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 1978 – 30 June 1979

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OFFICIAL RECORDS: THIRTY-FOURTH SESSION

SUPPLEMENT No. 13 (A/34/13)

UNITED NATIONS

New York, 1979

NOTE

[Original: Arabic/English/French]

[13 September 1979]

CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

3 September 1979

Sir,

I have the honor to submit my annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for the period 1 July 1978 to 30 June 1979 in compliance with the request in paragraph 21 of resolution 302 (IV)  of 8 December 1949  and paragraph 8  of resolution 1315 (XIII) of 12 December 1958.

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

Chapter I of the report describes the Agency's programmes and how they developed during the year which ended on 30 June 1979.

Chapter II presents the Agency's budget for 1980, for consideration by the General Assembly at its forthcoming session, and the revised budget for 1979.

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

The Advisory Commission of UNRWA examined this report in draft. Its views are set forth in a letter dated 29 August 1979 from its Chairman, of which I enclose a copy. Your particular attention is drawn to the recommendation of the Commission made in the letter. I have had the benefit of the advice of the members of the Commission but it should not be assumed that the Governments represented on the Commission necessarily subscribe to all of the views I have expressed.

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

Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

The President of the General Assembly

United Nations

New York

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION

OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR

PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

29 August 1979

Dear Mr. Rydbeck,

In  its meeting held in Vienna on 29 August 1979, the Advisory Commission of UNRWA has considered the  draft report on the Agency's services and activities during the period 1 July 1978-30 June 1979 which you intend to submit to the United Nations General Assembly at its 34th session.

The Commission notes that you have agreed to take into consideration the remarks made by the members concerning your report when you prepare it in its final form, and that you will do your best to restore the traditional level of UNRWA services, and attempt to augment them, bearing in mind the serious consequences of reductions. The Commission expresses its deep concern for the continuing deficit in UNRWA's budget. It wishes to emphasize again the responsibility of the international community, as represented by the United Nations, to find a solution that will assure the effective financing of UNRWA in order to enable it to provide the full range of its services to all those entitled to them.

The Commission also appeals to all Member States of the United Nations to contribute to the restoration of the traditional level of UNRWA services until a just and permanent solution to the problem of Palestine is found. In this regard, and in the light of paragraphs 22-25 of your annual report to the General Assembly the Advisory Commission recommends, through you, to the General Assembly that it call upon the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA to study the Agency's financial deficit and to make specific recommendations for measures to increase contributions to UNRWA.

The Commission takes note with regret of the difficulties occasioned to the work of the Agency in Lebanon by the events described in paragraph 26 of your draft report.

The Commission expresses its concern that the major part of the UNRWA Headquarters is still outside its area of operations, and requests you to consider consolidation of the Headquarters in Beirut or elsewhere within the area of operations, in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolution 33/112.

The Commission expresses its appreciation of the services and efforts made by the former Commissioner-General, Mr. Thomas W. McElhiney, and it wishes you success in your task.

Finally, the Commission also expresses its appreciation of the efforts of the UNRWA staff in the performance of their duties despite the difficulties confronting them.

INTRODUCTION

A. General

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

2. UNRWA was created to serve the needs of the Palestine refugees displaced by the fighting in Palestine in 1948. The Agency has defined such persons as those people or their descendants whose normal residence was Palestine for a minimum period of two years preceding the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948 and who, as a result of that conflict, lost both their homes and their means of livelihood. Of the persons who fall under the established definition of Palestine refugees 1,803,564 were registered with the Agency on 30 June 1979. The registrations are distributed in the Agency's area of operations as in the table below. The figures do not necessarily represent the actual population of Palestine refugees in their places of registration; the refugees move and do not always inform the Agency; they also die without their families always informing the Agency. The registration figures do, however, indicate the approximate numbers of Palestine refugees in the various fields of the Agency:

___________

The figures in the table above do not include persons displaced by the war in June 1967 between the Arabs and Israelis unless they were already registered refugees. UNRWA's efforts to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to this group were endorsed by General Assembly resolutions in 1967, and subsequent resolutions over the last 10 years have endorsed continuing emergency assistance to them. Although no census figures of the Palestinian people are available, those among them who are registered as refugees with the Agency probably represent about half the total.

3. The image still persists of UNRWA providing basic relief services, such temporary shelter, and food and clothing, to Palestine refugees living in camps. However, only 34.8 per cent of the registered refugees live in camps, while the rest are scattered among the original inhabitants of the Arab host countries and the occupied territories. Many thousands of Palestinians, whether registered refugees or not, have emigrated to more distant countries in order to make a living.

4. The Agency provides three services: education, health care and relief.  It has its own school system, its own clinics and health centres and its own systems to procure and distribute rations. Through these means, it provides the kinds of services directly to Palestine refugees that are normally provide by education, health and welfare ministries of Governments. Its activities are institutionalized and continuing. The Agency provides virtually all of the services directly to the refugees, not through Governments, although it deals with Governments on matters of mutual interest affecting the Agency's activities. The Governments in the area of operations have reported that they provide assistance separately to refugees which cost $39.7 million [Corrigendum of 18 October 1979: For $39.9 million read over $195 million] during the reporting period (see annex I, table 18). The Agency has no responsibility for general administration whether in camps or not; nor does it have any police powers or responsibility for security.

5. To perform its functions the Agency is organized into five Field Offices – one each in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, east Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza and a headquarters.  The five Field Offices with their combined staffs of over 16,200 provide the services to the refugees within the limits imposed by insufficient income. The main part of headquarters with about 250 staff is located at Vienna and is responsible for the supervision, planning and budgeting of the entire operation. The smaller part of headquarters, numbering about 150 staff, is in Amman and consists mainly of education, health, and relief staff who are more effective based in the area of operations.

6. Not all refugees are eligible to receive services and, in the case of rations, even when they are potentially eligible, they may not be authorized to receive them. Eligibility for different services varies. Since one of the services is education, the maximum number of refugees who could even in theory receive all services is limited to the school population of approximately one fifth of the total number of registered refugees. Since a substantial number of school children do not receive rations because of the ration ceiling, the actual percentage of registered refugees receiving all services is considerably less than one fifth. Eligibility for services is, in principle, based on need. It is relatively simple to identify the destitute among refugee families, but lesser degrees of need are generally indeterminable except where the Agency has direct knowledge of income (e.g., when employing a refugee) because the refugees and some Governments are opposed to investigation for income. If it were possible for the Agency to investigate need properly, it seems reasonable to suppose that many refugee families in east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where full or virtually full employment prevails, and some families in the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon would be transferred from "R" category (eligible for all services to "N" category (not eligible). These families would no longer be eligible for health services and the children would no longer qualify for admission to UNRWA schools, thus relieving UNRWA of a heavy financial burden which is increasingly beyond its capacity to support.

7. It is clear that the refugee problem has dimensions which go far beyond the purely humanitarian. The political significance of the mass displacement of human beings, particularly when the right return and the right to restoration of their property are acknowledged by the international community is obvious. The Agency's mandate, however, does not extend to all the ramifications of the problem. It is concerned with only a part of the problem, the provision of services to Palestine refugees in need pending a general settlement in the Near East. The Agency has to carry out its programmes in a highly political atmosphere in which passions are constantly aroused by events. Regrettably, political motivation is frequently ascribed to the Agency's policies, especially when these involve the reduction of expenditure on account of a lack of income. Nevertheless, the Agency administration has rigorously avoided any political involvement in order to be able to continue to provide its services to refugees without interruption, both in the Arab host countries and in the occupied territories.

B.  The Agency's mandate

8. The programmes of UNRWA have been developed over the last 29 years as a pragmatic response to the circumstances at the time. The level and content of these programmes are not prescribed in General Assembly resolutions; they are determined mainly by the level of income received. Now that the Agency's activities are coming under severe constraint through lack of sufficient income, it has become necessary to re-examine priorities since it is now – and is likely to be for the foreseeable future – inescapable that funds available will have to be devoted to those parts of the programmes which should be preserved even at the expense of other parts which, though of, great importance, may have to be given a lower priority. This calls for a clearer understanding of the role that UNRWA is playing at present and that which the international community wishes it to play in future.

9. Whereas in the early years the greater part of the agency's resources was devoted to relief services, now it is devoted to education, as is clearly shown in the diagram below. The percentages indicated relate to the provision in the 1979 budget:

10. In recent years the Agency has broadly established health, education and relief as the order of priorities for the maintenance of its services.  Since the Agency has each year reduced the relief programme has maintained the health programme and has expanded the education programme in order to keep pace with the increase in the number of Palestine refugee children reaching, school age. It may be possible to define an irreducible minimum under each of the three main headings which should be, given absolute priority in the allocation of resources. Nearly 30 years after the establishment of the Agency the situation is very different from the time when the mass evacuation of population from Palestine resulted in urgent need for international aid in providing the necessities of life. A relatively small minority of the refugees, whether they live in camps or not, are now true hardship cases in need of relief. In the absence of their access to government social services or to non-governmental welfare organizations, UNRWA is the only source for that relief. The Agency intends to give the highest priority to the relief of the destitute, even at the expense of further reductions in the regular ration to general recipients. Expenditure on the ration programme can be reduced very little further since the Agency is now distributing only commodities given to it in kind by donor Governments.

11. The provision of health services is probably at a minimum level already, since the avoidance of epidemics and serious malnutrition must be very high on the list of UNRWA's priorities. There would appear to be little opportunity for any shrinkage of the health programme which would make a significant difference to UNRWA’s budget, short of a transfer of the responsibility for health care to host Governments.

12. The Agency and the refugees themselves regard the education programme as vital for the future of the refugee community. Having left behind their property when they became refugees, the Palestinians regard education as essential for the future well-being of their families and of the Palestinian people. It is through education that the Agency is able to contribute to rehabilitation of the refugee community and to fulfillment in the personal lives of hundreds of thousands of young Palestinians. Nevertheless, when the Agency has a very large deficit in its budget, only cuts in the education system can produce reductions in expenditure of the magnitude required to avoid the Agency becoming bankrupt.

C. The Agency programmes

13. The Agency programmes are summarized below. (Employee figures do not including the 1,900 employees in common services):

(a) Education and training services. These are directed by a joint UNRWA/UNESCO Education Department. They are provided by approximately 11,200 employees (mostly teachers) at a total annual cost, including a share of common Agency costs, of $76.7 million in 1978 and $92.3 million in 1979 (estimated). The main parts are:

The most serious development during the reporting period was the insufficiency of foreseeable income in the first part of 1979 to finance the preparatory (lower secondary) cycle of education after 30 June. Sufficient income could, however, be foreseen by June to enable the Agency to finance the preparatory cycle until the end of October, and an announcement to this effect was made in mid-June. Subsequently, sufficient income could be foreseen to preserve the cycle to the end of 1979. The cessation of the preparatory cycle would have meant depriving some 93,000 children of schooling, and would have caused the termination of employment of about 3,350 teachers and other educational staff.  It would have closed the avenue for education beyond the primary stage for the bulk of Palestine refugee children.

(b) Health services. These are directed by an UNRWA/WHO Department of Health and are provided by 3,000 employees at a total annual cost, including a share of common costs, of $22.5 million in 1978 and $26.7 million in 1979 (estimated). Health services include:

(c) Relief and welfare services.  These are provided by 420 employees at total annual cost, including a share of common costs, of $28.8 million in 1978 $42.7 million in 1979 (budgeted), through which the Agency provides:

14. The ration rolls are kept up to date as far as possible. Some 1,440,000 names have been added to ration eligibility rolls since 1950 and about 984,000 names have been deleted. Of the approximately 1,390,000 refugees registered for rations, as pointed out above, only 830,000 actually receive them, because of ration ceilings. The difference is made up of some 560,000 children (of any age up to 26) of refugees, whose names are added to the list of those authorized actually to receive rations only as names of other persons are deleted from the list.

15. The provision of rations for some 830,000 refugees has continued to be seriously affected by the Agency's financial difficulties. With insufficient money to fund all programmes, cash which might otherwise have been used to purchase food commodities has had to be used to maintain the ever rowing education programme. The result is that the flour component of the ration, already reduced from 10 kg, per person per month to 6.7 kg. in early 1978 was, further reduced to 5 kg. at the beginning of 1979 and issues are unlikely to exceed a total of 56 kg. per person for the whole of 1979. This is the quantity likely to be received as contributions in kind in 1979. The Agency can no longer afford to purchase food commodities.

16. Although the ration has for many years been more of a modest economic subvention for the less well-off half of the registered refugee population than the quantity of foodstuffs they require for survival, some refugee families (as in every community) are without the means to support themselves and must depend on the charity of relatives and neighbors as well as assistance provided by UNRWA Consequently, the flour ration has been kept at 10 kg. for those families identified as really poor in east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Indeed, the Agency recognizes that assistance to the destitute constitutes a first charge on its resources. It was not possible to introduce this modification to the ration programme in the Syrian Arab Republic because of the Government's  opposition, while in Lebanon the disturbed conditions did not allow the careful verification of need that is fundamental to the concept of special assistance for a small proportion of the community. The question of eligibility inherent in this fresh approach to the provision of relief is relatively easy to determine, as the criteria have been drawn up to cover only those families in which there is neither an employable adult male nor income from another source.

D.  Financing the programmes

The financial position from July 1978 to June 1979

17. From 90 to 95 per cent of the income of UNRWA comes from voluntary contributions by Governments.  The United Nations, certain specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations and miscellaneous income provide the remainder.

18. The Agency's financial position and prospects continued to deteriorate during the reporting period.  In 1978 the Agency suffered an excess of expenditure over income of $1.6 million, despite the non-implementation of nearly $17 million of its adjusted budget of $148.8 million. An actual deficit can be covered only by drawing down working capital. This is a hazardous procedure, since working capital at end 1978 at less than $15 million was already exiguous, given the total size of the budget. In June 1979 estimates indicated that the Agency would be able to avoid a deficit (and further depletion of its working capital) only by not implementing over $28 million of its adjusted budget of $166.3 million. In both years the non-implementation of a substantial part of the budget has meant that the Agency has been unable to match, save to a very limited extent in 1978, the remuneration of its 16,500 local staff members to the constant increase in inflation, that the basic ration has had to be substantially reduced and that a great many highly desirable improvements, in particular the replacement of unsatisfactory rented school buildings could not be carried out.  Even more important is the fact that in 1979 the Agency faced the necessity of having to reduce substantially its education programme by closing its preparatory cycle schools as early as 1 July 1979. Fortunately, improved income prospects made it possible at least to postpone their closure, but this illustrates all too forcefully how precarious the Agency's financial position has become as a result of receiving inadequate income year after year.

