UNRWA Annual Operational Report 2022

Full Report

Executive Summary

Over the past seven years, the delivery of quality human development, protection and humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA or the Agency) has been guided by the Medium Term Strategy 2016-22 (MTS). This was a period during which Palestine refugees had to endure unprecedented physical, psychological and socio-economic challenges. In addition to conflict, occupation, blockade, political instability and restricted opportunities that affected many fields of UNRWA operation, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 or the pandemic) wiped out years of economic and human development gains. Large numbers of Palestine refugees were dragged into poverty, resulting in increased demand for UNRWA services, in particular its most critical humanitarian interventions. Agency resources were unable to keep pace with demand, leading throughout the period to: (i) multiple liquidity crises, which jeopardised the continuity of UNRWA services; (ii) underinvestment in Agency health centres, schools, other installations and camp infrastructure; and (iii) growing reliance on complementary (non-fixed-term) personnel, including temporary assignments, consultants and daily-paid workers to undertake core functions.

Despite these challenges, over the strategic MTS period, UNRWA was successful in strengthening its service delivery in several key areas. Important reforms in health and education were completed, consolidated and embedded, whilst new reforms were introduced in microfinance and relief and social services (RSS). The Agency also advanced its protection agenda through the development of tools, policies and the establishment of a protection division at its headquarters (HQ), reflecting the centrality of protection to UNRWA’s mission. As a result, the Agency was able to achieve or surpass a number of performance targets established at the start of the MTS period, notably in the areas of maternal and child health, non-communicable disease (NCD) care, inclusive and equitable education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Strategic management functions were also strengthened through the implementation of results-based management and operational effectiveness measures and a series of management initiatives (MI), launched in late 2019, which enhanced UNRWA’s accountability, transparency, oversight and governance.

During the final year of MTS implementation, the delivery of essential services for almost 5.9 million Palestine refugees registered with the Agency and eligible for assistance was maintained.¹ In this regard, under programme budget support, UNRWA provided 7,869,919 primary health care (PHC) consultations,² to some 2,053,032 patients, education to 544,710 children during the 2021/22 academic year, social safety net (SSN) assistance, including cash and food, to 325,180 persons,³ TVET to 7,930 youth⁴ and microfinance loans to 32,517 clients.⁵ In addition, 4,485 shelters were rehabilitated or constructed through emergency and project funding⁶ and, in accordance with Agency protection and safety standards, UNRWA constructed, upgraded or reconstructed five schools. Protection services were extended across all fields of Agency operation, with an emphasis on advocacy, mainstreaming protection standards in and through service delivery and the provision of psychosocial support (PSS) and case management services to 4,291 refugee clients who faced critical protection risks.⁷

Through the 2022 EA for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the provision of food remained an UNRWA priority in Gaza. The Agency supported the emergency food and nutritional needs of 1,143,688 vulnerable Palestine refugees and distributed cash assistance to 14,575 persons to mitigate acute socioeconomic hardship. UNRWA also provided temporary cash-for-work (CfW) opportunities to 15,453 Palestine refugees, including 5,006 women. Primary healthcare and hospitalization services were maintained⁸ and 27,273 refugees benefitted from mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).⁹ In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, emergency food assistance continued to be provided, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), to 38,334 individuals from Bedouin and herder communities assessed to be food insecure or vulnerable to various protection threats. In addition, emergency cash assistance was extended to 22,044 abject poor Palestine refugees. The Agency continued to monitor, document, report and provide emergency assistance to persons affected by protection threats, including refugees impacted by the demolition of and/or damage to their property.

During the reporting period, through its Syria, Lebanon and Jordan EA, UNRWA continued to respond to the humanitarian needs of Palestine refugees in these fields of operation, including those affected by ongoing hostilities in Syria and the socio-economic crisis in Lebanon.¹⁰ The Agency disbursed emergency cash assistance to 416,567 Palestine refugees in Syria, including 148,022 of the most vulnerable who received a higher amount, while in-kind food assistance was provided to 412,486 refugees. In addition, 48,431 Palestine refugee students in Syria were taught in UNRWA schools and health services were maintained.¹¹ In Lebanon, through EA funding, cash grants supported the food, housing and winterization needs of 30,134 PRS while 159,856 Palestine refugees in Lebanon (PRL) and PRS received one-off emergency cash assistance. Health services were extended and 4,795 PRS and Syrian children were provided with quality, inclusive and equitable education. In Jordan, quarterly cash grants were provided to 19,553 PRS in support of basic needs and multi-purpose cash assistance was extended to 4,252 PRS, mitigating increased vulnerability caused by the economic situation, health services were extended to the PRS population and 945 PRS and Syrian children benefitted from Agency education services.¹²

