal inter-agency meeting on co-operation for an effective response to the economic and social, needs of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory was convened by UNRWA in March 1989 with the participation of seventeen United Nations offices and specialized agencies. Co-operation and mutual support with other international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross were most useful, particularly in relation to the emergencies in Lebanon and the occupied territory.

19. The General Assembly, in resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949, established UNRWA and so this year marks its fortieth anniversary, which, unfortunately, is no cause for celebration. For those who work in the Agency, it is rather an occasion to honor the colleagues who have dedicated long years – at times their lives – to the pursuit of its goals. It is also a time to consider achievements and frustrations, dreams and hard realities, and to renew a shared commitment to our work. For the international community and for the Palestine refugees, however, the anniversary is most of all a stark reminder of the failure to resolve one of the most unsettling political and humanitarian issues of our time. I am well aware that the solution can only be political and, thus, is not within the scope of responsibilities of the Agency or the realm of the possible. I believe, however, that, during this time of transition, more than ever before, UNRWA can have an important, practical role in facilitating efforts towards peace.

II.  OVERALL DEVELOPMENTS IN AGENCY PROGRAMMES

A.  Education

20. The education programme of UNRWA provides nine grades of general education, vocational and technical training, pre-service and in-service teacher-training and scholarships for higher education for Palestine refugees. The programme operates with technical assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

21. During the 1988/89 academic year, the Agency reached an enrolment capacity of 351,100 refugee children through six grades of elementary education and the first three-years of secondary education the preparatory cycle – in 628 schools (see, annex I, table 5). That figure represents an increase of about 1,750 over the previous school year. As 90 out of 98 schools in the West Bank, with a pupil population of 36,600, were closed by military order during the entire reporting period, the Agency was only able to provide schooling to 314,500 students. In the Gaza Strip, only a small number of schools were ordered closed by the Israeli authorities, but there was considerable disruption due to frequent curfews, strikes and widespread unrest. In the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan, schools operated satisfactorily and without interruption. In Lebanon, despite the generally disturbed situation, the majority of schools functioned throughout the year with only local short-lived interruptions. In central Lebanon, however, 20 schools have been inoperative for security reasons since mid-March 1989.

22. During the 1988/89 academic year, the Agency provided places for 4,100 vocational trainees and 850 teacher trainees in its eight training centres (see annex I, table 6). Owing to the closure of the three centres in the West Bank by order of the Israeli authorities, the number of active training places was actually reduced to 3,160 vocational trainees and 300 teacher trainees. Two studies were conducted in order to assess the needs of the labor market for vocational training and teacher-training graduates. Their findings were taken into consideration in preparing the medium-term plan and in developing placement services in the fields and at headquarters to provide better employment opportunities for graduates. On the basis of an ongoing market research into employment opportunities in the host countries and in the Arab Middle East, the Agency also planned a net increase of 19 courses in its training centres during the period covered by the current medium-term plan, which extends through 1992.

23. Wherever schools and training centres operated normally, UNRWA students once again achieved excellent results in the various State examinations and, where comparisons were possible, out-performed those of other institutions. That reflected the motivation of pupils, staff and parents, who continued to see education as the gateway to self-improvement in their existence as refugees.

24. Some school and classroom construction was carried out during the year thanks to the generosity of donor Governments and organizations. The class occupancy rate in Agency-built school premises was lowered to 48 pupils and each field was provided with one school supervisor post for certain key subjects. Specialist personnel continued to provide guidance and assistance to the education staff in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon in the preparation of contingency and compensatory plans to recoup the teaching time lost because of the continued closure or disruption of schools and training centres.

Figure 1. Ratio of male/female students in 1950/51 and 1988/89

(percentage)

1950/51

(42,000 pupils)

25. The funds allocated for the Agency's scholarship programme have not increased for the past few years and many qualified candidates lost the opportunity of receiving a university education. Through the efforts of volunteer staff, funds were raised from individuals from Jordan and other Arab countries to offer university scholarships to Palestine refugee youth, but much more is required to a meet the growing needs and potential of the refugee community. Projects were prepared to obtain additional contributions for university scholarships for students who excel in their secondary school certificates and for fellowships for selected education staff.

26. Many of the Agency's school buildings need urgent replacement. About One fourth of the schools are located in rented buildings that are totally unsuitable and lack basic facilities, such as specialized rooms (science laboratories, libraries, etc.), satisfactory sanitary facilities and playgrounds. Other schools are in prefabricated premises that have gone many years beyond their life expectancy and are uneconomical to repair. In Gaza, many of the school buildings were constructed in the early 1950s and are now crumbing.

27. Due to the continued growth in the number of students and to population movements, new classrooms must be constructed every year to avoid triple shifts in individual schools. It is also necessary and urgent to replace school toilet blocks that have become inadequate and dilapidated to the point of being health risks. The Agency, however, was not able to fund that programme from its regular budget and remained almost entirely dependent on individual donations from Governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Other factors also hindered the programme. In the occupied territory and Lebanon, it was difficult to find contractors who could carry out the work quickly and satisfactorily, while constraints, such as frequent curfews, strikes and fighting, caused delays in actual construction.

B.  Health

28. The health care programme of the Agency, which is primarily community-health- oriented, provides basic health services for the eligible refugee population (see annex I, table 8). The programme comprises curative and preventive medical care services, environmental health services in camps and a nutrition and supplementary feeding service. Its objective is to meet the basic health needs of the refugees in a manner consistent with the humanitarian policies of the United Nations and the basic principles and concepts of the World Health Organization (WHO).

29. Although unsatisfactory environmental health conditions prevailed in moist camps, morbidity and mortality from communicable diseases continued to show a decreasing trend (see annex I, table 10). No major epidemics preventable by, immunization took place. Even when an outbreak of poliomyelitis affected Israel in the autumn of 1988, no cases were reported among Palestine refugees in the occupied territory. Nevertheless, UNRWA decided to launch a campaign to vaccinate all refugees below 40 years of age. In spite of the difficulties with the vaccination of students caused by the closure of schools in the West Bank, the campaign was successfully completed by November 1988.

30. According to studies conducted in all fields, infant mortality rates were within the range of 25 to 35, which is far below the target of 50 deaths per 1,000 set by WHO for developing countries by the year 2000. Coupled with a significant drop in rates, the pattern showed continuous decreasing mortality from infectious diseases and an increasing proportion of deaths from congenital causes and from causes which originate in pregnancy and childbirth. The prevalence of malnutrition among refugee children was maintained at very low limits, although deteriorating economic and social circumstances in most fields suggested caution and a need for constant monitoring of the situation.

31. During the period under review, a number of local developments had adverse implications for the Agency's health programme. The emergencies prevailing in three fields not only created mounting demands, but also required a rapid change of emphasis from primary prevention, focused on at-risk groups, towards greater involvement in emergency and casualty care. It also became necessary to assist segments of the refugee population, and at times even non-refugees, who were not normally eligible for UNRWA services. In all fields, the deterioration of the economic conditions and the ever-increasing cost of medical care, especially that provided at government and private hospitals, had a two-fold effect on the programme. On the one hand, they increased the demand on health services and, on the other, they required additional resources that were beyond the capability of the Agency. During 1988, there was a 15 per cent increase over 1987 in the number of medical consultations (see annex I, table 9). The increase could have been even greater had not access to UNRWA clinics in the occupied territory been limited owing to restrictions on the movements of refugees. Lastly, the situation in Lebanon and in the occupied territory gave rise to psychological and social problems that could not be assessed as yet, but that would definitely require attention in the immediate future.

32. Despite those difficulties, the Agency basically maintained its normal health operations and managed to ensure medical and nutritional support to the refugee population in Lebanon and in the occupied territory. A programme was developed for the repair and restoration of health premise's and environmental health facilities that were damaged during the repeated rounds of fighting in Lebanon. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Agency introduced a programme of extraordinary measures to meet emergency requirements and an expanded programme of assistance that addressed long-standing needs that had become more manifest with the intifadah.