Financial prospects for 1980

19. Chapter II below contains the Agency's proposed budget for 1980 totaling $185.3 million. Because income of only $133.5 million can at present be foresee with reasonable assurance, prospects for 1980 are indeed bleak, as the Agency the anticipates entering 1980 facing a deficit of nearly $52 million. (Presently foreseen income for 1980 is, however, substantially less than that presently foreseen for 1979 because of large special pledges for the latter year for which there is at present no assurance whatever of repetition in 1980.)

20. It is too early to be sure what expected income for 1980 will be; a better estimate may be possible after the pledging conference of the General Assembly in November or December 1979. But if the deficit is of the size feared, it could not be met except by closing the Agency's preparatory cycle schools as from 1 July 1980 (or even earlier) as well as by again not adjusting local staff remuneration to match expected further increases in the cost of living and by again postponing all capital improvements presently budgeted.

21. It appears all too likely that closure of the Agency's preparatory schools would lead to serious disturbances in the area of operations, since the refugees would interpret this action as, in their view, another and vastly more significant move by the international community to abandon the Palestinian people. The implications of this probable reaction are so serious that the Commissioner-General feels compelled to place before the General Assembly the options that are open to him.

Options open to the Agency

22. There are two broad alternative course open to the Agency. The first is to reduce the Agency’s rate of expenditure from 1 January 1980 to the level which income then foreseeable would support to the end of 1980 even though this would probably mean the temporary or even permanent reduction of essential services to the refugees. Since 1977 the Agency has in fact followed this course and has considered that it has no alternative but to manage its finances in this way. It follows the practice of establishing as early as possible each year a list of suspended budgeted expenditures equal to the deficit and of moving them from the non-approved to the approved category in the budget only as pledges of additional income are received. In the 1979 budget the not-yet-approved items were listed by order of priority for restoration, with the three years of the preparatory cycle of education for the period 31 July to 31 December heading the list. The intention of the General Assembly is assumed to be that the Agency should continue to operate at least throughout the period over which the mandate is extended – at present to 30 June 1981. Prudent conduct would necessarily require the reduction of services if maintaining their current level would lead to bankruptcy and the consequent collapse of the Agency. It follows that the Commissioner- General has the authority to establish the level of UNRWA services within the resources available to him to carry out those services. On the other hand, this prudent conduct of the Agency’s financial affairs, according to the procedure described above, has been frequently criticized by the host Governments, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and refugee leaders.

23. If the level of services to the refugees is not reduced in order to keep expenditure within the limits of foreseeable income, then only the second course of action remains open to the Agency. This is to continue all operations until the Agency's resources are approaching exhaustion and then to announce the cessation of all operations from a given date unless additional income is forthcoming in time to permit the Agency to continue. In 1976 the Agency came to within days of announcing the complete cessation of operations and the dismissal of all staff. In determining the date by which the Agency would no longer be able to operate, account has to be taken of its liabilities. In order not to contravene UNRWA’s financial regulations, which do not permit the Agency to incur liabilities exceeding its assets the Commissioner-General would have to cease all operations some weeks before the Agency’s liabilities would otherwise exceed its assets. The complete cessation of activity by the Agency would necessitate immediate termination of all its 16,500 local employees. This would in turn necessitate the payment of an additional $15 million of termination indemnities for which in provision has been made by the Agency, because it has always assumed that nearly half of its local employees would be offered continued employment by the Governments or other organizations taking over UNRWA's functions and hence would not qualify for termination indemnities. However, this in turn assumes a planned, orderly cessation of activity by UNRWA, which clearly would not be the case if the second option were followed. Thus the Agency would have to decide whether to cease all activity while it still had enough funds to meet its existing liabilities to creditors (usually about $10 million), and to staff for termination indemnities and other separation benefits already provided for ($17.3 million) plus this additional liability for termination indemnities (another $15 million), or to continue its activity until all funds were exhausted, even though this meant no termination indemnity could be paid to any of its local staff and the Agency defaulted on its liabilities to creditors. (The staff would, however, have their Provident Fund benefits, which are provided by the Agency instead of a pension fund.) A further difficulty is that a substantial, part of the, Agency's assets are in a non-cash form, i.e., pledges and accounts receivable, inventories of supplies, etc., which could not be used at once to meet liabilities.

24. The Agency has followed the first course without irrevocable harm to the structure of its organization over the years. Cuts in rations can be restored if increased donations from Governments permit. Postponed capital improvements or additions to the number of class-rooms can be caught up.  Increases in cost-of-living allowances to staff can be implemented when funds permit. However, when the deficit is of a magnitude which makes it necessary to dismantle an essential part of the Agency's organization and, in particular, to close part of its school programme, the damage cannot easily be repaired and may in fact be irreparable. The political and security consequences of starting to dismantle the education system would be so grave that the Agency might find it impossible to continue to carry out any part of its programmes.  Therefore, the end-result of following either the first or the second course could well be the same. Indeed, the view has been expressed forcefully to the Agency in the area of operations that rather than mutilate the core of its services, the Agency should continue to provide these services until it went bankrupt.

25. The implications of either course of action are serious. However, the Commissioner- General believes that in the exercise of responsible stewardship he must follow the first course in the event that foreseeable income will not allow the Agency to maintain the structure of its health or education programmes intact. He intends, therefore, as his predecessors have done in the past, to do whatever may be necessary in order to save the Agency from bankruptcy and from the necessity to cease operations in advance of the expiry of the mandate given to it by the General Assembly. The only way in which he may be spared the painful necessity of reducing services to the refugees will be by increased income. He appeals to all Member States to contribute generously to UNRWA’s funds.

E.  The situation in Lebanon

26. Throughout the year under review there were clashes and disturbances of varying degree in all parts of the country affecting directly as well as indirectly all Agency operations, especially schooling. Fighting caused difficulties for the Lebanon Field Office, many of whose key staff normally live in east Beirut and who had to be assisted financially to move temporarily or permanently to west Beirut. The movement of UNRWA supplies through Beirut port was interrupted. Beginning just before the end of 1978, Israeli military operations by land, sea and air, mostly on Palestinian targets in southern Lebanon, were carried on throughout the rest of the reporting period. The resulting disturbances and the massive and repeated displacement of refugees in and from south Lebanon led to serious interruptions of regular Agency operations and necessitated emergency assistance to some 50,000 displaced refugees. Some Agency installations were damaged and a large number of houses of refugees were damaged or destroyed.

F.  The situation in the occupied territories

27. In the wake of the Camp David negotiations and later, the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were shaken by considerable disturbances. These reached a peak in March 1979.  Agency installations were damaged and operations were interrupted repeatedly, particularly in schools. Certain counter-measures taken by the Israeli occupying authorities increased the Agency's problems, especially in the West Bank: the Kalandia Boys School with 800 boys was closed on 12 February 1979 on military order, and so was the Ramallah Women's Training Centre, on 13 March 1979; while the former was opened on 8 April, the latter was still closed on 30 June 1979, and the 655 trainees effectively lost a training year.  All educational institutions in the West Bank were closed for five days.  Virtually round-the-clock curfews were imposed on Jalazone and Aida camps for about 10 days in May 1979. Certain essential services could be resumed after the first few days. These and other measures collectively imposed on the refugee population, and punishment imposed on the refugee population, [Corrigendum of 18 October 1979] and in particular on students in educational establishments of the Agency, have gravely affected the Agency's services.

G.  Staff matters

Staff relations

28. The Administration has a written agreement with the local staff unions to adjust cost-of-living allowances quarterly to keep pace with increases in the cost-of-living indices subject to the Agency having sufficient funds available. In the last three quarters in 1978 the Agency was able to make only 50 per cent of the full cost-of-living adjustment indicated by the applicable indices. In 1979 the Agency has been unable to make any cost-of-living adjustment at all except; as necessary to keep its minimum remuneration-as far as possible in line with the minimum remuneration paid by the host Governments. These developments understandably have exacerbated staff relations and token strike action was take in November and December 1978. An all-out strike was threatened for February 1979 but was called off in response to a request from the Secretary-General that the union representatives accept the Agency's invitation to meet representatives from the Administration to discuss all outstanding issues. The deduction of pay for time spent on strike is a deterrent, but as the cost of living rises without pay adjustments the dissatisfaction of staff deepens. Negotiations between the administration and the local staff unions have at times been clouded by political issues.

29. As a way out of the impasse, the Agency discussed with the staff representatives in June 1979 a new draft memorandum of understanding which, inter alia, would provide for joint management/staff comprehensive surveys of total conditions of service of comparable employees in both the public and private sectors. Wages would be aligned with those of these comparators. If the staff agrees to this proposal, wage costs would be treated as integral unit costs of each programme. If the Agency continued to be short of funds, programmes would be curtailed, including the staff who run them, but the remaining staff would be fairly paid by local standards.

Travel restrictions

30. The Agency continues to face difficulties because of the restrictions on the travel of certain members of its staff in its area of operations. Two senior Agency officials at Director level are not allowed to enter the Syrian Arab Republic on duty and some others are not allowed to enter the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The unimpeded right of its officials to travel on duty is important to the Agency, the more so on account of its need to deploy its existing staff in the best possible way between headquarters and all five fields. Restrictions such as those imposed by the Syrian or the Israeli authorities, besides being unacceptable on grounds of principle, also reduce the control which the Agency can maintain over its programmes (see also paras. 157 and 158).

H.  Administration

31. The Agency's headquarters was relocated in Vienna and Amman in July and August 1978. In Vienna the headquarters occupies part of a modern office block provided rent-free by the Austrian Government until it moves to the Vienna International Centre, planned for August and September 1979. The part of headquarters in Amman – about one third of the whole – has run into some practical difficulties, including insufficient space and excessive heat. The Agency is looking for alternative accommodation.

I.  Retirement of Mr. McElhiney as Commissioner-General of UNRWA

32. I must pay tribute to my predecessor as Commissioner-General, Mr. Thomas W. McElhiney. He joined UNRWA as Deputy Commissioner-General in April 1974, was appointed Commissioner-General in April 1977 and retired on 15 April 1979. The period of Mr. McElhiney's Commissioner-Generalship was no easier than that of his predecessor, Sir John Rennie.  Mr. McElhiney devoted his whole considerable energies and his wide experience to the services of the Agency and of the Palestine refugee community. He brought great understanding and patience to bear in the conduct of the Agency's affairs. His wise leadership preserved the Agency through a period of financial crisis although, most reluctantly, he had to reduce certain services to the refugees in order to ensure that the Agency remained in being. It came as a blow to his many friends and admirers in the Agency and outside it, when he announced that he had informed the Secretary-General in October 1978 of his desire not to extend his present contract of service when it expired on 15 April 1979, having then reached the normal retirement age from service in the United Nations. He will long be remembered for the contribution he made to UNRWA during his five arduous years of service.

J.  Conclusion

33. The year under review has been a very difficult one for the Agency, primarily because of the insufficiency of income in the face of ever-rising costs. The financial position of the Agency will improve only if Member States increase their contributions substantially year by year. The precariousness and the unpredictability of UNRWA’s finances are likely to affect not only, the future level of services that the Agency can provide, but its very existence. In the event of very large projected, deficits; in the Agency's budget, the Commissioner-General will be obliged to reduce the services to a level that can safely be  financed by foreseeable income, even if this means the closure of part of the educational programme. All that the Commissioner-General can do is to operate the programmes within the limits of the resources provided by the international community. He will do all he can to urge Member States to contribute sufficient funds to maintain the existing level of services to the refugees, but as the Permanent Representative of Jordan wrote in a letter dated 4 June 1979 to the Secretary-General:  "… Needless to state that it is the Member States which give or withhold adequate contributions: it is the Member States which decide on the scale of priorities in the allocation of funding. The Executive Branch of the United Nations, under the leadership of Your Excellency, can do no more than the Member States are willing to enable you to do…."

CHAPTER I

REPORT ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE AGENCY FROM

1 JULY 1978 TO 30 JUNE 1979

A.  Education and training services

34. Under an agreement between UNRWA and UNESCO, the latter is responsible for the professional aspects of the UNRWA/UNESCO education programme, fulfilling its responsibility in part by the non-reimbursable loan to UNRWA of directing and specialist staff, including the Director of Education, who numbered 16 at the end of the period under review. The UNRWA/UNESCO education programme in 1978/1979 included general education at elementary and preparatory levels in Agency school’s vocational and teacher training at Agency centres, the work of the Institute of Education and a university scholarship programme. Many refugee children continued their education at the upper secondary level in government schools of the host countries or in private schools. In Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic book allowances were paid and, where no government secondary school was available, cash grants were paid to refugee pupils attending private schools. In 1978, expenditure on education and training amounted to $76.7 million and accounted for 58 per cent of the Agency's budget.

35. In addition, the Agency provides some pre-school education activity (see para. 130), youth activities (see paras. 131 and 132), adult training in crafts (see paras. 133 and 134), and medical and paramedical education and training (paras. 94-96).

36. At its twentieth session, held in Paris from 24 October to 28 November 108 the UNESCO General Conference passed resolution No. 1/1.4/1, in which, inter alia, it invited member States to contribute to the financing of the education programme for Palestine refugees in the Near East jointly operated by UNRWA and UNESCO, and authorized the Director-General of UNESCO to continue to co-operate with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the education programme for Palestine refugees in the Near East.

1.  General education

37. In 1978/1979, as in previous years, the largest single Agency activity was general education, and a total of 311,084 pupils, 4,116 more than in 1977/19781, were enrolled in the 623 Agency elementary and preparatory schools in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, served by a teaching force of 9,227. A further 84,579 refugee pupils were known to be enrolled in government and private elementary, preparatory and secondary schools in the same areas and approximately 42,500 non-eligible children were in Agency schools (see foot-note a/ to table 9 of annex I). The education staff in each field is headed by a Field Education Officer – an UNRWA local staff member – working under the professional guidance of the Director of Education and of the specialist staff of the Department of Education at headquarters.

