Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 52 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, published in 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

29 versions · 1997–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/77

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/77	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	5,989	23%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/73	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	4,835	100%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/122	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	4,831	97%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/78	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	4,719	93%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/94	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	4,802	94%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2011–2017

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2017	A/71/849	Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/71/93
2011	A/65/705	Report of the Secretary-General on strengthening the management capacity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East		A/RES/64/89

What’s in this document?

24 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms that the effective functioning of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East remains essential in all fields of operation;

Expresses its appreciation to the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, as well as to all of the staff of the Agency, for their tireless efforts and valuable work, particularly in the light of the difficult conditions and unstable circumstances faced during the past year;

Expresses special commendation to the Agency for the essential role that it has played for over sixty years since its establishment in providing vital services for the well-being, human development and protection of the Palestine refugees and the amelioration of their plight;

Expresses its appreciation for the important support provided by the host Governments to the Agency in the discharge of its duties;

Also expresses its appreciation to the Advisory Commission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and requests it to continue its efforts and to keep the General Assembly informed of its activities;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East¹⁰ and the efforts to assist in ensuring the financial security of the Agency, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary services and assistance to the Working Group for the conduct of its work;

¹⁰A/66/520.

Commends the Agency’s six-year Medium-Term Strategy, which commenced in January 2010, and the continuing efforts of the Commissioner-General to increase the budgetary transparency and efficiency of the Agency, as reflected in the Agency’s programme budget for the biennium 2012–2013;¹¹

¹¹Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 13A (A/66/13/Add.1).

Also commends the Agency for sustaining its reform efforts, and urges it to continue to apply maximum efficiency procedures to reduce operational and administrative costs and to maximize the use of resources;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the strengthening of the management capacity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East,¹² and further urges all Member States to carefully consider its proposal for support by the Secretary-General of the institutional strengthening of the Agency through the provision of financial resources from the regular budget of the United Nations;

¹²A/65/705.

Endorses the efforts of the Commissioner-General to continue to provide humanitarian assistance, as far as practicable, on an emergency basis, and as a temporary measure, to persons in the area who are internally displaced and in serious need of continued assistance as a result of recent crises in the Agency’s fields of operation;

Welcomes the progress made thus far by the Agency in rebuilding the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, and calls for the expeditious completion of its reconstruction, for the continued provision of relief assistance to those displaced following its destruction in 2007 and for the alleviation of their ongoing suffering through the fulfilment of pledges made at the International Donor Conference for the Recovery and Reconstruction of the Nahr el-Bared Palestine Refugee Camp and Conflict-affected Areas of Northern Lebanon, held in Vienna on 23 June 2008;

Encourages the Agency, in close cooperation with other relevant United Nations entities, to continue making progress in addressing the needs and rights of children, women and persons with disabilities in its operations in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child,¹³ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,¹⁴ and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,¹⁵ respectively;

¹³United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.

¹⁴Ibid., vol. 1249, No. 20378.

¹⁵Ibid., vol. 2515, No. 44910.

Commends, in this regard, the Agency’s “Summer Games” initiative providing recreational, cultural and educational activities for children in the Gaza Strip and, recognizing its positive contribution, calls for full support of the initiative;

Expresses concern about the relocation of the international staff of the Agency from its headquarters in Gaza City and the disruption of operations at the headquarters due to the deterioration and instability of the situation on the ground;

Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply fully with the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949;5

Also calls upon Israel to abide by Articles 100, 104 and 105 of the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations3 in order to ensure the safety of the personnel of the Agency, the protection of its institutions and the safeguarding of the security of its facilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

Urges the Government of Israel to expeditiously reimburse the Agency for all transit charges incurred and other financial losses sustained as a result of delays and restrictions on movement and access imposed by Israel;

Calls upon Israel particularly to cease obstructing the movement and access of the staff, vehicles and supplies of the Agency and to cease the levying of taxes, extra fees and charges, which affect the Agency’s operations detrimentally;

Reiterates its call upon Israel to fully lift the restrictions impeding the import of necessary construction materials and supplies for the reconstruction and repair of thousands of damaged or destroyed refugee shelters, and for the implementation of suspended civilian infrastructure projects in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, while noting the commencement of several projects in this regard;

Requests the Commissioner-General to proceed with the issuance of identification cards for Palestine refugees and their descendants in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

Notes with appreciation the progress made by the Agency in the modernization of its archives through the Palestine Refugee Records Project, including the completion of phase I, and encourages the Commissioner-General to finalize the remaining components of the Project as rapidly as possible and to report on the progress made to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session;

Also notes with appreciation the success of the Agency’s microfinance programme, and calls upon the Agency, in close cooperation with the relevant agencies, to continue to contribute to the development of the economic and social stability of the Palestine refugees in all fields of operation;

Reiterates its appeals to all States, the specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to continue and to augment the special allocations for grants and scholarships for higher education to Palestine refugees in addition to their contributions to the regular budget of the Agency and to contribute to the establishment of vocational training centres for Palestine refugees, and requests the Agency to act as the recipient and trustee for the special allocations for grants and scholarships;

Urges all States, the specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to continue and to increase their contributions to the Agency in order to address the serious financial constraints and underfunding, especially with respect to the Agency’s regular budget deficit, noting that financial shortfalls have been exacerbated by the current humanitarian situation on the ground that has resulted in rising expenditures, in particular with regard to emergency services, and to support the Agency’s valuable and necessary work in assisting the Palestine refugees in all fields of operation.

Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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