33. WHO helped address some of the most pressing problems, such as emergency and casualty care in the occupied territory, overcrowding at health centres and the possible deterioration of the nutritional status of vulnerable groups whose access to health services was limited by the restrictions imposed on health personnel and refugees. A team of WHO consultants made specific recommendations on the primary emergency-care system of UNRWA, transport and communication, hospital services, nursing requirements, rehabilitation of the disabled and social psychiatric considerations.

Figure 2. leading causes of infant mortality January-December 1988

(percentages)

34. A special operational research project was carried out in Jordan in order to study patient-flow at UNRWA health centres and to recommend appropriate measures to improve operational efficiency and reduce the patients' waiting time. Two phases of the study were completed and a third mission, followed by a workshop, was planned for September 1989 with the participation of staff from all fields in order to ensure that the findings and remedial actions would be applied throughout the Agency.

35. Some additional posts were established to meet natural population growth, reduce workloads and service new facilities and programmes. Those improvements were reinforced by comprehensive, in-service training, courses and inter-field workshops for, the various categories of health personnel in co-ordination with the ministries of health of the Governments of host countries, local universities land hospitals and WHO. Several staff members received fellowship awards for post-graduate training and WHO awarded fellowships to UNRWA supervisory staff and other categories for short training courses in a wide range of subjects. Plans were also under way to construct and equip a health training centre in Amman, which is intended to be a training facility for staff from all fields.

36.   Water supply, liquid waste disposal and general sanitation in the camps of all fields, especially in the grossly overcrowded Gaza Strip, urgently need to be brought closer to international health standards. The quality and coverage of maternal health care must improve, especially to ensure the detection of high-risk pregnancies in and out of the camps. Changes of disease patterns among the refugee population should be monitored and recognized more readily, and recent efforts, for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases should be intensified. A major effort is also needed to improve the very unsatisfactory level of hospital facilities in Gaza.

C.  Relief services

37. The Agency, from its inception, has been charged with the dual responsibility of providing short-term relief and longer-term programmes to promote social and economic rehabilitation, without prejudice to the right of the Palestine refugees to return to their homes or receive compensation for their losses. Traditionally, the primary focus of the relief services programme has been on the first of those concerns. There continues to be a need for material assistance to the small percentage of refugees who are chronically unable to provide for themselves and, as an emergency measure, to victims of war or other disaster. In recent years, however, the Agency has looked beyond short-term aid to a longer-term approach through which individual Palestinians, their families and communities would gradually strengthen their own capabilities. During the reporting period, that process gained additional momentum.

38. The emergency measures in Lebanon and in the occupied territory were over and above the regular assistance given to registered refugees classified as "special hardship cases". Those are families with no male between the ages of 18 and 55 years in the household, or with one who is incapable, for medical reasons, of earning a living. As of the end of the reporting period, there were 33,247 such families, comprising 141,843 persons (see annex I, table 3). Material aid comprised food rations to provide a daily intake of 1,880 calories, blankets, summer and winter clothing for the children, assistance with the maintenance of shelters and small cash grants to meet urgent needs (see annex I, table 4). The sons and daughters of special hardship cases continued to receive preferential access to the Agency's vocational and teacher-training centres. After graduation, they are expected to provide for their families, which are then removed from the hardship rolls.

39. The criteria for that assistance rest on the incapacity or absence of the male head of household. By addressing the abilities of the family as a whole, however, it may be possible to develop self-reliance and eventually to reduce dependence on material handouts. A modest programme of grants for self-support projects was thus introduced to assist families to establish workshops or small businesses, with start-up capital and support from a social worker until they are firmly established. As at 30 June 1989, there were 182 families participating in this scheme, which was entirely voluntary. Hitherto, only a few of them had achieved a level of steady income which pulled them out of the welfare net. As it is most important to make available the necessary professional expertise to guide the initial stages of projects, during the reporting year, five relief services staff members were sponsored by two Governments to attend courses in small-scale income-generating and self support enterprises and workshops were held to review successful techniques and plan improvements.

40. Aside from material aid and self-support grants, disadvantaged refugees often need help in confronting the social problems that beset their families. It is important for the social workers that they be able to develop a relationship of confidence within which the problems underlying their clients’ hardship or contributing to it can be addressed and relieved. For the past few years, all new recruits have been graduates in social work or a related social science, and they were required to attend professional in-service courses. In 1989, the Agency made available additional funds to upgrade the skills of its social workers, and for the first time in this programme, has sought post-graduate fellowships for key staff members.

41. For Many years, UNRWA has offered Palestinian women courses in dressmaking and traditional embroidery, home-making skills, health education and literacy training. During the reporting period, 1,047 young women participated in sewing courses at 36 centres scattered throughout the area of operations, and were awarded diplomas recognized by prospective employers. To strengthen efforts on behalf of women, two surveys were conducted in each field: the first on the services offered to women by local and international organizations; and the second on the women's needs and wishes as perceived by women themselves. Results were to be reviewed at a workshop to be held in August 1989 for women's programme officers (one in each field). At the same time, two centres were being upgraded and five new multi-purpose centres for women's programmes were under construction.

42. Among other initiatives to promote self-reliance, a small credit enterprise programme that the Agency was sponsoring, in partnership with a non-governmental organization, had achieved gratifying success. Since the first loans were made in the West Bank and Gaza in January 1988, the programme had assisted 133 projects – a three-year schedule completed in 18 months. Loans were made for an average of three years to projects whose feasibility had been carefully examined. They were typically $US 10,000 and carried an average interest rate of 6.5 per cent. Repayments were made into a revolving fund. Despite the problems associated with the intifadah, three quarters of the repayments were received on time and delays were mostly less than 30 days. In June 1989, the programme was introduced in Jordan. The operation of this programme is described in more detail in the sections dealing with each of those three fields (see paras. 53, 97 and 116).

43. Studies suggest that around 1.3 per cent of the Palestine refugees suffer from sensory or mental handicap or cerebral palsy. In Lebanon and in the occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza, the number of the handicapped was augmented by victims of war, the intifadah and the Israeli response thereto. The Agency subsidized 167 children in specialized institutes; educated and trained 107 blind children and young people at the Agency's own Training Centre for the Blind in Gaza, where it also ran small production units for blind adults; and facilitated the provision of services in refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon by local and international non-governmental organizations. In Jordan, a programme of community-based rehabilitation assisted 205 physically and mentally handicapped children in four centres, and preparations were well under way for a fifth one. The value of that programme in involving the families of the disabled, volunteers from the refugee camps themselves and local community organizations was confirmed repeatedly, and it was decided to introduce community-based rehabilitation in the other four fields. An interdepartmental task force was set up to develop an appropriate set of strategies for a co-ordinated education, health and social-services approach to the needs of the disabled and their families.

44. The socio-economic assistance to the Palestine refugees, then, encompasses not only material aid, but a longer-term process of building up capabilities and helping families resolve some of their problems – a social-services approach. While direct relief will continue to be provided, the Agency is devoting increasing attention to its-social and economic activities.

III.  JORDAN

A.  Education

45. In Jordan, the operation of the 197 UNRWA schools with a total of 134,000 pupils was normal throughout the 1988/89 school year. Pupils from Agency schools once again achieved very high pass rates in the general examination for admission to the upper secondary cycle. A school in Jarash was constructed during the reporting period, including 20 classrooms, specialized rooms and several school latrine units. Effective from the 1989/90 school-year, the Government of Jordan will increase the preparatory cycle by one year, thus extending compulsory education to 10 years. All teachers in elementary and preparatory cycles will also have to possess a first university degree in order to obtain the Education Profession License.  This, in practice, leads to an increase in the duration of the pre-service teacher-training from two to four-years, and will make it necessary for those already teaching to undergo in-service training up to the same level.

46. The practice of UNRWA over the years has been to provide educational services equivalent to those of the host country. In the present instance, the Agency, while welcoming the improvement that the changes would make, is concerned that a substantial increase in expenditure would be required. If UNRWA were to extend the compulsory cycle in Jordan, the cost to the Agency is estimated at $3,300,000 in 1990-91, with a recurrent annual cost of $2,300,000. In the West Bank, where the Jordanian education system is followed, the tenth year would normally be introduced in 1991-92 at a cost of $1,100,000, with a recurrent annual cost of $770,000. It is clear that before the Agency can commit itself to additional expenditure of that magnitude, the matter will have to be considered in great detail. To that end, the Agency is continuing its discussions with the Jordanian authorities and is carrying out an internal study of the financial and administrative implications. It will also be recalled that the Agency's Advisory Commission, at its meeting in August 1988, decided to study further the implications of those changes for the Agency's education services in Jordan.