38. Double-shifting of schools continued to be a problem and, because of the steady natural growth in the school population and the Agency's lack of funds for school construction on the scale-required, double-shifting was necessary in 457 schools (73.4 per cent of the total) during 1978/1979. In elementary schools in east Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, double-shifting affected 94.4 and 93.7 per cent of the pupils, respectively. It was possible to avoid turning children away from school only through double-shifting and the construction of some additional class-rooms. Lack of funds for capital expenditure generally limited school construction to the minimum necessary to prevent triple-shifting and to replace the most unsatisfactory school premises. During 1978/1979, in all fields, 33 prefabricated class and administration rooms and 14 standard type class-rooms were completed, while 10 prefabricated class-rooms and 108 standard type class and administration rooms, and 13 specialized rooms, were under construction.

39. As in the years since 1969, all textbooks newly, prescribed or revised by Governments of host countries were submitted to the Director-General of UNESCO for approval before they were procured for Agency schools. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where Jordanian and Egyptian books, respectively, are used, books approved by the Director-General are subject to the further requirement of a special import permit from the Israeli authorities. The situation is described in greater detail, field by field, in paragraphs 42, 43, 45, 47 and 48 below.

40. The school year in Lebanon began on 16 September 1978, but three of the 82 Agency schools could not open on that date – one school in the Hadath area of Beirut resumed only on 18 December 1978 because of its location in an area of intense fighting; the Nabatieh school in south Lebanon, which was closed for most of the 1977/1978 school year, reopened on 30 October 1978 only to close again on 2 January 1979 for the remainder of the school year because of frequent artillery shelling of the town; one school in the Beqa’a valley, central Lebanon, reopened only on 24 October 1978 after a dispute with the landlord over rent. Because of heavy fighting between opposing factions, 21 schools in Beirut closed on 28 September 1978,  10 of which resumed operations on 11 October 1978 and the other 11 on 16 October 1978. Frequent Israeli air and sea attacks and artillery shelling on targets in south Lebanon from December 1978 to June 1979 and shelling from naval gunboats of Nahr el-Bared Camp (north Lebanon) on 22 April 1979 caused damage to Agency schools and created disturbances which seriously affected the operation of Agency schools everywhere, not just in the area of the attacks. The 16 schools in the Tyre area were closed for three days as a precautionary measure after the air raid of 20 December 1978, then again on 23 January 1979 when considerable numbers of refugees moved from the camps in the Tyre area to the Sidon area, where they occupied most of the Agency school buildings. With the return of refugees to the Tyre area, 13 schools were able to reopen on 8 February 1979 and the 17 schools in the Sidon area (not counting the previously mentioned school in Nabatieh) were operating again by 19 February 1979 after being vacated by refugees. Three schools in the Tyre area could not reopen because of occupation by refugee families whose houses had been damaged in the Israeli military operations.  A new  exodus of  refugees from  the  Tyre area began on 8 March 1979, as a result of artillery shelling of Tyre from the border area between Lebanon and Israel. Accelerated by the Israeli military operations in April 1979, this movement of refugees led once again to the closure of all schools in the Tyre area and to the occupation by refugees from Tyre of all Agency schools in Sidon by 24 April 1979, some of these schools were evacuated by 11 May 1979. The raids in April 1979, which included an attack on Damour, also led to a movement of refugees from there, resulting in the closure of the four schools in Damour until 7 May when they operated with partial attendance until 23 May 1979, only to close again following another Israeli air raid and stay closed for the remainder of the school year. In Beirut, school work was interrupted on four days in April and four days in May 1979, while schools in north Lebanon were closed for two days in April and from four to 12 days in May 1979.

41. Other events, such as the disappearance of the religious leader of the Shiite community in Lebanon, the revolution in Iran, and the Egyptian/Israeli peace negotiations and treaty, had their repercussions on Agency schools in Lebanon during February and March 1979 in the form of strikes and demonstrations which lost a further two to seven days at most schools. Only on 11 May 1979, did it become possible again to operate the preparatory cycle in the Sidon area on double-shift in three of the vacated schools.

42. Enrolment in Agency schools in Lebanon totaled 36,466 refugee pupils, 26,709 of whom were in the elementary and 9,757 in the preparatory-schools. Of the 82 schools comprising 748 elementary and 307 preparatory class sections with a total of 1,261 teachers, 52 schools with 541 class sections operated on double-shift Prescribed textbooks for Agency schools in Lebanon totaled 193, all of which have been approved by UNESCO. Because of the disturbances in the country, the supplier of government prescribed textbooks was not able to supply 35 per cent of the number of textbooks required by Agency schools during 1978/1979.

43. In the Syrian Arab Republic, Agency schools started the year on 9 September 1978, and operated satisfactorily during the year. A total of 42,826 pupils attended the 69 elementary and 42 preparatory schools, comprising 1,136 class sections served by 1,350 teachers. Ninety-four of these schools, involving 1,035 class sections and 39,350 pupils, operated on double-shift. During the school year, 11 textbooks were newly prescribed, of which six were approved by UNESCO. Of the 107 textbooks currently prescribed, 79 have been approved by UNESCO.

44. In east Jordan, the 199 Agency schools commenced the year on 19 August 1978 and operated normally throughout the year, except that on 31 March and 1 April 1979 demonstrations against the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel affected the operation of schools in the Baqa’a Camp. The total enrolment was 124,083 in the elementary and preparatory cycles comprising 3,033 class sections served by 3,436 teachers. Double- shifting occurred in 182 schools, involving 2,804 class sections and 115,027 pupils.

45. Despite the agreement between Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic on a unified curriculum, the Jordanian Ministry of Education pursued a new education plan entailing various changes. Eighteen textbooks were newly prescribed by the Ministry of Education, 13 of which were approved by UNESCO for use in Agency schools. The total number of textbooks prescribed in Jordan was 124, of which 99 have been approved by UNESCO.

46. In the West Bank, Agency schools started the school year on 19 August 1978 and operated smoothly except as follows. At the Kalandia refugee camp, the boys school was closed on 12 February 1979 by order of the Israeli occupying authorities because, allegedly, explosives were found in some camp shelters. Despite the Agency's protests, the school remained closed until 8 April 1979. In March 1979, 13 schools lost some days of instruction time as a result of interruptions arising from demonstrations against the negotiations and peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. In addition, another school was closed for 17 days because Halhoul village was placed under curfew by the occupying authorities. Similarly, in May, curfews on the Jalazone and Aida camps prevented the operation of four Agency schools for about 10 days.

47. Enrolment in the 99 Agency schools in the West Bank totaled 36,935 pupils in 718 elementary and 295 preparatory class sections, served by 1,179 teachers Fifty-one schools, with 472 class sections and 18,214 pupils, operated on double-shift. The new education plan of the Jordanian Ministry of Education (see para 45 above) was implemented in the West Bank, after a special committee had studied the implementation of the plan in east Jordan during 1977/1978. Of the 124 textbooks prescribed for Jordan, 99 were approved by UNESCO, of which the Israeli occupying authorities refused import permits for 14.

48. In the Gaza Strip, the Agency schools started on 6 September 1978 and operated normally throughout the year, except for some demonstrations during March 1979 against the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Enrolment totaled 70,774 pupils in 132 schools, comprising 1,150 elementary and 471 preparatory class sections with a teaching force of 2,001. Double-shifting occurred in 78 schools, involving 907 class sections with 40,336 pupils. Textbooks from Egypt for use in Agency schools in Gaza continued to be transported to Gaza by land under the same arrangements agreed with the Governments concerned for past years and implemented with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The total number of textbooks prescribed by the Egyptian Ministry of Education was 102, of which 70 have been approved by UNESCO. Of the 70 approved textbooks, the occupying authorities have permitted the importation of 47, have disallowed the importation of 19 and have four under consideration.

49. In consultation with the Governments of Egypt and Israel, UNESCO organized the holding of examinations in the Gaza Strip between 25 June and 6 July 1978 for the tenth year in succession for the Egyptian Secondary School Leaving Certificate (Tawjihi), for the seventh year in succession for the Al-Azhar Tawjihi and for the fourth time for the Teacher Training Certificate. The second session of the Al-Azhar examination was held from 7 to 12 October 1978. A total of 6,696 candidates sat for these examinations, supervised by 920 local government and UNRWA teachers and 30 international UNESCO and UNRWA specialists assigned by the Director-General of UNESCO, most of whom were from among the staff of the Agency's Education Department. Logistical support and other essential facilities for these examinations were provided by the occupying authorities through the Gaza Directorate of Education and Culture and by the UNRWA Field Office in Gaza. Subsequently, the Egyptian authorities announced that 3,962 pupils had passed the examination for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate, 51 for the Al-Azhar and 275 for the Teacher Training Diploma. Of those who had passed the 1977 examinations, 983 crossed the Suez Canal in convoys arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter universities and other institutes of higher education in Egypt.

2.  Vocational and technical education

50. The UNRWA/UNESCO education programme includes vocational and technical education in seven Agency training centres with a total of 3,436 training places for Palestine refugees. This represents an increase of 112 places over the level of last year, all of which were due to the build-up of classes at Siblin Training Centre, where the second new intake since 1974 was accepted in 1978. Details of the training places available in the Agency training centres in 1978/1979 by course, centre and year of study are given in table 13 of annex I. In addition, the Agency also sponsored the vocational training of 51 refugees in private institutions.

51. During the training year, the operation of all centres, except the Damascus Vocational Training Centre was, affected to some degree either by local disturbances or, in the case of the Siblin centre, by events in Lebanon. The Amman Training Centre, Wadi Seer Training Centre and Gaza Vocational Training Centre were only slightly affected, losing between two and seven training days at the time of the signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. At the Siblin Training Centre, where the 1977/1978 school year had been extended to 16 August 1978 in order to make up for some of the previously lost instruction time, the new school year was scheduled to begin on 18 September 1978, but the security situation in the country prevented the free movement of instructors and trainees, with the result that the second year trainees did not begin their training until 16 October 1978. Mainly because of delays in the appointment of additional instructors and in the completion of repairs to the dormitories, related partly to the disturbed situation in the country, new first year trainees did not commence their training until 4 December 1978.  More days of instruction time were lost between 31 January and 12 February 1979 when the trainees went on strike in protest against what they considered to be unsatisfactory conditions at the centre. Also in January (four days), February (four days), March (10 days), April (14 days) and June 1979 (four days), further instruction time was lost because of the effects of Israeli military activity in Lebanon and other events which were of political significance to the Palestinians (see para. 41). Demonstrations in the West Bank against the negotiations and signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel affected the operation of the training centres. At the Kalandia Vocational Training Centre, following disturbances  on  12 March 1979,  the trainees  dispersed  to  their homes and returned on 2 April 1979; this period included five days when all educational institutions in the West Bank were closed by the Israeli occupying authorities, The Ramallah Women's Training Centre was closed by the Israeli occupying authorities on 13 March 1979, after demonstrations by trainees of the centre. Despite the Agency's and UNESCO’s protests (see para. 27) the centre was still closed at the end of the reporting period.

52. As already pointed out last year, the demand for skilled workers in the Arab world continues to rise and the gap between employment opportunities and the output levels of the Agency training centres has widened. The Agency has therefore prepared several projects which provide for significant increases in the training capacity of the vocational training programme, but the lack of funds has so far precluded the implementation of any of the projects.

3.  Teacher training

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

54. During the academic year 1978/1979, pre-service teacher training was provided at four Agency training centres – the one in Amman, the two in Ramallah, and the one in Siblin (see table 13 of annex I). Refugee students enrolled in pre-service teacher training totaled 1,200 (576 males and 624 females), similar to the number reported last year. Those enrolled at the Amman, the Siblin and the Ramallah Women's Training centres suffered the same interruption to their training as described in paragraph 51 in respect of the vocational training sections. The Ramallah Men's Teacher Training Centre lost five days during the last quarter of 1878, due to disturbances, and did not function from 12 March to 1 April 1979, the last five days on order from the Israeli occupying authorities who had closed all educational institutions in the West Bank.

55. During the year under review, a concerted effort was made to ensure quality  improvement of the pre-service teacher training programme in all Agency centres to strengthen integration between the pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes. A successful seminar on selected innovations in teacher education was conducted for the benefit of the teacher training instructors, supervisors and field tutors in the West Bank, and an in-service teacher training course was being conducted for the benefit of the teacher training instructors of Siblin. In addition, a conference of principals, chief instructors of teacher training centres and field teacher training officers was held and the recommendations made by the conference to improve the quality of training are being implemented.

56. At the end of the 1977/1978 training year, 598 trainees (293 men and 305 women) graduated from the pre-service training centres. Of these teacher graduates, 214 were employed in Agency schools (in Jordan 142 including 41 in West Bank and Gaza 33 and in Lebanon 39) and 131 were employed in government and private schools in the host and other Arab countries, making a total of 61 per cent of the 1978 graduates known to be employed; 52 male graduates were undergoing compulsory military training in Jordan; 151 were known to be without employment and the employment status of 50 graduates was unknown.

57. The UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education, which has received financial support from UNDP since July 1972, completed its fourteenth year of operation. Through its integrated multimedia approach, which combines distance teaching methods with face-to-face teaching methods, the Institute provides in-service training for various categories of Agency education staff. At the beginning of the training year 1978/1979, there was no definite information on the expected continuity of UNDP's  support after 1978, and consequently UNRWA had to restrict enrolment for 1978/1979, to upgrading courses, courses designed to meet curricular changes and courses for key education personnel. This reduced total enrolment from 1,300 participants in 1977/1978 to 768 in 1978/1979: 64 teachers were enrolled in the two-year basic course of professional training for unqualified elementary teachers, 251 followed specialized preparatory courses, 386 followed special courses to meet curricular changes and 67 followed courses for key education personnel. A joint UNDP/UNESCO Evaluation Mission completed its evaluation study on the Institute in December l978. On the basis of the Mission's favorable report, UNDP decided to continue its assistance on an interim basis to the end of 1979, which enabled the Institute to continue its ongoing courses and enroll additional teachers for a wider variety of in-service training courses in 1979/1980.