UNRWA’s funding situation remained critical in 2022. Demand for Agency services again outpaced contributions as economic constraints, high inflation and increased competition led to diminished or reallocated official development assistance (ODA) budgets. During the reporting period, against overall budgetary needs of United States Dollar (US$) 1.78 billion, US$ 1.17 billion was secured across all funding portals. Whilst year-on-year funding decreased by US$ 20 million, pledged amounts for the programme budget, EAs and projects all increased.¹³ Some 94 per cent of funding, or US$ 1.10 billion, was provided by institutional (government) donors, of which, 40.3 per cent was received in the form of multi-year agreements (MYAs) and 59.7 per cent via annual funding agreements. Some 6 per cent of all funding received, or US$ 72 million, was raised through other funding streams, including the core UN budget, other UN entities, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private partners.

UNRWA began 2022 with US$ 62 million in liabilities carried forward from 2021. The Agency initially operated on the basis of a 90 per cent allocation of the approved programme budget and expenditure was controlled through strict vacancy management. Payments to suppliers were deferred month-on-month from April onwards to manage cash requirements and critical operations were only maintained through a UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) loan of US$ 30 million which was carried forward to 2023. In addition, for the first time, two major donors provided the Agency with flexibility to use contributions across the Programme Budget and the EAs, which was also critical in supporting continuity of services. Overall, UNRWA carried forward approximately US$ 75 million in liabilities to 2023.

Report Overview

The 2022 Annual Operational Report (AOR) describes Agency progress towards the attainment of the strategic outcomes set out in the UNRWA MTS. Building on efforts to harmonize results reporting and consistent  with  Grand Bargain¹⁴ and Funding Compact¹⁵ commitments and principles enshrined under the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness,¹⁶ the AOR provides a holistic view of programming implemented by the Agency and consolidates the 2022 Report of the Commissioner-General to the General Assembly and UNRWA annual reports in relation to the 2022 oPt EA and the 2022 Syria, Lebanon and Jordan EA. It also contains an analysis of progress achieved against programmatic and resource mobilization targets set out under the MTS common monitoring matrix (CMM) and the Agency’s Resource Mobilization Strategy 201922 (RMS). In addition, the AOR details achievements and areas where targets have not been met. A series of annexes include results frameworks and key statistics.

Results reporting is derived from the UNRWA ResultsBased Monitoring (RBM) system which enables data collection and analysis against MTS strategic outcomes. The system also hosts monitoring structures for EAs, projects and other results frameworks used by the Agency. Data is collected and analysed on a quarterly basis and on a semi-annual basis through UNRWA-wide results reviews.

As 2022 marks the end of the current MTS, the AOR constitutes both the final report on operations for 2022 and, for programme budget operations, summarises achievements attained during the 2016-22 strategic period. The report was developed through inputs received from UNRWA field offices, HQ departments, the Harmonized Results Working Group, which includes the Agency’s principal donors and host governments and the Sub-Committee of the Advisory Commission on UNRWA (SubCom). Agreed principles upon which the AOR is based are as follows:

■ Reporting takes place once per calendar year and is finalized by the second quarter of the subsequent reporting period;

■ Indicators, baselines and targets are based on Agency-wide internal monitoring arrangements (i.e., the CMM), EAs and the RMS; and

■ The presentation of results data is complemented by narrative sections that analyse progress made towards the achievement of targets and the impact of achievement, underachievement or non-achievement on the overall realization of MTS strategic outcomes, EA strategic priorities, updated humanitarian and early recovery appeal interventions and RMS goals.

Results are disaggregated by field office and, where relevant, by sex, poverty status and disability, in accordance with the Agency’s guidelines for defining disability, spatial distribution (camp, non-camp, urban, rural) and key age groups (e.g., youth).