47. The Amman Training Centre and the Wadi Seer Training Centre, which operated successfully during the academic year, have a capacity of 1,170 students and, provide 28 courses in vocational and technical fields. In the state examinations, held in July 1988, their trainees graduated with outstanding results. A donor Government provided experts and equipment for two courses at one of the training centres. In the Amman Training Centre, 300 training places were provided for trainee teachers and, in this area too, trainees were quite successful in the 1988 state examinations.

B.  Health

48. The Agency improved its infrastructure of health facilities in Jordan by constructing additional health centres and replacing inferior premises. Special contributions permitted the construction and operation of two health centres, one at Marka camp and another at Jarash camp, the construction of two maternal and child health centres in Baqa'a and Marka camps, and the construction of a cool store at the field pharmacy in Amman.

49. The oral health services benefited from the establishment of a dental team at Jabal El-Hussein camp and the installation of a new dental unit at Talbieh camp donated by an embassy in Amman. Additional dental hygienists were recruited and more emphasis was placed on preventive oral health activities in maternal and child health clinics and UNRWA schools. A clinical laboratory was opened in Husn camp and a physiotherapy clinic was opened in Baqa'a camp, while special-care clinics were expanded and new equipment was acquired for audiological screening of school children. Most of those improvements were made possible by ad hoc contributions.

50. While the chronic problem of hospitalization costs for refugees remained largely unsolved in Jordan, the provisions for reimbursement of such costs were modified with effect from April 1989 by increasing the percentage of reimbursement to the non-hardship cases from 50 per cent to 75 per cent, and by including all hospitals of the National Medical Institution in the scheme. The contribution for specialized in-patient care was increased from 200 to 300 Jordanian dinars and five pediatric beds were subsidized in Ibn-Sina Hospital, Zarqa, effective February 1989.

51. By the end of the period under review, more than 90 per cent of the refugee shelters in Jordan had indoor water connections. All Agency installations and approximately 68 per cent of the shelters in Jabal El-Hussein, Amman New, Marka, Zarqa and Baqa'a camps were connected to the Government Water Authority systems. In addition, construction of an internal sewage scheme in Irbid camp was well in progress by the concerned municipality, while UNRWA installations and shelters of special hardship cases were connected to the sewage network. This was made possible by a contribution from a donor Government.

C.  Relief services

52. By the end of June 1989, 29,770 refugees registered with UNRWA in Jordan were enrolled in the special hardship category for direct relief assistance. That figure was below the Agency-wide average, but it represented an increase of almost 2,000 over 1988 – an indication of mounting economic difficulties.

53. Sixty-eight special hardship families operated self-support projects with the help of modest grants. The scope for the development of such projects in Jordan is considerable and some staff were being trained in appropriate intervention techniques with the financial support of a donor Government. In June 1989, following the successful experience in the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan became the third field to introduce an income-generating loan scheme for small enterprises.

54. Jordan pioneered initiatives in the community-based rehabilitation of the disabled. Thanks to the support of various non-governmental organizations, there are four centres in which volunteers from the refugee camps work with physically and mentally handicapped children and their families and, in March 1989, funds were donated to establish a fifth centre, serving the villages around Waqqas in the Jordan Valley. The rehabilitation programme received wide and generous assistance within the Jordanian local and expatriate community. Most important, however, was the commitment of the refugees themselves.

55. There were active programmes for women that included training in the skills of machine-knitting, typing, hairdressing and artificial flower-making, as well as sewing, embroidery and literacy classes.  In five camps, articles were produced for sale and, in November 1988, a shop was opened in Amman to add to the sales outlets. In the Baqa'a camp, the Jordanian authorities handed over to the Agency a disused post office, which was being renovated and equipped as a women's programme centre with funds from an embassy in Amman and a private concern.

IV.  LEBANON

A.  Education

56. During the 1988/89 school year, the 76 UNRWA schools in Lebanon had 33,000 pupils. The number of schools decreased by seven over the previous year owing to a variety of reasons, including the destruction of schools, movements of families as a consequence of the turmoil and the amalgamation of some school units. The total school population, however, remained about the same. The 1987/88 school year, which was scheduled to end in July 1988, was in fact completed at various times from July to the end of October, depending on the difficulties experienced in various localities. Summer vacations were drastically reduced where necessary to make up for lost time.

57. As a consequence of the late completion of the previous school year, the start of the 1988/89 school year was delayed in certain areas. On the whole, however, school operations were normal up to mid-March 1989, when 20 schools in the central Lebanon area had to close owing to the deterioration in the security situation in Beirut and its surroundings and remained closed at the end of the reporting period. That closure affected approximately 6,000 pupils. Contingency plans were drawn up to compensate for the teaching time lost as soon as the schools reopened.

58. The Siblin Training Centre provided a total of 624 training places in the 1988/89 academic year, covering a total of 18 vocational and technical courses. This was the second year of operation following a three-year closure and the number of training places provided was not far short of the full training capacity. The centre was affected to some degree by restrictions on the mobility of staff and students. The provision of boarding facilities to 400 trainees helped to minimize the effects of such restrictions and to avoid the high transportation costs which increased beyond the capabilities of many parents. The Siblin Training Centre is badly in need of renovation of the workshops, updating of equipment and replacement of unserviceable equipment.

59. One new school was brought into operation during the reporting period in Cast Beirut, where a large building was rented. Part of it, consisting of 25 rooms, is used as a school, other parts accommodate a sub-area office and a clinic. During the 1988/89 academic year, the school has had 355 pupils in 16 class sections. The school provides education to one of the poorest Palestinian communities in Lebanon, which, in the absence of public schools in the area, could not afford the high tuition fees charged by private schools. At reporting time, reconstruction of a 33-classroom boys' school was under way in Ein el-Hilweh camp.

60. In spite of the critical situation in Lebanon, which hampered new initiatives and even physical mobility, the field Education Department, as a staff undertaking, succeeded in establishing, furnishing and equipping an audio-visual unit with equipment provided by the Agency and UNESCO. Three decentralized learning resource centres were also opened, two in north Lebanon and one in Baqa'a, to provide the teachers of neighboring schools with reference books and materials.

B.  Health

61. Health operations were badly affected by the fierce fighting that erupted in mid-March 1989 in the central Lebanon area. Shells landed on refugee shelters and camps causing casualties and displacing an increasing number of refugee families.

62. The emergency measures authorized by the Commissioner-General in 1988 were extended through 1989. They included the provision of out-patient and in-patient medical-care services and nutritional support to refugees who were not normally eligible for UNRWA services as well as to non-registered Palestinians.

63. The deterioration of the economic conditions required renewed efforts to ensure the smooth running of health centres and to meet the increasing cost of medical-care services at private subsidized hospitals. Strict control had to be exercised on the service in order to keep expenditure within the budget.

64. The Agency managed to keep its health centres open and was also able to, attain a few qualitative improvements, including a new health centre that was opened in Burj Hammoud in east Beirut in January 1989, the establishment of five special-care clinics for diabetes and hypertension, the provision of dental care to the entire field through the recruitment of two additional dental teams for the Tyre and Beqa’a areas, and the extension of the community health programme to all refugee camps. In addition, UNRWA carried out repairs to the health centre in Burj el-Barajneh camp and completed the construction of a new health centre in Shatila camp.

65. Repairs of water networks and sewers were completed in Burj el-Barajneh where some 2,500 meters of main drains and sewers were constructed, and Shatila camps. The construction of a main sewer line in Ein el-Hilweh camp was also completed, and similar works were under way in Beddawi camp, where the corroded water-distribution network was being repaired in co-operation with UNICEF. Automatic chlorinators were installed at various water plants in refugee camps to control the quality of drinking water.