58. Of the cumulative, total of 4,496 teachers who have participated so far in the Institute’s basic in-service professional courses for elementary teachers, 3,587 successfully completed their training and were recognized by the Agency as qualified elementary teachers and were graded accordingly. At the same time, 2,321 preparatory teachers of a cumulative total of 3,117 participants successfully completed specialized preparatory-level in-service courses and were also graded accordingly.

59. In co-ordination with the Institute the UNESCO Extension Services Unit continued extending its technical services to interested Arab in-service teacher training projects in the region.  During the reporting period, the main beneficiaries were Democratic Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The unit’s main activity was the organization of a four week workshop for writers of instruction materials for teacher training, attended by 14 representatives of eight Arab countries held in Amman from 18 November to 14 December 1978. The unit's activities expanded to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the United Arab Emirates, with special emphasis on the training of teacher educators and education supervisors.

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

61. To supplement the in-service training courses provided by the Institute of Education and the centres, divisions of the department of education have carried out such staff-training activities as short summer courses, seminars, workshops and  conferences designed to give guidance and specific technical assistance to teachers, instructors and supervisors. During 1978/1979, 22 such courses and meetings were held, involving approximately 1,572 education staff in all fields. In addition 18 senior Palestinian education staff members were awarded fellowships for overseas study, tenable during the reporting period, 17 of which were awarded by UNESCO and one was awarded by UNRWA.

4.  University scholarships

62. During the academic year 1978/1979, UNRWA awarded 351 scholarships to Pales refugees for study at Arab universities, of which 287 were continuing scholarships and 64 were new awards (see table 14 of annex I). No new awards, however, could be granted in Lebanon because the state Baccalaureate examinations, which form the basis of selection of scholarship candidates, could not be held, owing to the situation in Lebanon. The UNRWA scholarships, partly funded from special contributions, are awarded for one year, but are renewable from year to year for the duration of the course of study, provided the student passes the end-of-year university examinations and is promoted to the next stage of his course. Also during the year under review, one Palestine Arab refugee benefited from a university scholarship under a Romania/UNESCO sponsored fellowship programme.

63. By its resolution 33/112 C of 18 December 19T8, the General Assembly, inter alia, appealed to all States to make special allocations scholarships and grants to Palestine refugees and requested UNRWA to act as recipient and trustee (therefor) and to award them. The Secretary-General's report will describe the response in detail.

B.  Health services

64. Preventive and curative services were provided to eligible Palestine refugees at the 99 UNRWA health units and by special arrangements at 13 Government and two voluntary agency clinics. Other medical-services to eligible refugees were subsidized at the government, university and private health institutes. The extent of utilization of these services is influenced by the accessibility of these units to the intended beneficiaries and by the availability of alternative services at no or little cost.

1.  Medical care

65. Curative services, both in- and out-patient, were extended at about the same level as in previous years, except that their delivery was disturbed from time to time by military activities in south Lebanon, Statistical data in respect of the out-patient care directly provided by the Agency are shown in table 5 of annex I.

66. The Agency further strengthened its specialized and specialist clinics where patients with degenerative and chronic diseases are seen by appointment and proper follow-up is ensured. There are now 76 such clinics: 26 for malnutrition, 20 for diabetes, 12 for tuberculosis, 7 for rheumatic diseases, 4 for eye diseases, 4 for ear, nose and throat, 2 for cardio-vascular conditions and 1 for dermatology.

67. Laboratory facilities were further improved. In addition to operating the three central UNRWA laboratories in Gaza, Amman and Jerusalem, the Agency established a new clinical laboratory in east Jordan, thereby increasing to 23 the number of UNRWA laboratories where simple on-the-spot, tests are carried out. Several of these laboratories were also equipped to carry out common biochemical examinations thus reducing referrals to the central laboratories. In Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic subsidized private laboratories provide the services normally performed by the central UNRWA laboratories in the other fields.

68. The Agency operates a small hospital in Qalqiliya (West Bank) and nine camp maternity wards, the majority in the Gaza Strip. It also administers, jointly with the Public Health Department in Gaza, a tuberculosis hospital at Bureij.  UNRWA continued to secure the necessary in-patient care facilities through subsidies to private hospitals. As set forth in detail in table 6 of annex I, the daily average number of hospital beds made available to refugee patients during the year was 1,511. The rising cost of medical care entailed substantial increases in almost all subsidy rates paid by UNRWA. In addition to the subsidized facilities, an undetermined number of refugee patients directly sought admission to government hospitals at nominal cost, particularly in the Syrian Arab Republic. In Jordan, the Ministry of Health started effective February 1979 to collect fees from refugee patients referred to its hospitals by Agency medical officers. The Agency is seeking exemption for those patients in return for the payment of a subsidy in accordance with an Agency/Government agreement covering this service.

69. In Gaza, the Agency maintained its refund scheme for refugee patients hospitalized in government institutions in Gaza or Israel. The number of claims for financial help gradually decreased as many refugees joined the Government National Health Insurance Plan.

70. In Lebanon an acute shortage of hospital beds persists, since many of the hospitals became inaccessible to Palestine refugees. However, in Beirut most of the difficult cases are referred to the Medical Centre of the American University of Beirut and a good number of refugees requiring emergency or surgical attention directly seek admission to institutions operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

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

2.  Control of communicable diseases

72. Prevention and control of communicable diseases range among the main objectives of the Agency's Department of Health. An extensive programme of immunization forms an integral part of the Agency's maternal and child health (MCH) services. Small children attending the MCH clinics are thus protected against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, enteric fevers, measles and smallpox. Reinforcing doses of vaccines are given to children on admission to school.

73. Among the control measures of public health importance are the improvement of environmental conditions, the emphasis on personal hygiene through health education activities, particularly in schools and in health centres, and the administration of specific chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis. The incidence of communicable diseases among the refugee population has been kept under surveillance since the very beginning of the Agency's operations. In disease surveillance and control close co-operation is maintained with the government health authorities.

74. This year no cholera case has been reported from any of the Agency's fields of operation, and only two imported cases of malaria. A substantial drop was also observed in the number of reported cases of enteric fevers, whooping cough, mumps, measles, trachoma and conjunctivitis while poliomyelitis (35) and infectious hepatitis (753) increased again after last year's drop. There was little change in the incidence of other communicable diseases.

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

3.  Maternal and child health

76. Maternal and child health care is being provided in most UNRWA health centre supported by specialist and hospital referral services. A number of government and voluntary agencies supplemented Agency services specially in Amman, Damascus and Jerusalem. In Gaza, the Swedish Save the Children Federation continued to support the MCH and planned parenthood programme. To strengthen this programme, planned parenthood activities were integrated into the MCH-services in all health centres in the Gaza Strip except the one in Gaza town. Data on maternal and child health services are presented in table 7 of annex I.

77. Prenatal care, including regular health supervision and the issue of extra rations, milk and iron-folate tablets was extended to 31,437 women. Assistance was provided for 31,216 deliveries, the majority of which were attended at home by Agency-supervised dayahs (traditional midwives) or carried out in UNRWA maternity centres; hospital deliveries were reserved mainly for women at risk of having a complicated delivery.

78. On the average, 97,300 children up to three years of age were registered for child care. Health-supervision in MCH clinics included continuous monitoring of growth and feeding practices. Primary and reinforcing immunizations were given against the eight important diseases listed in paragraph 72 above.  Nutrition of children was promoted through educational activities in UNRWA MCH clinics and through the provision of milk and hot meals at UNRWA feeding centres. Because of the success of distribution of dry milk to children under two years of age, the programme was extended in 1979 up to 3 years of age (see para. 91). About 1,750 children suffering from diarrhoeal diseases, with or without accompanying malnutrition were treated in the Agency's 21 rehydration/nutrition centres. The number of malnutrition clinics increased to 26. There are now 13 in the West Bank, 6 in the Syrian Arab Republic, 5 in east Jordan, and 2 in Gaza.

79. The health centres and the school health teams (three in east Jordan and one in each of the four other fields) provided school health services for children in Agency elementary and preparatory schools (see annex I, table 7 C). Medical examinations were performed and, where necessary, treatment provided to all children at school entry, while other pupils received medical attention when required. Reinforcing immunizations were given against diphtheria, tetanus, smallpox, tuberculosis and typhoid (in some fields). Nutritional support was provided in the form of a daily hot meal offered at the supplementary feeding centres. In all Agency schools, health education was conducted and sanitary facilities were under constant surveillance.

80. Among the traditional health programmes performed were detection and care of vision and hearing defects; early preventive and restorative dental care; mass treatment of certain fungal and parasitic skin infestations; and, in the Syrian Arab Republic, a programme of prophylaxis and treatment of simple goiter in school children in the Damascus area.

81. In each field, a team of health education workers promoted the health education programme with the participation of health, education and welfare staff. Their activities in health centres, schools, welfare centres and camp communities were supported by camp and school health committees and included camp sanitation drives and disease prevention campaigns. In commemoration of the International Year of the Child, the UNRWA health calendar for 1979 focused on "The Rights of the Child" and is being used in Agency schools and other Agency installations.  In Gaza, a course on "Health and family life" was conducted in Agency preparatory schools. A course on mother and child care was included in the sewing courses for young women in all fields. World Health Day was celebrated Agency-wide with the theme “A healthy child, a sure future".

4.  Nursing services

82. The nursing services continued to form an integral part of the curative and preventive health services. The auxiliary nursing staff were extensively deployed in primary health care at the Agency's health centres. At present there are about three auxiliary nurses to each qualified nurse. Frequent refresher and in-service training courses are improving the performance of the nursing staff. A number of qualified nurses attended post-basic training courses in midwifery and ophthalmology financed by various voluntary agencies. Additionally, dayahs (traditional midwives) assisted with the greater part of home deliveries and post-natal home visits. (For the layette programme, see para. 128 below.)

5.  Environmental health

83. The Agency provides basic community sanitation services in camps, generally comprising the provision of potable water, sanitary disposal of wastes, drainage of storm-water, latrine facilities and control of insect and rodent vectors of disease. More than 670,000 camp inhabitants benefit from these services. In spite of the financial difficulties faced by the Agency, sanitary conditions in the refugee camps are steadily being improved.

84. The Agency lent financial and technical support to self-help programmes such as the paving of pathways and the construction of drain and sewers in various camps. During the year under report such schemes, which are being executed through substantial community participation, benefited 10 camps in Lebanon, four in the Syrian Arab Republic, two in east Jordan, 14 in the West Bank and six in the Gaza Strip.

85. The programme of replacement of communal latrines by private ones is nearing completion; the remaining 3.5 per cent of camp inhabitants without private latrines facilities are due to be provided with private latrines shortly. With the installation of two lateral sewers at Khan Danoun Camp and one at Dera’a Emergency Camp, about 85 per cent of the refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic are now served by sewerage systems. Construction of a trunk sewer through refugee participation and with the co-operation of the Beirut Municipality has solved the waste water disposal problem at Shatila Camp in Lebanon. In east Jordan, the sewerage schemes at Amman New and Jabal el-Hussein camps, which are financed by the Government, are progressing satisfactorily. The municipal project for sewerage facilities at Shu’fat Camp in the West Bank is also progressing.

86. The self-help programme for private water connections to refugee shelters made progress: 14 camps in the West Bank, three camps each in the Syrian Arab Republic, and Gaza and one camp in Lebanon benefited therefrom. About 48 per cent of the camp population is now served by private water connections. Executed by the refugees with only limited financial assistance from the Agency, one of these schemes provided water taps to all refugee shelters in Mieh Mieh Camp in Lebanon; this involved drilling a well, installing a pumping station, constructing a water tower and renovating the water distribution, network. Government-financed water augmentations schemes are progressing satisfactorily at Khan Eshieh and Jaramana camps in the Syrian Arab Republic and Amman New and Jabal el-Hussein camps in Jordan. A local community water supply scheme, aimed at benefiting four camps in the Gaza Strip, has been initiated by the occupying authority.

87. For more efficient refuse removal a hired tractor-trailer unit and a truck were provided to Neirab and Homs camps respectively and contractual arrangements were made with the Dera's Municipality for the removal of garbage from Dera’s Camp, all in the Syrian Arab Republic.

6.  Nutrition, including supplementary feeding

88. Constant supervision, protection and promotion of the nutritional status of the refugees is an important feature of the Agency's health services directed particularly at the most vulnerable groups of refugees: infants, pre-school and school children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, non-hospitalized tuberculosis patients and some others. The weight development of children attending the child health clinics is closely observed and cross-sectional nutritional surveys are conducted among selected groups. The data collected during the year show a satisfactory general nutritional state of most refugee children, comparable with that of the residents of the host countries, although a sizeable percentage of refugee children suffer from mild or moderate degrees of malnutrition, also similar to those host countries. A relatively high proportion of infants and children with moderate to low levels of hemoglobin suggests the presence of widely spread iron deficiency anemia.

89. The Agency's supplementary feeding programme provides midday hot meals, milk and extra rations for vulnerable groups. As in previous years, the cost of this programme was almost entirely met from a contribution by the European Economic Community.

90. At the 95 UNRWA supplementary feeding centres and four voluntary agency centres nutritionally balanced midday hot meals are served six days a week to refugee children up to the age of six and since April 1979 to the age of eight; on medical grounds also, to older children and adults. A special high-protein high-calorie diet is also available daily to infants and children suffering from diarrhea or malnutrition. Vitamin A and D capsules are issued with the hot meals.

91. The distribution of whole and skim milk in dry form to non-breast-fed infants up to six months and to all children from 6-24 months attending the child health clinics was extended to children up to 36 months old in all Agency clinics beginning January 1979.

92. In the light of the results of the 1978 nutrition survey, which demonstrated that the general nutritional state of the 1967 displaced refugees was not in any significantly different from that of the non-displaced refugees, the distribution the protein supplement (one 12-ounce tin of meat) to displaced refugees was discontinued in favor of a general distribution of two tins of meat per month to every pregnant or nursing refugee woman (displaced or non-displaced) in all fields.  Similarly, the remaining part of the emergency programme (hot meals for 6-15 year old displaced children in Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic) could be discontinued from January 1979. Hot meal places remain reserved for displaced refugee children in need of nutritional support.