C.  Relief services

66. The reporting year in Lebanon began with the hope that the Palestine refugees would at last be able to rebuild their old homes; it ended with many once more displaced. Notwithstanding significant progress in repairing and reconstructing shelters in the Beirut camps, the Agency was concerned that so many refugees were living in extremely difficult conditions. In the spring of 1989, an estimated 5,000 refugees fled from the shelling in the central Lebanon area to seek safety in the north of the country or to Saida and Tyre; others sought asylum abroad.

67. Emergency operations and reconstruction programmes were mounted alongside the regular relief assistance, which reached the families of 31,719 refugees, that is, almost 11 per cent of the population registered with UNRWA. Until March 1989, the special hardship programme was largely unaffected by events in the country, and some Palestine refugees were thus somewhat protected from the worst effects of the economic squeeze that aggravated poverty among all needy groups.

68. In a field where it is especially difficult for refugees to find steady employment, the efforts of UNRWA and other agencies to promote income-generating schemes are much needed. Yet the constant turmoil and uncertainties prejudiced both efforts and success. Nevertheless, as of June 1989, 36 special hardship families were running self-support projects with Agency grants. Relief-services staff in Lebanon trained local social workers in identifying and guiding potentially viable projects.

69. In the 13 refugee camps in Lebanon, there are only four women's programme centres offering training in marketable skills to a total of 141 women. New centres were opened in the Nahr el-Bared and Ein el-Hilweh camps in February 1989, while a centre for Burj el- Shemali camp was being designed at reporting time. Apart from training, the centres offered a base for production and distribution of goods which brought a modest income.

70. A particular concern in Lebanon was the impact of 14 years of war on the physical and psychological health of children and young people. While there were no reliable statistics, the increase in the number of physically and mentally disabled was quite visible. A preliminary survey of 1,300 disabled refugees, contacted between November 1988 and January 1989 through Agency schools and health centres and local institutions for the disabled, showed a high incidence of partial or almost total paralysis and of loss of limbs. A house-to-house survey will follow to ensure the effective planning of a rehabilitation programme. In the mean time, the Agency initiated a series of activities culminating with a sports day for the disabled in June 1989, in which 147 physically and mentally handicapped refugees participated. Two summer camps were organized in August 1988 for 160 orphans and 60 disabled children, and another such venture took place in July 1989.

D.  Emergency operations and reconstruction programmes

71. During the period under review, while attempting to carry out its regular programmes, UNRWA had to assist families who had suffered death and injury, destruction of shelters and displacement from their normal locations. Lebanon's economic circumstances worsened acutely from mid-March onwards and affected most of the country's inhabitants. The poorer Palestinians bore their share of poverty-related burdens.

72. The extension of services beyond registered refugees to include all Palestinians resident in Lebanon continued during the reporting period. Funds were provided to increase the availability of hospital beds and special assistance was provided to displaced refugees and those affected by shelling, air attacks and other violence; the programme of aid for special hardship cases was further expanded and the distribution of food began in June 1989 to provide almost a quarter of a million Palestinians with a small amount of basic commodities.

73. The clashes affecting Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps in west Beirut continued into early July 1988 and left both locations in varying degrees of devastation. As the warring factions disengaged, Shatila camp, formerly home to over 1,500 refugee families, held only 20 families living in a wasteland of rubble and shattered concrete; in Burj el-Barajneh, where the shelling had been less severe and more localized, displacement of refugees and damage to shelters were on a smaller scale.

74. In October 1988, the Agency began clearance and repair operations in both camps and, as soon as infrastructural restoration was complete, cash grants were distributed to refugee families whose shelters had been damaged or destroyed. Progress in shelter repair in Burj el-Barajneh camp was reasonable, but, in Shatila, where damage was more severe and where the entry of building materials was strictly controlled, progress was slow despite extensive rubble clearance carried out by UNRWA using donated funds – and despite provision of limited construction materials inside Shatila by local Palestinian groups. When it became clear that refugees were not returning in the numbers originally anticipated, the cash grant programme was suspended in Shatila camp. The slow progress ceased: entirely during the 1989 shelling exchanges, but by the end of June, some 385 of the 1,500 shelters had been repaired or were under repair. Agency efforts to repair shelters continued with donated funds as families returned.

V.  SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

A.  Education

75. In the Syrian Arab Republic, 110 UNRWA schools with a student population of 53,000 were open without interruption in 1988/89. In spite of the fact that Some 90 per cent of the schools operated on a double-shift basis, Agency pupils fared quite well in the 1987/88 state general preparatory examinations when compared to the pupils of other schools.

76. Premises for two double-shift schools were constructed during the reporting period in Rukn Eddin (Damascus). However, many UNRWA schools in the Syrian Arab Republic need to be replaced, particularly in Dummar and Douma, and most of them have dilapidated sanitary facilities that represent health hazards for the student population. Poor ventilation, inadequate lighting I and overcrowding are recurring concerns throughout the field, but the Agency continued to experience difficulties in ensuring the funds necessary to address those problems.

77. In the 1987/88 academic year, 428 trainees graduated from the Damascus Training Centre. At reporting time, the Centre provided 764 training places covering a total of 19 vocational and technical courses, including a new course in business and office practice introduced in September 1988. Some of the workshops at the Centre need renovation, while little or no updating and replacement of teaching equipment has taken place since 1987, when an intergovernmental organization suspended the financial support it had been providing for that purpose.

B.  Health

78. In order to replace some of the most unsanitary and obsolete premises, UNRWA allotted funds during the reporting period for the construction and equipment of two health and nutrition centres in Muzeireeb village and Hama camp. The former was almost completed by the end of June 1989, while construction of the latter, had just begun. The population served by the old centres exceeded 8,200 and the number was expected to increase markedly once the new facilities would be in full operation. A clinical laboratory was constructed in Jaramana camp, while the local clinical laboratory in Yarmouk was being expanded and converted into a central laboratory which would serve patients referred to it by other clinics for routine as well as advanced laboratory tests. In spite of those modest improvements, in health as in education, the Agency continued to encounter serious difficulties in securing the funding for much needed capital construction projects.

79. The available provision of hospital beds for in-patient care was expanded, by subsidizing seven additional beds at private hospitals in Dera'a, Homs and Lattakia, thus facilitating the treatment of patients who would otherwise have to be referred to distant subsidized hospitals in Damascus and Aleppo. With the latest additions, the number of subsidized beds in the entire field amounted to 55.

80. Environmental health activities and programmes were carried out in co-operation with the Government of the host country and UNICEF. In Homs camp, a disused water plant was loaned to UNRWA by the governmental General Agency for Palestine Arab Refugees (GAPAR) for a period of 10 years. After making the necessary repairs, the Agency will utilize the plant to open a water point for refugee families and to supply its installations inside the camp.

81. In the Qabr Essit camp near Damascus, a 1988 survey of the health conditions of children and mothers found, inter alia, that water used in refugee shelters was C often contaminated and that 60 per cent of the children suffered from intestinal parasites. That led to the launching of a health education campaign and a subsequent upgrading of the water system and sewer lines funded by UNICEF. Those infrastructural works, which were completed in June 1989, will improve markedly sanitary conditions and waste water disposal in the camp.

C.  Relief services

82. At the end of the reporting period, 14,244 refugees received special hardship assistance representing 5.22 per cent of the registered refugee population; 44 of the special hardship families had elected to receive grants for small businesses. Effective support to those families required a relationship of trust between social worker and client built up over time and necessitated visits to the refugees' homes. Unfortunately, the Syrian authorities refused to allow home visits by Agency social workers and so the programme had to be suspended. At reporting time, dialogue was continuing between the Agency and the Government and it was hoped that a mutually acceptable modus operandi would shortly be reached.

83. The principle of the Agency and the beneficiaries working together is also fundamental to the shelter repair programme. In the Syrian Arab Republic, UNRWA provided the building materials needed to repair or reconstruct the dilapidated shelters of special hardship families; the families and the community provided the labor or the money to pay for it. In that way, $40,200 made it possible to reconstruct 21 mud-brick shelters and to re-roof or repair another five.

84. Eight centres for women's programmes ran courses in dress-making, traditional Palestinian embroidery, knitting, home economics and health education, in which 218 girls were enrolled. There was also a demand for literacy training, and three courses, organized in Nairab and Hama camps in co-ordination with the Syrian Union of Women and funded by a non-governmental organization were oversubscribed two months before they were scheduled to commence in early July 1989.

85. Support for the disabled included the referral of 48 children to specialized institutions for the handicapped, and the provision of prosthetic devices for 24 special hardship cases. This was admittedly minimal and plans were in hand to introduce community-based rehabilitation late in 1989. An introductory training workshop for social workers and colleagues, as well as health and education staff, was held in May 1989.

VI.  OCCUPIED TERRITORY

A.  West Bank

1.  Education

86. Of the 98 UNRWA schools in the occupied West Bank, with a total pupil population of 39,270, 90 schools with 36,600 pupils remained closed by order of the Israeli authorities for most of the year under review. Following closure until May 1988, the schools were allowed by the Israeli authorities to function for about two months. From late July until the end of August, they were on forced summer vacation and, before the new school year started, they were again ordered closed under repeated orders until the beginning of December. Schools operated intermittently in December 1988 and January 1989, but were again closed by military order effective 21 January 1989. The orders were renewed several times with the result that schools remained closed at the end of the reporting period.

87. Eight UNRWA schools located within the city limits of Jerusalem, with a population of 2,670 pupils, were allowed to start the 1988/89 school year on 1 October 1988 and operated reasonably well thereafter. Construction in the West Bank during the school year included three schools in Ya'bad, Roumaneh and Sur Baher, two classrooms, the erection of surrounding walls and the installation of protective screening for school windows.

88. With 90 of its 98 West Bank schools effectively out of action for the second consecutive year, the Agency became increasingly alarmed at the consequences of such prolonged closure on tens of thousands of pupils, particularly those at the lower elementary levels. Such pupils, with a relatively short period of school experience, risk forgetting much of what they have already learned. Consequently, the Agency sought to replace to some extent the missing classroom experience. Measures looked into included the possible use of television programmes broadcast from neighboring countries. They could be existing educational programmes, programmes to be produced by commercial concerns in co-operation with the Agency, or programmes produced entirely by UNRWA. Those options were still under consideration at the end of the reporting period.

89. Another possible means of compensating for the closure of the schools was the provision of basic written material to the pupils in their homes. By late March 1989 the Agency had produced learning kits that could be used by first, second and third grade students from six to nine years of age. The material included drills in reading and writing, Arabic and mathematics, with teaching instructions to parents and elder siblings. Unfortunately, when the commencement of the distribution was announced, the Israeli authorities forbade this attempt to help the younger school children.

90. UNRWA operates three training centres in the West Bank, two in Ramallah and one in Kalandia. They provide a total of 950 vocational and technical training places and 550 teacher training places. Since the beginning of 1988, all three centres, like other institutions of higher learning in the West Bank, have remained closed under Israeli military orders.

2.  Health

91. Despite all obstacles, UNRWA sought to maintain its health operations and to attain some achievements both in the regular programme and emergency care programme. School health services, however, were disrupted in all areas except East Jerusalem, and Agency teams were unable to carry out the regular immunization programme of school children. In the long run, that would depress the high level of immunization coverage sustained by the Agency over several years.

92. Starting in September 1988, 15 additional emergency medical teams were established to reinforce the available infrastructure of the 33 health centres or points throughout the West Bank. Duty hours were extended to provide afternoon shift's in the camps where confrontations between the inhabitants and the Israeli security forces occurred most frequently. Six additional health buses were acquired to improve the transportation of injured persons, and equipment was procured to upgrade services and capacities in casualty care for the refugee population. Nutritional support was expanded by provision of powdered milk, midday meals and dry rations to refugees who were not normally eligible for those services. Additional funds were earmarked to cover the-cost of emergency medical supplies and extra hospital expenses. In September 1988, the first physiotherapy clinic was established in the Balata health centre, in the Nablus area. The centre is run by a physiotherapy specialist, who is assisted by community volunteers.

93. The programme of construction and extension of health facilities moved slowly. None the less, construction of a new maternal and child health centre at Arroub, expansion of Askar camp health centre, construction of a new surgical ward at the UNRWA hospital in Qalqilia, and a laboratory, an X-ray unit and a dental clinic in Am'ari camp health centre were completed. Funding was also secured for the construction of additional primary health-care facilities as part of the expanded programme of assistance to the occupied territory.

94. Further improvements to UNRWA primary health-care facilities were attained by upgrading general clinical and supplementary-feeding equipment. That comprised the provision of two basic radiographic machines and furniture, heating and cooling facilities, and the supply of food-preparation equipment to 21 feeding centres and four sub-centres.

95. In the field of environmental health, one Government sponsored the construction of internal sewerage networks at Dheisheh and Am'ari camps, and funding was also made available for the connection of Dheisheh camp with the regional sewerage scheme of the Bethlehem municipality. Another donor Government agreed to fund internal sewerage networks at Askar, Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps. Work on the internal sewerage scheme at Am'ari camp was in progress, while implementation of the Dheisheh camp sewerage network project had begun.

3.  Relief services

96. During the reporting period, there was a substantial increase in the number of persons killed, deported, imprisoned, disabled or simply unable to support elderly parents living in separate households. In the West Bank, the number of refugees belonging to families registered for special hardship assistance reached 24,210. The regular programme of material assistance to the special hardship cases continued in parallel with emergency relief (see sect. D below). The regular and emergency programmes were both disrupted by curfews and strikes and hampered by difficulties in obtaining curfew passes for relief services staff.

97. While the need for direct relief was great, there was also an increased demand. for support from UNRWA and other aid agencies to small-scale income-generating enterprises. Under a joint programme established in January 1988, 51 projects were given loans in the West Bank for industrial workshops, food production and essential services. Material for fund-raising and training purposes was filmed during the year, and the first video was to be released in the spring. It was also possible to encourage some of the special hardship-cases to venture into self-support schemes, and 32 projects were active by June 1989.

98. Skill-training programmes continued somewhat fitfully, but 45 young men, who otherwise lacked a trade, graduated in November 1988 from courses at three carpentry centres, and a new course started in January 1989. Two hundred and sixty-nine young women were enrolled in the 11-month sewing courses at the women's programme centres and will graduate in the autumn.

99. Palestinian women in the West Bank came into much more prominence during the intifadah. With so many husbands and fathers unable to contribute regularly to the family, the need for women to earn money was far greater. On the other hand, the practical and socio-psychological problems which burdened refugee families weighed especially heavily on wives and mothers. The Agency's women's programme centres of which there are 15 in the West Bank, assisted women to meet those concerns. A new centre, funded by a non-governmental organization, opened in May 1989 in Askar camp, while the centre in Arrub camp was upgraded.

100. For maximum effectiveness, those facilities must be multi-purpose and open to more refugees. An innovative community centre under construction in Dheisheh camp will combine women's programmes with pre-school education and skill-training for unemployed youth. Financed by a Government, the centre will open in 1990.

101. The number of refugees handicapped from birth or disable-d in the intifadah was of major concern. Hitherto, the Agency had worked in co-operation with local organizations, which provided facilities at specialized centres or in the refugee camps. Over the reporting year, 11 children were subsidized at centres for the deaf, blind or crippled, while prosthetic devices were given to special hardship cases. In the refugee camps, services for the deaf were offered in Dheisheh and, for the mentally retarded, by two intergovernmental organizations in Balata camp. The health programme offered physiotherapy to victims of the intifadah; but it is imperative that this be accompanied by social and vocational rehabilitation and employment schemes, and plans to that end were being developed by the Agency.

B.  Gaza Strip

1.  Education

102. In the Gaza Strip, the 147 UNRWA schools, with a pupil population of 91,000, remained open. Twenty-one classrooms were constructed during the year.

103. The 1987/88 school year was not completed until late October 1988 following the implementation of a crash programme after the summer recess to make up for time lost during the first half of 1988. Schools were seriously affected by curfews, strikes and the general state of unrest; as many as 15 days per month were lost due to local curfews. On numerous occasions, tear-gas was fired into schools, troops entered individual schools, and pupils and teachers were often beaten within the premises.

104. Between September 1988 and June 1989, two students were killed inside Agency schools, 376 were injured by live rounds and rubber bullets and 76 were detained. Outside the schools, 11 were killed, 3,655 injured and 657 detained. In mid-May 1989, the Agency approached the Civil Administration to express its intention to extend the school year for six weeks to compensate for the teaching lost. Unfortunately, the response was negative. Plans were then made to implement a compensatory plan at the beginning of the next school year in September and October 1989.