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

7.  Medical and paramedical education and training

94. In the 1978/1979 scholastic year, 177 refugee students held UNRWA medical university scholarships (see annex I, table 14), and 153 refugee trainees were enrolled in laboratory technician, public health inspector and assistant pharmacist courses in Agency training centres. Of these, 36 university students and 76 trainees either successfully completed their courses of education or were expected to pass their qualifying examinations.

95. The Agency continued to pay a subsidy to one school of nursing while the arrangement with a second school was discontinued without affecting the enrolment of refugee students. Financial assistance was provided to a number of student nurses from contributions received for the purpose. Seventeen sponsored student nurses enrolled in basic nursing training graduated during the year under review, and 70 are pursuing their training.

96. Intensive in-service training of doctors, nurses, midwives, sanitation and supplementary feeding staff was carried out. Within the framework of a WHO sponsored training and fellowship programme for health personnel from the occupied territories, two medical officers were granted fellowships by the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office for public health training in the academic year 1978/79, and two WHO fellows completed their public health training in August 1978. One medical officer on special study leave completed his post-graduate medical specialization in internal medicine in August 1978. Four senior staff nurses from Jordan and Gaza successfully completed their post-basic midwifery training in Amman and two are undergoing the same training there. A number of qualified nurses attended a 6-week in-service training course in ophthalmology at the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem.

C.  Relief services

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

98. In Lebanon the Agency's relief programmes continued to be disrupted by fighting involving the Lebanese Army, the Arab Deterrent Force, Lebanese and Palestinian irregular militias, and the Israeli military forces. As a consequence of clashes of local militia in Beirut, the port operation was closed down and so the Agency had to reroute virtually all of its supplies for Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Jordan through Syrian ports. This entailed redeployment of staff and additional transport arrangements complicated by the fact that frequently most direct routes to and from Lebanon could not be used because of the security situation. These arrangements cause delays and additional expenditure and the Agency intends to revert to the original more efficient operations as soon as this becomes practicable.

99. The frequent operations by Israeli sea, land and air forces and overflights by the Israeli air force have severely curtailed the Agency's operations in south Lebanon. The refugees residing there, who had fled north in March 1978 as a result of the Israeli military action in south Lebanon at that time and had largely returned by the end of June 1978, again began to leave their homes in and outside camps in January 1979 and by the end of April 1979 it was estimated that some 50,000 refugees had left south Lebanon to take refuge mainly in the town of Sidon and the surrounding area.

100. These refugees have been displaced from their means of livelihood and, even when they eventually return, particularly to south Lebanon which is primarily agricultural country, it is unlikely that there will be sufficient work to enable them to sustain themselves for some time. The Agency has purchased flour from special contributions and taken skimmed milk from available stocks sufficient to make a one-time emergency distribution in June 1979 of 10 kilograms of flour and 500 grams of skimmed milk to 50,000 displaced refugees. The Agency has launched an appeal for funds to provide 10 kilograms of flour, 600 grams of sugar, 500 grams of rice and 375 grams of cooking oil per refugee per month for an initial period of six months to 40,000 registered refugees for distribution at their temporary or their normal place of refuge upon their return. A further appeal for funds to repair Agency installations and refugee shelters and, possibly, for further food assistance to refugees is intended to be made when the situation allows the refugees to return.

1.  Eligibility and registration

101. The number of refugees registered with the Agency on 30 June 1979 was 1,803,564 compared with 1,757,269 on 30 June 1978, an increase of 2.6 per cent. The Agency registration records are computerized and the eligibility of refugees for Agency services are continually revised and kept up to date. However, except for its own employees and their dependants (estimated to total 80,000 refugees), the Agency is unable, without the agreement and co-operation of the authorities in the area, to establish income criteria for eligibility for Agency services or to carry out full investigations to determine employment status on income levels. In Gaza and the West Bank, programmes for partial rectification of the registration records for income, deaths or absence from the area are successful and updating of the registration records is an ongoing process.  Tables 1 to 4 of annex I give statistics of registered refugees, the categories of services to which they are entitled and changes in the composition and entitlement of refugee families as recorded by the Agency.

2.  Rations

102. Because of financial difficulties and of difficulties encountered in the continual process of rectification of ration rolls, a limit or ceiling has been maintained on the number of ration recipients in Jordan since 1953, and in the other fields since 1963, new beneficiaries being added only when deletions are made. As a result, with the natural increase in the refugee population, the percentage of registered refugees receiving rations has fallen, and the number of children of refugees aged one year and over (some of whom are now adults), for whom no rations are available on a permanent basis within the ceiling and who are potentially eligible, continues to grow. By June 1979, these children, totaled 560,511: 307,880 in east Jordan, of whom 37,838 are eligible to receive government rations (see para. 103 below); 89,623 in the West Bank; 49,497 in Lebanon; 72,350 in the Syrian Arab Republic; and 41,161 in the Gaza Strip, of whom 1,455 were members of Gaza families receiving rations in the West Bank. The number of rations issued by the Agency in December 1978 was 829,071, including issues made on an emergency basis, compared with 822,117 in December 1977. Deletions on grounds of false and duplicate registration, death, absence, employment or graduation from UNRWA training centres were largely offset by the addition of eligible children not previously receiving rations because of ratio ceilings. Only 46 per cent of registered refugees were in receipt of rations in June 1979 and lists of those eligible refugees who are authorized to receive rations are brought up-to-date each month by computer print-out. It should be kept in mind that any ration denied to a refugee presently receiving it is transferred to a needy refugee child eligible for but excluded from receiving it because of the ration ceiling.

103. In Jordan, the Agency, as requested by the Government in 1967, has continued to distribute rations on the Government's behalf to displaced persons who are not registered with the Agency as Palestine refugees. In June 1979, the number of such persons issued with rations was 193,784 compared with 194,066 in June 1978. In addition, 37,706, children of displaced West tank refugee families in east Jordan, the majority of whom live outside emergency camps, were also issue with rations provided by the Government. The Agency co-operates with the Jordanian Government in these tasks, in accordance with General Assembly, resolution 2252 (ES-V) of 4 July 1067 (and subsequent resolutions) requesting the Agency to provide humanitarian assistance, as far as practicable, to person other than refugees who were displaced in 1967. The cost of rations and 50 per cent of the distribution and transport costs are borne by the Government of Jordan. Displaced persons residing in the post-1967 emergency camps benefit also from medical, sanitation and other Agency camp services. Many of their children also attend Agency schools and benefit from the supplementary feeding and milk programme against reimbursement of the cost of supplies by the Government.

104. For the reasons stated in paragraph 109 of last year's report it had been necessary early in 1978 to reduce the flour component of the basic ration from 10 kilograms per month to the equivalent of 6.7 kilograms per month for the remainder of 1978. At the end of 1978, and once again for financial reasons, it became clear that in future the basic ration could not exceed such commodities as the Agency received as in-kind contributions; all Agency funds were needed for greater priority items and could no longer be used to purchase additional commodities. Thus the flour component of the basic ration had to be reduced to 5 kilograms per month. The level of other commodities in the basic ration had to be adjusted in 1979 because of delays in the delivery of contributions in kind. The policy adopted by the Agency is to distribute available basic commodities (between the five operational fields) to ensure, as far as possible, that every refugee who is entitled to draw basic rations receives the same quantity of each commodity in the course of a year. Certain categories of welfare cases, however, continue to receive extra rations as described in paragraph 105. In 1978 the quantities issued per basic ration recipient by field were as follows:

105. The programme for making up the flour component of the basic ration to 10 kilograms per month for certain categories of welfare cases, which commenced in east Jordan in June 1978, was extended to Gaza and the West Bank in August 1978. At 30 June 1979, 18,998 persons in three fields were benefiting from this programme. In the Syrian Arab Republic and in Lebanon the Agency would only be able to implement a similar programme for welfare cases if it obtained full co-operation from the Syrian Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization, respectively.

3.  Camps and shelters 2/

106. The registered population of the 51 camps established before 1967 increase from 510,131 to 519,724. In the 10 emergency camps (six in east Jordan and four in the Syrian Arab Republic) set up to accommodate refugees and other persons displaced as a result of the 1967 hostilities, the population also showed an increase from 150,473 last year to 153,699 at present. The registered camp population represented 35.4 per cent of the registered refugee population, varying from 56 per cent in the Gaza Strip and 51.4 per cent in Lebanon to only 25.5 per cent in the West Bank because of the continuing presence in east Jordan of many former West Bank refugees, who left the West Bank in 1967 and have been prevented by the Government of Israel from returning. Table 1 of annex I provides some detailed statistics on the distribution of the refugee population.

107. In Jordan, minor repairs to camp roads were carried out. In the five emergency camps with prefabricated shelters work on external repairs had to be limited, owing to lack of funds, to those shelters occupied by refugees and displaced persons so poor that they could not afford to repair their own shelters. Repairs were made to 80 shelters occupied by refugee families and to 49 shelters occupied by families of displaced persons, the cost of the latter having been borne by the Government of Jordan. Twenty-two self-help projects were completed at a total cost of $171,494, of which $32,855 were contributed by the Agency and the remainder by the refugee community, the Government of Jordan and voluntary agencies.

108. In the Syrian Arab Republic, in Homs and Hama camps more shelters have been completed on a self-help basis. 3/ Adjacent to Khan Danoun Camp, refugees built 45 shelters at their own expense in order to reduce overcrowding in the camp; of the 120 units planned 100 have thus been completed. In Khan Eshieh Camp 200 families have constructed new shelters at their own expense.

109. The Agency completed the construction of seven class-rooms in Yarmouk and Jaber, two in Sbeineh Camp and eight in Jaramana Camp. Eight class-rooms, one administration room, one multi-purpose room, one science laboratory and a feeding centre in Khan Danoun Camp and 24 class-rooms, six administration rooms, four multi-purpose rooms and two laboratories in Nairab Camp are under construction. Plans are being made for the construction of seven class-rooms and a laboratory in Damascus, a clinic in Khan Danoun Camp and water reservoirs in Jaramana and Sbeineh camps.

110. The Agency laid 600 square meters of new roads in Sbeineh Camp and is in the process of laying 2,500 square meters of new roads in Khan Eshieh Camp. The Government laid 1,500 square meters of new roads, and re-paved 3,500 square meters of existing roads in Nairab Camp. The Agency assisted the Government in partially financing a water supply system in an area where refugees are being provided with accommodation by the Government.

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

112. As a consequence of clashes of the Arab Deterrent Forces with local militia in summer 1978, the refugees in Dbayeh Camp near east Beirut began to move away to western sectors of Beirut. Shelters vacated in the process were occupied to a large extent by Lebanese who had themselves been displaced elsewhere. While some Agency installations in that camp had been damaged already in 1976, others like the school were taken over by local militia in the course of 1978 which reduced Agency operations to a minimum of sanitation work; health and education services are extended elsewhere but only a few children from this camp can reach other Agency schools. Similarly, rations are distributed, when at all possible, in a centre in western Beirut. Refugees continue to move away from Dbayeh Camp and the registered refugee population there has already dropped to about one third.

113. The repairs to Agency installations and replacement of supplies and equipment damaged or lost as a result of the Israeli military action in March 1978 have been completed. Repair of damage to Agency installations and replacement of supplies and equipment lost as result of the continuing civil unrest and Israeli military action are being carried out as and when the situation permits.

114. The repair or reconstruction of refugee shelters damaged or destroyed in Rashidieh Camp during the Israeli military action in March 1978 has been completed. The work was carried out on a self-help basis with the Agency providing the materials and the refugees the labor. A survey undertaken to ascertain the extent of the damage caused to shelters during the 1979 attacks on the camps has revealed some 300 shelters destroyed. The cost of repairs, when they can be undertaken, will be substantial.

115. Repeated shelling by artillery has meant that no progress has been made with the reconstruction of Nabatieh Camp, destroyed by Israeli military action in 1974.

116. The Government of Lebanon has put at the Agency's disposal a plot of land of about 190,000 square meters near the village of Bayssarieh, some 12 kilometers south of Sidon, for the construction of a new camp to re-house refugees from Dekwaneh and Jisr el-Basha Camps, which were destroyed in the 1975-1976 Lebanese conflict. Some 8,500 refugees temporarily accommodated in Damour are expected to live in the new camp. Final designs, which have been delayed because of design problems encountered owing to the steep and rocky nature of the site and to the inability of the design team to carry out site surveys because of the security situation, have now been completed and it is hoped that tenders for part of the work will be invited in the near future. The estimated cost of constructing the new camp is $11 million of which $1,669,783 have so far been contributed.

117. In the West Bank there are 19 camps, two of them, in the Jericho area, are only partly inhabited; a further camp in that area remains wholly depopulated as its former residents are in east Jordan and unable or (largely, because families would be divided) unwilling to return to Israeli-occupied territory.

118. The Agency constructed one class-room in Askar Camp and 1,836 meters of waste water main drains and rebuilt shelters occupied by 11 families in conditions of extreme hardship. Thirteen self-help projects ranging from the construction of an activities centre for young women to the paving of a school playground have been completed.

119. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupying authorities continued to insist that refugees demolish their shelters as a condition for the provision of new housing. All shelters vacated by refugees moving to new housing were demolished by the occupants and none was made available to other, refugee families. Six hundred and seventy-six shelter rooms (348 Agency-built rooms, 35 Agency-assisted rooms and 293 private rooms) were demolished in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Maghazi, Deir el-Balah, Beach and Jabalia camps on, instructions from the authorities. No punitive demolition took place during the year.

120. Since 1972, when the first housing survey was carried out jointly by the Agency and the occupying authorities, the Agency has had on its records over 2,000 families whose shelters were demolished by the Israeli occupying authorities in 1971 and who then moved to accommodation ranging from substandard shanties to dwellings in housing projects constructed by the authorities. Of the total of over 2,000 families, 266 were recorded as living in conditions of hardship and 440 were unsatisfactorily accommodated. All the families considered in 1972 to be living in conditions of hardship have either been provided with accommodation at a nominal or no cost or have refused the offer of such accommodation. Regarding the 440 families unsatisfactorily housed in 1972 the Agency carried out a survey in 1979 – in which the Israeli occupying authorities declined to participate – which showed that the conditions of 94 families had worsened and that of 146 had not improved; the remaining families were either accommodated satisfactorily or no longer in the area.

121. In 1971, some 400 registered refugee families from Gaza had been displaced to El Arish in Sinai (see A/8383/Add.1). About 130 families returned to the Gaza Strip soon after the initial move; the remaining families were provided with accommodation in El Arish by the occupying authorities but about 120 of it are believed to have returned over the years. Because of the return of Egyptian owners to El Arish under the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the remain families (about 150) had to vacate the accommodation provided by the Israeli occupying authorities and returned to the Gaza Strip.

122. During the reporting period, a further 231 families, mainly from Khan Yunis Camp, moved into houses in the nearby El Amal housing project, bringing the total number of families who have moved into El Amal and Shukeiri housing projects to 704.

123. Construction of houses in the Sheikh Radwan project near Gaza town continues and 31 families, mainly from Beach Camp, moved into houses there. An additional 46 families, mainly from Beach Camp, purchased land in the same project and built their own houses. This brings the total number of families who have moved to houses in Sheikh Radwan to 741 and the number of families who have purchased land there to 155.

124. A further 13 families from Rafah Camp moved into houses in the Sinai housing project near Rafah. Nine families, also from Rafah Camp, purchased land and constructed houses in the "Brazilian" housing project near Rafah. A new housing project is being developed at Tel Sultan near Rafah and 175 families from Rafah Camp have purchased land there; 15 houses are now under construction. The total number of families who have moved to housing projects in the Rafah area is 961.

125. Seventy-seven parcels of land have been purchased by refugees in the Beit Lahia housing project near Jabalia Camp and 16 families have moved into 11 houses which they have constructed there. Apart from a few early cases, those refugees who have purchased houses in projects developed by the occupying authorities or have purchased land and built their own houses now have accommodation markedly superior to the shelters they formerly occupied.

126. Four school class-rooms in Beit Haonun village and two  class-rooms in Beach Camp were built on a self-help basis. The laying of pathways and drains has continued in all camps with the Agency providing the materials and the refugees providing the labor. Pathways and drains measuring 16,133 square meters have been completed this year with a total value of $46,786 of which $25,813 was contributed by the Agency. Nine self-help projects are in progress.

127. The construction of a main road by the Khan Yunis municipal authorities through Khan Yunis Camp continues. The authorities have replaced Agency installations situated in the path of the road.

4.  Welfare

128. Voluntary agencies again donated used clothing to UNRWA: 96 tons including 2,174 layettes, and some 1,330 blankets were received for distribution to refugee hardship cases in east Jordan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The American Friends Service Committee (United States), Catholic Relief Services (United States), Church World Service (United States), Lutheran World Federation (Sweden), Lutheran World Relief Inc. (United States), Mennonite Central Committee (United States) and Help the Aged (United Kingdom) contributed to this programme.

129. The number of families registered with UNRWA as hardship cases totaled 36,078, comprising about 157,181 persons. Small cash grants were given to 102,173 persons, while assistance in other forms was given to 117,254 persons. Welfare workers, through counseling and guidance, helped solve individual and family problems. Prosthetic devices were issued to 1,542 persons, while 560 destitute aged persons and 1,396 orphans were placed in institutions, mainly free of charge.

130. Activities for pre-school children are directed to the particular needs of those three to six years old, having in mind the need to develop the children's potential through play periods supervised by trained teachers. Of the 52 centres serving nearly 5,350 children, the American Friends Service Committee finances 4n operates 13 centres on behalf of the Agency in the Gaza Strip and the holy Land Mission finances six in the West Bank. The remaining centres are financed either by local groups or other voluntary agencies.

131. Youth activities were carried out in co-operation with the World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Association in 34 refugee camps and 10,913 young refugees participated.  There were 1,606 boys under 16 years of age who participated in self-help projects and recreational programmes. Twenty-three projects, including the construction of new premises and the improvement of sports grounds, were completed on a self-help basis by the members of youth activities centres. Cash, labor and materials were contributed by members of the centres and the refugee community as a whole. Youth services to the community included special programmes for orphans, informal classes for illiterates, tutoring lessons for pupils, assistance in cleanliness campaigns and visits to sick and elderly camp residents.

132. Training courses in summer camping, scouting, sports, health education and youth leaders' seminars were attended by 1,109 young refugees from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and east Jordan. In addition, 544 young men received leadership training. In 1978, summer camps were assisted or organized in east Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and were attended by 475 refugee boys and girls; 90 counselors volunteered to work in the camps.

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

134. The Agency also organizes training activities outside schools in order to provide basic training in various skills for young refugees who would not otherwise receive vocational training or education. In the 33 sewing centres operated by the Agency, 845 of 891 refugee women and girls undergoing sewing training successfully completed the 11-month part-time course during the period under review. In the West Bank, UNRWA operates three carpentry centres, where 48 young refugees attended a one-year carpentry course. The majority of the young men who complete this course find employment locally. Special training was provided for 189 disabled refugees to integrate them into the life of their community; 60 of them were trained at the centre for the Blind in Gaza, which is operated for refugees by the Agency and financed by the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, and the others were trained in similar specialized institutions in the area.

D.  General

1.  Assistance from voluntary agencies and

    other non-governmental organizations

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

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

2.  Relations with other organs of the United Nations system

137. The Agency continued its arrangements with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the conduct of its education and health programme, thereby assuring professional competence in these two fields. The UNESCO staff, including associate experts made available to UNRWA from or through UNESCO, without reimbursement, numbered 15 at the beginning and 16 at the end of the period under review. WHO provided five staff on the same basis throughout the period.

138. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNESCO and UNRWA continued the operation of the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education (see paras. 57-59) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) continued its support of the extension services through which the experience of the Institute is made available to Ministries of Education in the region. The UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab States, the UNICEF Regional Office and UNRWA co-ordinate these extension services. A joint UNDP/UNESCO Evaluation Mission carried out an evaluation study of the Institute in December 1978 and recommended continued UNDP support of the Institute in its work for the UNRWA/UNESCO education programme and as the main source of technical support for the extension services to Arab States in the region.

139. UNICEF and UNRWA continued the mutual assistance of certain procurement services and supply of competitively priced pharmaceuticals, on the one hand, and the transport of supplies in the area of operations, on the other.

140. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) assisted the Agency through provision of equipment and supporting administrative services when UNRWA established its headquarters offices in temporary quarters in Vienna.  Certain

assistance was continued throughout the year, some on a cost-sharing basis, already with a view to avoiding duplicating efforts which eventually would be the responsibility of services common to all United Nations agencies with offices in Vienna.

141. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the Agency continued to make available a considerable part of its workshop capacity for the servicing of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine (UNTSO) and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) vehicles against reimbursement of the cost.

E.  Common services and general administration

1.  Administrative matters

142. Owing to the security situation in Lebanon generally, and in Beirut in particular, headquarters had to be relocated again in Amman and Vienna during the last week of July and the first two weeks of August 1978, as forecast in last year’s report. The bulk of the headquarters staff of the three operational departments (education, health and relief operations) were relocated in Amman land the balance of these departments, including department heads, together with the non-operational departments (administration and information, legal affairs, finance and personnel) were relocated in Vienna in rent-free offices provided by the Government of Austria.

143. The transfer of staff members, their dependants and household and personal effects as well as the dispatch of the office documents and equipment to Amman was accomplished with relatively few problems. Regarding the move to Vienna, fighting in and around Beirut port resulted in its closing before any shipments could be made. Eventually goods were moved by trucks and freight aircraft.  The majority of the staff members and their dependants transferred to Vienna traveled in two chartered aircraft. The most serious problem encountered was the packing and removal of the household and personal effects of staff members whose homes were located in or accessible only across combat areas. In some cases this was not achieved until two months after the staff members had arrived at their new duty stations; but all staff belongings not looted or withheld by force by occupants of staff residences were eventually moved with a minimum of loss and damage in transit.

144. Headquarters operations, which had been hampered severely from early 1978 onwards, returned to normal by the beginning of September 1978 in Vienna and by mid-September 1978 in Amman. After the disruptions of headquarters dating from the first evacuation from Beirut in early 1976, the operating efficiency of headquarters has now been restored to a high level, greatly helped by the excellent communications with all five fields and access to computer facilities enjoyed by the Agency in Vienna.

2.  Personnel matters

145. The relocation of headquarters from Lebanon in July and August 1978 (with approximately one third of the headquarters posts transferred to Amman, and the remainder to Vienna) was completed without terminating any staff members on grounds of redundancy, but a small number of staff members elected termination rather than transfer to the new locations of headquarters.

146. During the year under review, the Administration continued to hold periodic meetings with union representatives of the locally recruited staff in lengthy discussions centred on the Agency's remuneration system, which is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 3 June 1977. The system provides for adjustment in remuneration based on (a) appropriate comparability with employers in the public sector, (b) quarterly changes in the relevant cost-of-living indices and (c) availability of funds. Owing to lack of funds, the cost-of-living adjustments on 1 July and 1 October 1978 had to be reduced to 50 per cent of the amount indicated by changes in the relevant cost-of-living indices. Cost-of-living adjustments due on 1 January and 1 April 1979 could not be made because the Agency was unable to finance them. The staff have been informed that the Agency is unlikely to be in a financial position which will permit any cost-of-living adjustments during the second half of 1979, except to the limited extent necessary to maintain the minimum wage at a level comparable with that of the Governments.

147. The Agency's financial inability to make the warranted cost-of-living adjustments, though this possibility is clearly envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding, led to staff allegations that the Agency was not implementing the Memorandum of Understanding. This led to brief and intermittent work stoppages by a large number of local staff in November and December 1978 for which pay was withheld. Political issues were exploited by their unions and others to gain widespread support for strike action. A threatened all-out work stoppage in February 1979 was averted when the local staff union representatives responded favorably to an appeal from the Secretary-General that they accept the Agency's invitation to meet to discuss all outstanding issues. These discussions began in Vienna on 8 February 1979; they were recessed on 15 March 1979 to give the Agency time to carry out the detailed work in the preparation of a new draft Memorandum of Understanding. At the request of the union representatives, a representative of the Secretary-General attended a number of the meetings.

148. Immediately after the recess of the discussions on 15 March 1979, the union representatives requested the Commissioner-General to agree to arbitration on differences between the staff and the Administration. The Commissioner-General rejected arbitration as not appropriate but agreed, if the staff thought it would be useful, to ask the Secretary-General to appoint an independent person acceptable to both sides to look into alleged non-implementation by the Agency of the 1977 Memorandum of Understanding. The staff had not responded to this offer by the reporting date.

149. The discussions with the union representatives resumed in Amman on 17 June 1979. The Administration presented a new draft Memorandum of Understanding, which contains a number of improvements in conditions in service. The most significant feature in the new draft Memorandum of Understanding is provision for comprehensive surveys of total conditions of service of comparable employees in both the public and private sectors in each of the Agency's five fields. At present, when the Agency is short of money to maintain programmes at customary levels and provide cost-of-living adjustments at the levels warranted by the relevant cost-of-living indices, the staff are denied increases in remuneration. If the Agency implemented, by agreement with the union representatives, a system where pay and other conditions of service are fixed in terms of comparability, then the Agency's intention would be to grant to staff the improvements in conditions of service to which they would be entitled under the new system; wage costs would be integral unit costs of each programme. If the Agency were short of funds, programmes would be curtailed, including the staff who ran them. On the one hand, there would be redundancies, but, on the other hand, the staff who were left would be fairly paid by local standards.

150. This year lack of funds very nearly obliged the Agency not to reopen the preparatory (lower secondary) cycle of schooling at the commencement of the 1979/1980 school year.  At the end of the reporting period the Agency's financial position was such that, failing a major improvement in the Agency's income, the Agency would be forced to issue notices terminating the services of approximately 3,350 staff members to close the preparatory schools at the end of October 1979.

151. The manning table for the international staff of UNRWA showed 117 posts at the beginning of the period under review and 113 at its end, but there was an increase of 98 posts in the local staff manning table, almost entirely as a result of the increase in teachers to meet the growth of the school population, bringing the total number of local posts to 16,532.

F.  Legal matters

1.  The Agency's staff

152. In the year under review, seven Agency staff members were arrested and detained in the Gaza Strip for various periods, not exceeding three months in any case. They have all been released without being charged or brought to trial.

153. In the West Bank seven Agency staff members were arrested and detained, (During the year under review. Five of them were subsequently released without trial, after detention for various periods not exceeding three months. One staff member has been in detention for over three months and another for over one month. The Agency has not been informed of the charges against them except that the detention is on security grounds and that they will be put on trial.

154. In east Jordan one staff member was detained for security reasons for a period of less than one month and was released without being brought to trial.

155. In the Syrian Arab Republic three staff members were arrested and detained during the year under review. All of them were subsequently released without being charged or brought to trial. Two of the staff members were detained for periods not exceeding two months whilst the third was detained for a period not, exceeding nine months. The staff member reported in paragraph 150 of last year report as missing since April 1978 had been under detention and was released in June 1979 without being charged.

156. The Agency is compelled to reiterate its deep concern at the prolonged detention of staff members without trial and at the difficulties it faces in obtaining necessary and timely information on the reason for their arrest and detention. The Agency continues to press the authorities concerned to give reasons for arrest and detention in each case, in order to ensure that the staff member's official functions are not involved, bearing in mind the rights and duties of the staff member flowing from the Charter of the United Nations, the, Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946, and the Agency's Staff Regulations and Rules.

157. The Agency continues to encounter difficulties concerning the travel of its staff to and through the Syrian Arab Republic. In the year under review, the Agency has again failed to secure the lifting of the travel restrictions with regard to the two senior officials of the Agency referred to at paragraph 152 of last year’s report. The Agency is following up these cases and the matter has also been raised by the Legal Counsel of the United Nations with the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations.

158. The Israeli occupying authorities still deny facilities to some Agency staff for duty travel to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (see para. 154 of last year's report). The Agency is pursuing these cases.

159. The Israeli occupying authorities have continued to interrogate Agency staff, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Agency has taken up with those authorities, as necessary, the circumstances and scope of the interrogations.

2.  The Agency’s premises

160. In separate incidents on 27 March 1979, Jordanian security forces beat trainees belonging to the Agency's Wadi Seer and Amman training centres. The incidents arose after some trainees (from each centre) staged demonstration marches near their respective institutions.  Agency staff who were present solely in an, attempt to persuade trainees to return were also beaten. In the case of the Amman Training Centre security forces entered the premises and continued to beat trainees, including women trainees, even in those sections where classes were being conducted normally. An oral apology was tendered to Agency officials shortly thereafter.