105. The Gaza Training Centre had 608 training places and offered a total of 13 vocational and technical courses. Unfortunately, it was closed throughout most 1988 under Israeli orders, and was allowed to reopen on 13 October 1988. As in the schools, the activities of the Centre were thereafter interrupted by curfews and strikes. Because of the loss of teaching time during the first nine months of and after the reopening of the Centre in October, the 1987/88 academic year, which should have ended in July 1988, was extended to mid-May 1989. Thus, the 1987/88 academic year lasted for 20 months and was effectively spread over two academic years. As a consequence, the registration of new trainees, which would normally have taken place in October 1988, did not occur. Between September 1988 and June 1989, 61 trainees were detained and two were killed by live ammunition just outside the Centre.

2.  Health

106. The continuation of the intifadah placed health services in the Gaza Strip under considerable stress. The limited infrastructure of primary health-care facilities and the small number of hospital beds was inadequate for the number of injured persons, many of whom required a higher standard of care than was currently available.

107. In February 1988, after establishing eight additional medical teams to operate clinics from 0700 until 2000 hours every day, the Agency opened an emergency clinic in Beach camp and two night-duty clinics. Three additional night clinics were to be operational by 1 July 1989. Health buses were provided to all camps for the transportation of injured persons. Emergency medical supplies and equipment were also made available to health centres.

108. As of 30 June 1989, approximately 2,400 patients had benefited from the services of the physiotherapy clinics, which were established in May 1988 in co-operation with UNICEF. The clinics were integrated within the existing health centres in the largest camps for the treatment of individual patients requiring physical rehabilitation after accidental or other trauma.

109. None the less, emergency needs are great. UNRWA health centres require further improvement in order to increase their capacity, upgrade their equipment and improve the skills of staff. Even if such improvements were to be attained, however, there is a pressing need for the establishment of an adequately equipped hospital with a sufficient number of beds. It should be erected and in operation as soon as, possible in order to alleviate the severe shortage of hospital beds and the inability of refugees to meet the cost of treatment at government hospitals, which is now $170 per day.

110. Complementary to the emergency measures in health care, the Agency expanded its nutrition and supplementary-feeding programme to an additional 29,000 beneficiaries who normally would not be eligible for those services. The old bakery was replaced by a new one that is automatic in order to increase the bread-baking capacity.

111. Activities planned under the expanded programme of assistance to the occupied territory comprise the replacement of the old, dilapidated health centre premises at Deir el-Balah camp, the construction and equipment of a new health centre at Khan Younis and the establishment of two radiological units at Rafah and Nuseirat camps. In the field of environmental health, the expanded programme of assistance includes construction of an internal sewage scheme in Beach camp and construction of two reverse-osmosis plants in Khan Younis and Rafah camps to reduce the problem of water salinity, which represents a serious threat to human life and agricultural welfare because of the high chloride and nitrate content of the water.

112. The difficult situation and restrictions on the movement of staff, refugees and vehicles did not prevent the Agency from monitoring the conditions of children and pregnant women and sustaining the high coverage of an expanded programme of immunization.  The agreement concluded with Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was revised to subsidize 40 beds at a daily, rate of $45 per bed per day. In addition, work was in progress for the construction and equipment of new premises for a health centre in Gaza town, funded through a contribution from a donor Government, while a new dental clinic was established in the Rimal health centre and two new ophthalmic clinics were established at the Khan Younis and Jabalia health centres in July 1988.

113. The community health programme was expanded to Jabalia, Nuseirat, Bureij and Deir el-Balah camps, thus covering all refugee camps. A third mobile health team was established and the composition of the teams servicing the six maternal and child health sub-centres was strengthened by additional medical and nursing staff. That programme, which is sponsored by a non-governmental organization, proved to be the most cost-effective arrangement to serve the refugee population outside camps. A basic course in midwifery, supported by another non-governmental organization, commenced in March 1989 and it is anticipated that the trainees will graduate in October 1989.

3.  Relief services

114. Of the 469,385 Palestinians registered with UNRWA as refugees – about two thirds of the total inhabitants of the Gaza Strip – 41,900 belonged to families enrolled for special hardship assistance. Additional social workers were appointed to seek out those in need of extra welfare assistance. In common with other relief programmes, however, the performance of this function was hampered by the Israeli authorities' refusal to issue the required number of curfew permits to Agency staff.

115. It was more difficult in Gaza than in the other four fields to encourage refugees receiving special hardship assistance to embark on self-support projects. In considerable measure, that derived from the refugees' fear of the eventual loss of the material assistance on which they depend, in exchange for what, in the present circumstances, would be a highly uncertain income. Nevertheless, as of the end of June 1989, there were 10 self-support projects that were active among the special hardship families.

116. Additionally, the income-generating scheme, jointly sponsored by UNRWA and a non-governmental organization, found fertile ground in Gaza. By June, 87 projects had been funded and another 52 had been approved and were awaiting loans. The average incomes of the beneficiaries and their employees rose by 50 per cent. Projects included seedling nurseries, market gardening, a small shoe factory and a workshop for the production of sanitary ware.

117. Skill-training and other programmes were frequently disrupted. Nevertheless, 292 young women enrolled in the 11-month sewing course and the number of women attending the women's programme centres increased. Funds from two separate donors enabled the Agency to construct a new women's programme centre in Jabalia, to replace dilapidated premises and to upgrade the centre in Maghazi. The eight youth activities centres, however, all remained closed by order of the Israeli authorities.

118. Although still on a small scale, the Agency also assisted disabled people in Gaza to earn money through production units at the Training Centre for the Blind and in six of the refugee camps. Effective support for the disabled requires a multi-disciplinary effort from all three of the Agency's programmes, and plans are well under way for a combined health, education and relief initiative on behalf of the deaf. The Agency also continued to sponsor a number of children at specialized institutions and, in 1988/89, sent 26 disabled youngsters to centres for the deaf, dumb and crippled in the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan. Prosthetic devices were fitted for 67 disabled persons.

119. The Agency welcomed the first steps which were taken to bring back to Gaza families that were stranded on the Egyptian side of the international border in the so-called Canada Camp at Rafah when Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982. One family was reunited under the "family reunion" scheme and the Israeli authorities agreed that another 19 families could return if their relatives in the Gaza Strip would accommodate them. Meetings between the families on both sides of the border were arranged in June 1989; the actual transfer commenced on 26 June at the rate of two families per week. The Agency will continue to provide them with food rations for an initial six-month period while they get settled. Those families represent a only a few of the 838 in Rafah Sinai, and the future of the others is still uncertain. Meanwhile, the Agency continued to deliver food, blankets and clothing to the Canada Camp for some 4,200 refugees, who are mostly unemployed and living in conditions of hardship.

C.  Extraordinary measures

120. The Agency, in addition to its regular activities, undertook a programme of extraordinary measures to deal with the immediate effects of events in the occupied territory at an annual cost of about $22 million. Those extraordinary measures were in addition to the normal activities of the Agency and comprised emergency health and food assistance, social welfare activities and general assistance.

121. The medical programme included extension of the normal working hours of health clinics. Two clinics in Gaza were kept open 24 hours a day and the remainder stayed open with two shifts. In the West Bank, 16 clinics ran double shifts. That required the hiring of 114 additional staff. Supplementary medical supplies and equipment and 13 health buses for the evacuation of casualties were purchased and the payment of hospital costs and subsidies was increased. In addition, medical specialists were provided and a physiotherapy programme, mostly funded by UNICEF, was carried out in five clinics in Gaza and one in the West Bank.

122. The distribution of food alleviated the effects of the economic difficulties and of the interference with freedom of movement which interrupted normal food supply.  In both fields, the midday meal programme for children was extended along with the provision of supplementary food to infants and pregnant and nursing women to the benefit of 38,000 persons. UNRWA distributed food parcels through schools in Gaza, through Agency facilities or from the back of vehicles during, or immediately after, curfews in the West Bank. In order to respond quickly to the nutritional needs of the refugees, the Agency used the stocks that it had available for its regular food programme, and replenished them at a later stage with commodities either received in kind or purchased with funds received especially for the extraordinary measures.