161. The Agency has faced difficulties in 1979 in regard to the normal operation of its educational programme in the West Bank. The Agency Boys' School at Kalandia was closed for almost two months at the insistence of the Israeli military authorities. The Agency has been informed that prior to the closure of the school some houses at the Kalandia Camp were searched – including a few in which students of the school reside – and explosives allegedly were found in some of them. No explosives were found in the school premises. The Agency has protested at the closure of the school which, in the Agency's view, constitutes collective punishment of 800 boys who attend the school without reference to individual guilt. The Agency's Women's Training Centre at Ramallah as well was closed on 13 March 1979 on the order of the Israeli military authorities and still remains closed. While some trainees at the centre had taken part in acts such as setting up road blocks, the Agency does not consider the collective punishment of the entire student body to be justified. The Agency is deeply concerned at the interference in its educational programme and is doing its best to secure the reopening of the training centre.

3.  Exemption from taxation

162. The Agency is encountering difficulties in securing exemption from certain stamp duties imposed by the Syrian Arab Republic, as also in securing exemption from certain Syrian taxes on vehicles registered in other countries which enter into or pass through the Syrian Arab Republic. The latter particularly affects Agency vehicles from Lebanon which are required periodically to enter or pass through the Syrian Arab Republic. The Agency is pursuing both these matters with the Syrian authorities.

4.  Claims against Governments and other legal matters

163. The Agency expects to formulate and present in the near future to the Governments concerned claims in respect of certain losses and damage recently suffered by it. It also intends actively to follow up claims which have already been filed.

164. Regarding the dispute arising out of the carriage of a quantity of flour by sea from Trieste to Lattakia (para. 158 of last year's report refers), the Agency and the contractor have exchanged written statements. The parties also held a meeting in order to narrow the areas of dispute and to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement. Subject to further necessary clarifications these negotiations will be pursued.

165. A substantial revision is being made of the Agency's directive on contracting procedures.

166. Appropriate agreements have been concluded with the Government of Austria providing for the according of privileges and immunities and other facilities: required for the Agency's office and staff in Vienna.

G.  Financial operations

167. The financial accounts of UNRWA are published separately together with the related report of the Board of Auditors. 4/ This section therefore presents, in summary form only, the Agency's actual financial operations in 1978 and its budgeted operations in 1979.

168. The following table summarizes the Agency's actual financial operations in 1978:

Expenditure in 1978:

___________

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

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

170. The Agency completed the year 1978 with a deficit of $1.6 million despite having temporarily reduced certain services, postponed a number of highly desirable construction projects and only partially adjusted local staff remuneration for an increase in cost of living (the three groups of budgetary reductions together totaling some $16.7 million) because of its inadequate financial resources. As a consequence, the Agency's working capital (that is, excess of assets over liabilities) was reduced to only $14.6 million at year end after allowing for net adjustments of $450,000 in prior years' accounts.

171. As the experience of recent years has clearly shown, working capital of only $14.6 million is far from adequate. The Agency should have working capital equal to approximately the cost of three months’ budgeted operations (currently some $40 million) to be able to continue operations normally during the last quarter of a year even if contributions for the year fail to match budgeted expenditure. The latter would largely obviate the possibility of the Agency's having to suspend operations abruptly and thus having to increase its liability for termination indemnities to local staff members by some $15 million. (An orderly liquidation of the Agency would, it is believed, permit the Agency to find continued employment for nearly half of its staff members with other organizations. Such staff members would not qualify for termination indemnities, and the Agency's provision for staff separation benefits reflects this assumption. An unplanned, forced liquidation would probably make this impossible, so that virtually all staff would qualify for termination indemnities, thus nearly doubling the Agency's liability therefor.)

172. The balance of cash of some $19.4 million at the end of 1977 was sufficient to cover the Agency's requirements for only the first two months of 1978, and only the unusually early receipt of certain large contributions enabled the Agency to avoid suspension of operations early in 1978. For the remainder of 1978, the Agency's cash position was fairly good and, at the close of 1978, was somewhat improved ($23.6 million) over that at the close of 1977, although much of the increase was linked with an increase in liabilities. Cash in hand at 31 December 1978 was, however, again inadequate to cover the Agency's requirements during the early months of 1979, but certain large contributions were again exceptionally received in those months.

173. At the end of 1978, unpaid pledges for 1978 or previous years totaled $15.1 million, compared with $13.6 million unpaid at the end of 1977. Of the pledges unpaid at the end of 1978 $10.7 million were payable in cash and $4.4 million in supplies of various kinds. Inventories of supplies and advances to suppliers (the Agency's supply "pipeline") at $12.1 million were somewhat lower than at the close of 1977 ($13.5 million). On the other hand, the late delivery of contributions in kind (giving rise to the large amount of unpaid pledges at year end noted above) again forced the Agency to borrow considerable amounts of food commodities from local governments in order to avoid disruption of its ration programme, of these borrowings, $1.4 million remained unpaid at year end.

174. Unliquidated budget commitments carried forward from 1978 (or prior years) to 1979 totaled $7.2 million compared with only $5.1 million at the close of 1971. During 1978, savings on the liquidation of budget commitments and liabilities from prior years totalled approximately $0.6 million, which was credited to working capital.

175. Prior to the beginning of 1979, the Agency estimated its deficit for the year at some $37.l million. Subsequently substantial increases in estimated income only partly offset by budget increases, had reduced the deficit to an estimated $28.3 million at the time this report was prepared. The following table summarizes the Agency's budgeted financial operations for 1979 as at 30 June 1979:

Expenditure in 1979:

___________

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

176. In 1979 budgeted expenditure on recurrent operations is some $34.1 million in excess of actual expenditure in 1978. Nearly half of the increase represents, however, the proposed restoration of certain items budgeted in 1978 but, as noted in paragraph 170 above, not implemented because of shortage of funds, in particular maintenance of full relief rations and adjustment of local staff remuneration to match increases in the cost of living in 1978. These have again been budgeted in 1979 together with provision for normal operational increases such as the annual increase in the Agency's school population. The remainder of the difference from 1978 represents provision for annual staff salary increments, improvements in staff remuneration to keep reasonable pace with the further rise in the cost of living expected in 1979 and the continuing increase in cost of non-staff items. Non-recurrent expenditure budgeted for 1979 is only about $0.1 million greater than actual expenditure in 1978. The net increase in budgeted total expenditure in 1979 over total actual expenditure in 1978 is therefore $34.2 million while the presently estimated increase in income is only $7.5 million.

177. The Agency clearly does not have sufficient working capital to cover its presently estimated deficit for 1979, even if one assumed that all non-cash assets could either be utilized before year-end or converted into cash to pay liabilities. Even if working capital were sufficient to cover the presently foreseen deficit, the Agency would be left with totally inadequate resources to operate during the early months of 1980, when contributions can be expected to be late in arriving, or to operate during any temporary shortfall of contributions in 1980. It is therefore clear that substantial portions of the current budget for 1979 cannot be implemented unless additional income is received well before the end of the year. In prevision of this possibility the Agency has already had to defer implementation of some $28.3 million of its budget. The items therein have been ranked in order of priority for implementation if and when additional income is received. Principal items include restoral of the previous reduction of certain services (in particular the basic food ration), implementation of adjustment of local staff remuneration to match increases in cost of living deferred from 1978 or foreseen for 1979 and the construction of a number of badly needed capital improvements, in virtual repetition of 1978. How much longer the Agency can continue to defer these items without encountering serious difficulties is very difficult to say.

CHAPTER II

BUDGET FOR 1980 AND ADJUSTED BUDGET FOR 1979

A. Introduction

178. This chapter of the report presents both the proposed budget for 1980 and the adjusted budget for 1979. Actual expenditure for 1978 is also shown for purposes of comparison. The original budget estimates for 1979 were submitted to the thirty-third session of the General Assembly in the Commissioner-General's report for 1977-1978. 5/

179. The proposed budget for 1980 is set at $185,258,000 compared with an adjusted budget of $166,346,000 for 1979 and actual expenditure of $132,111,000 in 1978, The adjusted budget for 1979 shows a net increase of $14,508,000 since the original estimates were prepared. The major causes of this increase are as follows: increases in ration commodity prices ($3.2 million), increases in staff costs, comprising further provisions for cost-of-living increases ($9.7 million) and a related increase in the provision for staff separation costs ($2.9 million), partially offset by $2.3 million savings due to devaluation of certain currencies. Other miscellaneous increases and decreases account for the remaining net $1 million further increase.

180. The adjusted budget for 1979 exceeds actual expenditure in 1978 by $34.2 million. However, of this increase $16.7 million represents that part of the 1978 budget (principally reduced ration issues and reduced recognition in local staff remuneration of cost of living increases) not implemented, by reason either of insufficient funds or for logistical reasons (late delivery of contributions in kind). The remainder of the increase, $17.5 million, provides for population increase ($1.3 million), normal salary increments for staff ($2.4 million), the annualized effect of increases in costs in 1978 ($3.5 million) and $10.8 million increase in staff costs to cope with anticipated inflation. Miscellaneous other changes represent a net reduction of $0.5 million.

181. In the proposed budget for 1980, the recurrent costs 6/ are estimated to be $18.2 million over the adjusted budget for recurrent costs in 1979, as explained in paragraph 182 below. There is also a small increase of $0.7 million in non-recurrent costs (see para. 183 below), resulting in a net increase of $18.9 million in total costs over the adjusted, budget for 1979.

182. The proposed budget for recurrent costs in 1980 is set at $175,696,000 compared with the adjusted budget of $157,507,000 for 1979, an increase of approximately $18.2 million. This increase provides principally for normal programme increases ($1.6 million, mainly for education services as a result the natural growth in school population), for annual increments for staff ($2.8 million), higher staff costs to cope with continued inflation ($13.4 million) and for continued inflation in non-staff costs, ($0.7 million). Miscellaneous other changes, including expected further savings on currency exchange rates give a net projected decrease of $0.3 million.

183. The proposed budget for non-recurrent cost's in 1980 is established at $9,562,000 compared with provision of $8,839,000 in the adjusted budget for 1979, an increase of some $0.7 million. The estimate for 1980 includes $1.0 million for replacement of unserviceable equipment, $0.7 million for class-rooms for additional Pupils, $5.6 million for urgently needed capital additions or improvements, particularly in education, shelter, medical, and environmental sanitation facilities, and staff training and $2.8 million adjustment in the provision for local staff separation benefits in respect of prior service.

184. The importance of the provisions for increased staff costs perhaps calls for a word of explanation. Aside from food rations and capital expenditure, the of the Agency's programmes of assistance to the refugees takes the form of personal services, particularly those provided by teachers and health personnel. Staff costs therefore constitute by far the principal type of expenditure in the Agency’s budget (some 66 per cent in 1979 and 68 per cent in 1980). Consequently, the effects of heavy inflation on staff costs and hence on the total budget are relatively much greater than the effects of increases in non-staff costs.

185. Aside from increases in unit staff costs due largely to inflation, the Agency foresees the need for increased staff costs due to increased numbers of staff largely only in education services, where the increased population of Agency schools will require more teachers and supervisors.

186. In education services the expected increase in costs in 1980 is mainly due to provision for cost-of-living adjustments for staff and for the growth of pupil population (about 8,200 more pupils than in 1979). In 1980 education services will account for approximately 59 per cent of the total budget, compared with 24 per cent for relief services, 16 per cent for health services and 1 per cent for other costs (comparable figures for the 1979 adjusted budget are 55 per cent for education services, 26 per cent for relief services, 16 per cent for health services and 3 per cent for other costs). Other costs in 1980 are represented by an increase in the provision for staff separation costs due to incorporation of part of cost-of-living allowance into salaries and other minor one-time staff costs based on prior services.

187. In health services, provision has been included to meet the basic needs slightly larger population in 1980, but staff and other costs are also expected to be greater than in 1979, essentially due to inflation, as there will be only a minimal increase in the number of staff required. The estimates include provision for essential replacement of equipment in medical and camp sanitation installations, and for certain highly desirable improvements in facilities. Provision is included under environmental sanitation for Agency participation in small-scale camp improvement schemes of a self-help kind, involving participation by the beneficiary refugees.

188. In relief services, provision has been made for maintaining normal services in 1980 but recurrent costs are expected to be $2.2 million more than in 1979, almost entirely due to increases in cost-of-living allowances and related remuneration for staff. The estimates for non-recurrent costs provide mainly for miscellaneous improvements in shelter facilities and roads inside camps.

189. Attention must be drawn to a possible material omission from the budget. The Agency assumes that, in the event of an orderly eventual turnover of its responsibilities to Governments or other organizations, nearly half of its local Staff of some 16,500 will be offered suitable continued employment. In this case, under the Agency's staff rules for its local staff only the remaining slightly more than 50 per cent of its local staff would be entitled to receive a termination indemnity for loss of employment, and provision has been made in the Agency's accrued liabilities for only this number. However, in the event of an abrupt suspension of the Agency's operations for lack of income, or any other cause, all local staff would probably become entitled to receive a termination indemnity, with an increase in the cost of over $15 million for which no provision has been made.

B.  Budget estimates

190. The following tables present in summary the budget estimates for 1980, together with comparative data for the adjusted budget for 1979 and actual expenditure in 1978; table A shows the estimates for recurrent costs, table B the estimates for non-recurrent costs and table C the estimates for total costs. The estimates for 1980 are described briefly in the paragraphs following the tables:

Table A

Recurrent costs

(In thousands of United States dollars)

Table B

Non-recurrent costs

(In thousands of United States dollars)

Table C

Total costs

(In thousands of United States dollars)

(In thousands of United States dollars)

1.  Education services

General education

191. For a description of the Agency's general education programme see paragraphs 37 to 49 above and tables 9 to 12 of annex I. Certain minor activities conducted outside the UNRWA schools are also included under this heading, name youth activities (paras. 131 and 132), pre-school children's activities (para. 130) and women's activities (para. 133). Although these minor activities are considered part of the Agency's general education programme, they are carried on only to the extent special contributions are received for the purpose or associated programmes carried out by other agencies are maintained (the 1980 budget assumes the same level of operations as in 1979). This programme also includes the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of Education (paras. 57 to 61 above), which provides in-service training for teachers and works to improve the content and presentation of the curricula offered in the Agency's schools.

192. The increase of $11,775,000 in the 1980 budget for recurrent costs reflects in part the continuing growth in the school population, estimated at 8,200 additional pupils in the financial year 1980, at an estimated cost of $1,500,000. Other components of the increase in recurrent costs for 1980 provide for increase in cost-of-living remuneration of staff ($8,808,000), for normal salary increments ($1,636,000), for an increase in occupational allowances to, staff ($62,000), for essential improvements in services ($383,000) and inflation in non-staff costs ($136,000). These increases are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($750,000).

193. The 1980 budget of $4,320,000 for non-recurrent costs includes provision for construction and equipment of additional class-rooms to avoid triple-shifting ($700,000) and to replace unsatisfactory premises ($2,060,000), for construction: and equipment of central libraries ($535,000) and science laboratories ($693,000), for extraordinary maintenance of schools ($100,000), for library books and other supplies ($91,000), for replacement of essential unserviceable equipment ($30,000), for structural repairs to youth activities centres ($40,000), for minor capital improvements ($51,000) and for Agency participation in self-help projects ($20,000).

Vocational and professional training

194. Details of these programmes are given in paragraphs 50 to 52 above and table 13 of annex I.  The budget under this heading provides for the costs of vocational, technical and teacher training courses conducted in Agency training centres. The estimates assume a total enrolment of 4,840 trainees throughout 1980 fiscal year. No provision has been made for any further construction of training facilities in 1980, but a slightly larger number of trainees will be accommodated in existing facilities than in the 1978/79 academic year.

195. Also included is the cost of scholarships awarded at universities in the Agency's area (described in paras. 62 and 63 and in table 14 of annex I), the amount of the scholarship being related to the candidate's economic, circumstances. In past years a high proportion of the scholarship programme was funded from special contributions. For 1980, however, only $50,000 of the total scholarship budget of $250,000 is expected to be funded by a special contribution.

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

197. The increase of $1,102,000 in the recurrent costs budget is to provide for additional trainees in the 1979/80 and 1980/81 academic years ($100,000), for increase in university scholarship subsidy rates ($17,000), for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($754,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($218,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($6,000 and for inflation in non-staff costs ($54,000). These increases are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($47,000).

198. The budget of $406,000 for non-recurrent costs provides only for the replacement of essential unserviceable equipment ($245,000) and for essential capital improvements ($161,000).

2.  Health services

Medical services

199. The Agency's programme of preventive and curative medical services is described in annex I. The paragraphs 65 to 82 above and in tables 5 to 7 of annex I.  The objective of the Agency has always been that its health services should not fall below the level of those provided by the Governments of the host countries for their own indigent citizens. With the rapid increase in hospital subsidy rates, higher costs of supplies, utilities and staff remuneration, the Agency finds it increasingly difficult to achieve this objective.

200. The increase of $1,321 000 in the 1980 budget for recurrent costs is to provide for increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($966,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($204,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff, ($7,000), provision for increases in hospital subsidies ($200,000) for normal programme increases ($20,000) and provision for inflation in other miscellaneous non-staff costs ($81000). These increases are partly Offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($84,000).

201. The 1980 budget of $350,000 for non-recurrent costs is for essential improvements and additions to existing premises and equipment ($220,000), for replacement of over-aged ambulances and unserviceable equipment ($73,000), for in-service staff training ($50,000) and for Agency participation in self-help projects ($7,000).

Supplementary feeding

202. This programme is described in paragraphs 88 to 93 above and in table 8 of annex I.  In this activity also, as for basic rations (paras. 101 to 105 above), the costs of transport and warehousing within the UNRWA area of operations are charged to "supply and transport services".

203. The increase of $381,000 in the recurrent costs budget for 1980 is mainly attributable to provision for increase in cost-of-living remuneration of staff ($353,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($67,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($4,000) and for inflation in non-staff costs ($47,000), which are partly offset by savings due to cessation of the reconstituted milk distribution programme ($57,000) and staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($33,000). It is assumed that the increase will be largely covered by the special contribution that will be received for this programme.

204. The 1980 budget of $42,000 for non-recurrent costs consists of a provision for essential improvements to existing facilities ($15,000), provision for the replacement of essential unserviceable furniture and equipment ($20,000) and provision for the Agency’s contribution towards self-help projects ($7,000).

Environmental sanitation

205. The programmes under this heading are described in paragraphs 83 to 87 above. The 1980 estimate provides only for the minimum basic requirements considered necessary to maintain essential community sanitation and water supply services reasonably safe levels. Once again, the Agency is unable to raise existing standards of sanitation to more desirable levels because of rising costs over which it has no control.

206. The increase of $572,000 in recurrent costs in 1980 is to provide for increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($492,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($6,000), for annual salary increments for staff ($97,000), for inflation in non-staff costs ($16,000), and for miscellaneous increases in services ($5,000). These increases are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($44,000).

207. The 1980 budget of $482,000 for non-recurrent costs provides for the replacement of unserviceable special purpose vehicles, tractor units, corroded water pipes, wheelbarrows, and other minor equipment ($66,000), for essential capital improvements to services including surface water drainage, sewage and refuse disposal and water supply systems ($416,000). A large portion of the capital improvements provided for would be constructed with refugee participation in "self-help" projects.

3.  Relief services

Basic rations

208. The components of the basic ration have been described in paragraph 104 above. The costs included under this heading cover both the purchase and the final distribution of basic rations but transport and warehousing of rations within the UNRWA area of operations are charged to "supply and transport services" (paras. 216 to 218 below). The budget for 1980 provides for the issue of rations throughout the year to 825,000 beneficiaries (750 more than in 1979).

209. There is no increase in the recurrent costs budget for 1980 as the increases in staff costs, comprising provision for increased cost-of-living remuneration ($204,000), for annual increments ($38,000) and for an increase in occupational allowances ($2,000), are offset by non-repetition in 1980 of a supplemental oil issue in 1979 ($171,000), by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($18,000) and miscellaneous net cost savings ($55,000).

210. The provision of $37,000 in the 1980 budget for non-recurrent costs is for miscellaneous minor improvements.

Shelter

211. This programme is described in paragraphs 106 to 127 above and in table 4 of annex I. The 1980 budget for recurrent costs includes approximately $265,000 for the rental value of camp sites, most of which represents contributions in kind by Governments. The increase in recurrent costs ($12,000) is for inflation in non-staff costs.

212. The 1980 budget of $936,000 for non-recurrent costs is essentially for replacement and repair of defective shelters and major repairs to asphalted roads and pathways in emergency and established camps.

Special hardship assistance

213. This budget provides for additional relief assistance to refugees who suffer from special hardship (as distinct from the basic relief services provided for needy refugees generally). This assistance is limited to welfare case-work and the distribution of soap and donated used clothing. The programme is described in paragraphs 128 to 134 above. Unfortunately, in its present financial position, the Agency can make little cash provision for the special needs of the aged, widows with minor children and the chronically ill. Only the most, urgent cases can be considered for some form of assistance.

214. The increase of $484,000 in the 1980 budget for recurrent costs provides for an extra 25,000 hardship rations (6375,000), increased cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($83,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($1,000), normal salary increments for staff ($15,000) and inflation in non-staff costs ($17,000), which are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($7,000).

215. The provision of $11,000 in the 1980 budget for non-recurrent costs represents the Agency's contribution towards self-help projects.

4.  Common costs

Supply and transport services

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

217. The increase of $866,000 in the recurrent costs budget for 1980 is accounted for by provision for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($635,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($136,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($5,000), and for inflation in non-staff costs ($138,000). These increases are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($48,000).

218. The provision of $479,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1980 is required to replace passenger and freight vehicles which are unserviceable and have reached the end of their economic life ($461,000), for motor transport workshop and warehousing equipment ($12,000) and for a number of capital improvements to motor transport and warehousing facilities ($6,000).

Other internal services

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

220. The increase of $1,277,000 in recurrent costs for 1980 is for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff 0802,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($229,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($5,000), for inflation in non-staff costs ($18,000) and for an increase in the cost of internal services resulting from the relocation of the Vienna headquarters in the Vienna International City ($330,000), which are offset in part by savings in data processing services ($52,000). These increases are also partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($55,000).

221. The provision of $143,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1980 is for new plant and premises for the printing unit ($125,000) and for the replacement of unserviceable equipment ($18,000).

General administration

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

223. The increase of $399,000 in the recurrent costs budget for 1980 is attributable to provision for increase in cost-of-living remuneration for staff ($275,000), for normal salary increments for staff ($128,000), for an increase in occupational allowances for staff ($2,000), and for inflation in non-staff costs ($8,000). These increases are partly offset by staff cost savings due to advantageous changes in exchange rates ($14,000).

224. The provision of $20,000 for non-recurrent costs in 1985 is for the replacement of unserviceable office equipment ($15,000) and additional equipment ($5,000).

Allocation of common costs

225. The summary tables under paragraph 190 above reflect the allocation of common costs to the three main categories of Agency services – education, health and relief. Any such allocation is to some extent a matter of judgement but the percentages applied have been evolved and re-tested periodically on the basis of a detailed study of all Agency operations in all offices and extracted as weighted averages. The results of the next review will be implemented in 1980, if any changes in these allocations appear to be appropriate.

5.  Other costs

226. The budget estimate of $2,336,000 for 1980 is to cover local staff separation costs arising from the incorporation of a part of cost-of-living allowances into salaries ($1,728,000), extension of entitlement of staff for commutation of leave on separation from service ($483,000) and recognition, for separation benefit purposes, of daily paid service prior to appointment as manning table staff ($125,000)

227. The 1979 adjusted budget estimate of, $4,547,000 contains an adjustment of $4,041,000 in the provision for local staff separation costs, $315,000 for final costs for the relocation of Agency headquarters in Vienna and Amman (including transfer of the Vienna offices to the Vienna International City) and $191,000 for local disturbances costs.

C.  Financing the budget – 1979 and 1980

228. The chronic problems facing the Agency in financing the adjusted budget for 1979 and the proposed budget for 1980 will be appreciated from the summary below:

229. At the time the budget is prepared pledges for 1980 have not yet been made by Governments and other contributors, therefore the estimate of income for, 1980 can be little more than an extrapolation of regular contributions for 1979, excluding special contributions limited expressly or by implication to one year. It should be noted, however, that even if income in 1980 were estimated at the same level as presently estimated for 1979, the estimated deficit would still be of the order of $47.2 million.

Table 1

Total registered refugee population according to category of registration  a/

_____________

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

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

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

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

e/ Before 1954, half rations were issued to bedouins and infants, as well as to frontier villagers in Jordan. Since then, bedouins have been regarded as eligible to receive full rations and infants have also been eligible for full rations after their first anniversary if the ration ceiling permits. Half rations are issued only to frontier villagers on the West Bank (9,091). Frontier villagers displaced to east Jordan as a result of the hostilities of June 1967 (3,335) are issued with full rations under the normal programme and are therefore included in the figure of full ration recipients (column 1). Also included in column 1 are Gaza Poor (832) and Jerusalem Poor (1,337).

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

g/ The total of 578,064 comprises:

Table 2

Recapitulation of changes in families registered for rations a/

__________

a/ This table recapitulates changes over 29 years affecting the number of ration recipients, their babies and children registered for services. Births, new registrations, deaths, false registrations and duplications result in additions to or deletions from the registration records. Self-support and absence reflect transfers to or from the lower categories of registration (shown in table 1, columns 4, 5 and 6).

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

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

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

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

Table 3

Recapitulation of changes in composition of total registered refugee population a/

___________

a/ This table recapitulates changes affecting the total number of registered population (table 1, column 7) over 29 years.

Transfers within or between areas are not shown herein.

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

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

Table 4

Distribution by place of registration of total registered refugee population

and of camp population

____________

a/ Persons officially registered in those camps are refugees registered with UNRWA who are shown in UNRWA records as living in camps, irrespective of their category of registration (RSN), although some may have moved to villages, towns or cities in other parts of the country and their removal has yet to be reported to the Agency. The figures do not include refugees in camps who are not given shelter by UNRWA but benefit from sanitation services.

b/ Of the 519,724 persons actually living in these camps, 511,880 are UNRWA-registered refugees and their unregistered dependents. The balance of 7,844 are not UNRWA-registered refugees and are thus not eligible for UNRWA assistance.

c/ Persons actually living in these camps comprise 116,076 UNRWA-registered refugees and 37,623 other persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 hostilities or subsequent fighting in the Jordan valley in early 1968.

Table 5

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

to UNRWA clinics and UNRWA-subsidized clinics

(1 July 1978 – 30 June 1979)

Table 6

Number of hospital beds available to UNRWA patients

(as at 30 June 1979)

Table 7

Maternal and child health

(1 July 1978 – 30 June 1979)

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

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

Table 8

Supplementary feeding programmes

(1 July 1978-30 June 1979)

a/ Includes 1,273 displaced persons in emergency camps, included at the request of the Government of Jordan and on reimbursable basis.

b/ Includes 1,208 displaced persons in emergency camps, included at the request of the Government of Jordan and on reimbursable basis.

Table 9

Number of elementary and preparatory pupils in UNRWA schools

a/ Including non-eligible children attending UNRWA schools, who now number 42,508 of whom 10,087 are registered children in the Gaza Strip, where all refugee children have always been regarded in practice as eligible for education services.  Non-eligible may mean either non-eligible refugee children or non-refugee children. It is relevant that in Jordan non-refugee children in Agency schools are offset against refugee pupils attending government schools, free of charge, including secondary schools; that in the Syrian Arab Republic some refugee pupils attend government elementary and preparatory schools and those who proceed to secondary education attend government schools, in both cases free of charge; that in Gaza some teachers are provided by the Gaza Education Department for Agency schools and refugee children who proceed in secondary education attend government schools, free of charge; and that in Lebanon it has not proved feasible to collect fees from the small number of non-eligible refugee children and no arrangements have been made with the Government for offsetting the small number of non-refugee children in Agency schools.

b/  Figure for east Jordan only.

Table 10

Number of refugee pupils attending government and private schools

Table 13

Number of training places in UNRWA training centres