123. The main extraordinary social welfare activities were an expansion of cash grants to assist those in sudden hardship because of, for example, the demolition of a shelter or the loss of the family bread-winner, and an expansion of the special hardship case programme. Temporary assistance was extended to non-refugees in cases of exceptional need.

124. As the general assistance programme employed primarily refugee affairs officers and legal officers in both fields to ensure a degree of passive protection to the refugees by strengthening the presence of international staff and to facilitate Agency operations and the movement of vehicles in emergencies. Those officers were also responsible for reporting incidents, interferences with the operations of the Agency, violations or improper use of Agency premises.

125. As the intifadah and the Israeli countermeasures continued, the Agency was forced to prolong its extraordinary measures by six-month extensions, the latest one of which expires on 31 December 1989. Funds had to be allocated for services the need for which was growing. For example, the hiring of casual sanitation labor for refuse collection in camps which were under curfew for long periods, or for salaries of those recruited to replace staff under detention. For the first six months of 1989, $11,235,000 was needed, and $10,575,000 was required for the second half of the year.

D.  Expanded programme of assistance

126. In the report submitted to the Security Council in accordance with its resolution 605 (1987) of 22 December 1987, the Secretary-General noted that he had requested the Commissioner-General, inter alia, to prepare proposals for improving the infrastructure of the camps and to seek the necessary funds (S/19443, para. 48). Subsequently, the Commissioner-General invited representatives of major donor countries and Governments of host countries to an informal meeting at Vienna, at which a broad plan of action was presented. The plan had a target working figure of approximately $65 million over the three-year period from 1988 to 1990; it was mainly intended to alleviate the miserable conditions under which refugees live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The creation of employment opportunities through a few economic development schemes was also envisaged.

127. After the plan was discussed and endorsed by the Advisory Commission of the Agency, an expanded programme of assistance to the occupied territory was developed in greater detail during 1988. It covered shelter rehabilitation; environmental sanitation, water supply, health services, including construction, supplies and equipment; employment, training, income-generating and self-support projects; logistics; improvement of Agency installations through which services are delivered; and some education projects. Many of those areas of urgent intervention were developed into projects made up of related activities and inputs for purposes of fund-raising and implementation.

128. A high priority in the expanded programme of assistance was to ensure that the refugees living in 27 camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have decent shelter and a sanitary environment. The Agency's efforts were to be directed to increasing the number of special hardship case shelters that are repaired or reconstructed in each of the refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to upgrading the quality of the rehabilitation. Shelters that are even more dilapidated than those belonging to the special hardship category may also be given priority attention. In preliminary discussions with the refugees, both families and communities indicated their continued support for the self-help principle, which may take the form of labor or donation of building materials. In-practice, however, the self-help may be limited because of strikes and curfews, the detention of many of the younger men who would normally supply labor, and the financial straits of many families and businesses. By mid-1989, social workers had completed a preliminary survey and had begun preparation of detailed information on the families to be assisted, their needs and present circumstances.

129. Environmental sanitation has always been a problem since the refugee camps were built on land not previously prepared with water mains and sewage facilities. Health hazards increased gradually owing to overcrowding, lack of maintenance, lack of or inadequate camp sewage systems and, more recently, curfews and strikes that impeded or prevented garbage and refuse collection and disposal. The sealing of many camp entrances further exacerbated the problem, since sewage tankers could not reach the percolation pits to empty them when required. The Agency developed sewage schemes for four camps in Gaza and for 13 camps in the West Bank, concentrating initially on those internal sewage systems that could be linked to regional municipal sewage schemes. Refuse disposal equipment and additional sanitation staff were provided to the worst-affected camps to collect and dispose of garbage and refuse.

130. The supply of potable water in the occupied territory is serious, but the problem in Gaza is particularly grave; the two main problems are increasing salinity and sewage pollution owing to over-consumption of limited supplies and lack of treatment plants. On the basis of a recent study, the Agency intends to proceed with the installation of two reverse-osmosis desalination plants in the most affected areas, namely, Rafah and Khan Younis, as an interim measure.

131. In addition to immediate measures mentioned in the previous chapter, the Agency developed projects to construct new health facilities, renovate and expand existing facilities, upgrade or provide new equipment and increase support to non-Agency health facilities, in particular those dealing with emergency and casualty care.

132. The number of light, medium and severe injuries handled by Agency clinics increased sharply, with the type of weapon and method of injury causing a wide variety of physical damage. Of the persons injured since the beginning of the intifadah, 30 per cent were children 15 years of age or under. Although there was no exact figure of the number of disabled persons, it was clear that the Agency had to expand its physiotherapy and rehabilitation programme. Accordingly, the Agency was planning to set up pre-fabricated physiotherapy units, four in the West Bank and five in Gaza, with supplies, equipment and some staff.

133. Against the target funding figure of $65 million for the expanded programme of assistance, at reporting time the Agency had received cash or pledges of $29,168,410. Many of the projects are under implementation, while others for which pledges had been received were under preparation for implementation. Some sectors were being further researched to enable the Agency to prepare viable and feasible project proposals for submission to potential donors.

VII.  LEGAL MATTERS

A.  Agency staff

134. Last year's report referred to a substantial increase in the number of staff arrested and detained without charge or trial in the occupied territory as compared with previous years. That trend continued during the period under review. The Israeli occupation authorities also deported a staff member from the Gaza Strip. In Lebanon, the total number of staff kidnapped or detained decreased (see annex 1, 11).

135. The Agency remained 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 was unable to ascertain whether the staff members' official functions were involved. It was also unable 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 13 February 1946, 3/ and the pertinent Staff Regulations and Rules of UNRWA were duly respected.

136. The treatment of staff in detention continued to be a cause of concern to the Agency. Many of those staff members complained of beatings and other forms of brutality during their detention. In addition, Agency staff, including international staff, were subjected to physical abuse and, at times, undisciplined behavior by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

137. The Agency had access to 26 staff from the West Bank who were held in prisons and detention centres, including 19 held in prisons in Israel. In the Gaza Strip, the Agency had access to one staff member detained there and, in July 1988, to 17 other staff from Gaza held in prison in Israel. Since that date, after repeated requests and assurances by the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip, the Agency was finally once again able to visit staff in prison in Israel in July 1989. Arrangements were also made with the Egyptian authorities for a visit in August 1989 to a staff member who was under detention pending deportation. The Agency had no success in visiting staff in other fields.

138. The Agency continued to meet difficulties in the movement of staff into and out of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There were substantial delays and, in some cases, entry permits were refused. The movement of staff within the occupied territory was also seriously affected by the frequent imposition of curfews and the designation of areas as closed military zones. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli authorities insisted from late 1988 that local staff could only move during curfews if in possession of permits issued by the Civil Administration. In spite of Agency representations, only a small proportion of staff members were issued curfew permits, as a result of which Agency operations were impeded. In addition, curfew passes were often of limited duration, with time-consuming renewal procedures and valid only for the locality in which the staff member resided. That made it impossible for staff members to enter their places of work if they were located elsewhere and were also under curfew.

139. In the Gaza Strip, where the schools were open most of the time, the practice continued whereby the Israeli authorities summoned Agency staff for interrogation during official hours without adequate notice. In addition, the Agency had to objected to the summoning of staff, particularly teachers, to discuss performance of their official duties. In the West Bank, where schools were closed, the questioning of staff members during official hours decreased during the reporting period.

B.  Agency services and premises

140. The Agency noted with increasing concern a series of incidents which occurred in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, such as the forcible entry by Israeli military personnel into UNRWA facilities, the occupation of schools and their use by security authorities, and Israeli interference with the operation of the Agency's ambulances. UNRWA protested those actions to the appropriate authorities as, in its view, they constitute a violation of the Agency's privileges and immunities.  In response, the Israeli authorities have, on occasion, invoked considerations of military security, which are referred to in the Comay-Michelmore agreement of 1967. The Agency was still pursuing the legal and other aspects of this matter at the end of the reporting period. UNRWA was also concerned about the attitude of some Israeli officials who categorically asserted, in response to Agency complaints, that they would in effect continue to use Agency installations when they felt this was required.

141. In the Gaza Strip alone, during the first quarter of 1989 there were more than 100 violations of Agency premises. A number of these were accompanied by injuries to staff and damage to Agency property. On 2 March 1989, Israeli Defense Force personnel entered the Khan Younis Elementary "E" Girls School and abused and beat some of the female teachers and school girls. On 28 May, a group of soldiers entered the Bureij Preparatory Boys' School and injured several pupils. In June 1989, Israeli Defense Force personnel demolished boundary walls of 13 United Nations premises and damaged 11 gates. In other instances, schools were occupied and temporarily used as interrogation centres or observation posts. Serious incidents of this nature also occurred in the West Bank. By way of example, on 10 December 1988 Israeli Border Police entered the Agency's Camp Services Office in the Balata camp and shot and injured the guard. The Agency has repeatedly protested and called on the authorities to refrain from such actions, in conformity with their international legal obligations.

142. The barricading of entrances to camps and the erection of fences, reported last year, remained considerable problems. In addition to those instances already reported, barricades preventing vehicular access were erected in seven camps, and barricades preventing pedestrian access were erected in a further five camps. During the reporting period, the six-meter-high fence along the main road at Dheisheh camp was extended to prevent vehicular access through the main camp entrance: vehicles had to enter through secondary entrances, which seriously affected UNRWA services. The main access to Deir Ammar camp was reopened on 12 November 1988 after eight months of closure, during which period vehicular access to the camp was possible only with great difficulty across private land.

143. The number of camp shelters demolished for punitive reasons continued to increase. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli authorities demolished 36 Agency-built and 137 privately-built rooms, affecting 67 families comprising 464 persons. In addition, 5 Agency-built rooms and 12 privately-built rooms were sealed affecting 10 families comprising 98 persons. In the West Bank, 21 shelters were demolished on punitive grounds, affecting 21 families comprising 164 persons. As a result of those demolitions, 27 adjacent shelters were affected or, in some cases, completely destroyed. The Agency's requests to the Israeli authorities to compensate families so affected went unanswered.  In addition, three shelters were sealed affecting 21 persons. The Agency protested those 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 12 August 1949, 4/ and with the legal and human rights of the refugees. The Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continued to object to the reconstruction of shelters demolished on punitive grounds. The Agency has pointed to assurances formally given by the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs as far back as May 1971 that there was no objection to such reconstruction. The matter is being examined again by the Israeli Civil Administration, and it is expected that there will be a satisfactory outcome.

144. In July 1988, the Government of Israel informed the Agency that it was obliged, because of temporary budgetary constraints, to withhold payment of clearance, warehousing and transport charges payable, to UNRWA under the Comay-Michelmore provisional agreement of 14 June 1967. 5/ As services to the refugees would have been affected if goods were not expeditiously cleared, and also with a view to keeping costs to a minimum, UNRWA advanced the sums needed as a temporary measure, it being understood that those sums would eventually be reimbursed. At the end of 1988, the Agency requested the Israeli authorities, with effect from 1 January 1989, to revert to the status quo ante and to the procedures envisaged under the Comay-Michelmore provisional agreement. The Government of Israel informed the Agency that, owing to its financial situation, it could not do so. Consequently, UNRWA had to spend about $800,000 more in order to carry out its programmes in the occupied territory.

C.   Claims against Governments

145. The Agency regrets that no progress was made with regard to its various claims against Governments.

Notes

1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/43/13 and Add.1).

2/ General Assembly resolution 43/57 F of 6 December 1988.

3/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1, No. 4, p. 15.

4/ Ibid., vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.

5/ Exchange of letters constituting a provisional agreement between UNRWA and Israel concerning assistance to Palestine refugees (ibid., vol. 620, No. 8955, p. 183).

ANNEX I

Statistical and financial information

__________

* For more detailed information on the financing of the Agency's programme, see the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 1988 and the report of the Board of Auditors (Official Records of the General Assembly Forty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/44/5/Add.3)).

Table 1. Number of registered persons a/

     (As at 30 June each year)

a/ Given the impossibility of carrying out a proper census of refugees throughout the area of operations, these statistics are based on the registration records of UNRWA, 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. During the reporting period, 356,490 refugees enrolled in education or training programmes, approximately 2 million were eligible for health care and 141,843 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 1989)

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 1989)

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 programme

(1 July 1988-30 June 1989)

(In kilograms)

Table 5. Distribution of refugee pupils in UNRWA schools a/

   (As at 15 October 1988)

a/ Excluding 110,339 refugee pupils attending government and private schools.

b/ Ninety out of 98 schools in the West Bank were closed under Israeli military orders for almost all of the 1988-1989 school year, and so 36,592 pupils were thus deprived of education.

c/ Including all non-eligible children attending UNRWA schools, who now number 55,790. Of those, 18,428 are in the Gaza Strip, where all refugee children are regarded as eligible for education services. In addition, 2,502 pupils in Lebanon have been accepted in Agency schools owing to the situation prevailing in the country.

Table 6. Training places in UNRWA Training Centres

(Academic year 1988-1989)

a/ During the 1988-1989 academic year, the West Bank centres with 944 vocational and 550 teacher-training places were closed under Israeli orders.

b/ The extension of the 1987-1988 school year until May 1989, prevented the intake of 304 trainees which was planned for September 1988.

c/ Courses in mechanical, metal, electrical and building trades.

d/ Courses in technical, commercial, electronics, computer science and paramedical fields.

Table 7. University scholarship-holders by faculty and country of study

    (Academic year 1988/89)

a/ Owing to the closure of institutions of higher learning under Israeli military orders, the 58 scholars (42 male and 16 female) scheduled to study at West Bank universities were unable to do so.

b/ Other countries were:  Iraq (two male and one female students), Turkey (seven male students), Democratic Yemen (one male and one female student) and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (two male and six female students).

Table 8. Medical care services

(1 July 1988-30 June 1989)

* Data for the third quarter of 1988 was not available owing to disturbances, curfews and closure of schools by military order.

a/ Includes visits for medical consultations, injections, dressing 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 those under 1 year of age, bimonthly for the age group 1-2 years and trimonthly for the age group 2-3 years.

Table 9. Trends in utilization of out-patient clinics

Number of medical consultations

(Thousands)

Table 10. Incidence trends of selected communicable diseases

Rate per 100,000

    Measles

Table 11. Staff members arrested and detained

       (1 July 1988-30 June 1989)

a/ Eleven were kidnapped by militias, two were understood to have been detained by the Syrian forces in Lebanon and one to have been detained by the Lebanese authorities.

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

Table 12.   Contributions in-cash and in kind by Governments

and by the European Community

(United States dollars)

(1 May 1950-31 December 1988)

a/ Including contributions for the Lebanon emergency.

b/ Portion of the total contribution earmarked for the emergencies in and in the occupied territory.

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

1987: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/42/13).

1988: Ibid., Forty-third Session, Supplement No. 13 (A/43/13 and Add.1)

4. Audited Financial Statements

1987: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/42/5/Add.3).

1988: Ibid., Forty-third Session, Supplement No. 5C (A/43/5/Add.3).

5. Reports of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine

1987: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/515.

1988: Ibid., Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/582.

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

1987: Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 79, document A/42/633.

1988: Ibid., Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/702.

7. Reports of the Secretary-General

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 re solution 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), S/19443, dated 21 January 1988.

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 D of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/652 (Offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training, for the Palestine refugees)).

Reports of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 E and J of 2 December 1987  (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, documents A/43/653 and A/43/657 (Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 F of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/654 (Resumption of the ration distribution to Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 G of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/655 (Population and refugees displaced since 1967)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 H of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/581 (Revenues derived from Palestine refugee properties)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 I of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/656 (Protection of Palestine refugees)).

Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of resolution 42/69 K of 2 December 1987 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 76, document A/43/408 (University of Jerusalem "Al-Quds" for Palestine Refugees)).

____________

a/ A list of pertinent reports and other documents of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies concerning UNRWA (notably those prior to 1987) can be found in the publication entitled UNRWA at the United Nations 1948-1986, which is available from the UNRWA Public Information Office.

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