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 53 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, published in 2017.

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 subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Aid Financing Budget Contributions Humanitarian Assistance Palestine Refugees Refugee Assistance

What’s in this document?

38 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 Agency, as well as to all the staff of the Agency, for their tireless efforts and valuable work, particularly in the light of the difficult conditions, instability and crises faced during the past year;

Expresses special commendation to the Agency for the essential role that it has played for more than 65 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 and for the stability of the region, and affirms the necessity for continuing the work of the Agency and its unimpeded operation and provision of services, pending the just resolution of the question of the Palestine refugees;

Commends the Agency for its extraordinary efforts, in cooperation with other United Nations agencies on the ground, to provide emergency humanitarian assistance, including shelter, food and medical aid, to refugees and affected civilians during and since the military operations in the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014, and recognizes its exemplary capacity to mobilize in emergency situations while continuously carrying out its core human development programmes;

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

Also expresses its appreciation to the Advisory Commission of the Agency, and requests it to continue its efforts and to keep the General Assembly informed of its activities;

Takes note of the report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East¹⁵ 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;

¹⁵A/72/326.

Commends the Agency for its six-year medium-term strategy for 2016–2021 and the Commissioner-General for his continuing efforts to increase the budgetary transparency and efficiency of the Agency, as reflected in the Agency’s programme budget for the biennium 2018–2019;¹⁶

¹⁶Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-second Session, Supplement No. 13A (A/72/13/Add.1).

Also commends the Agency for sustaining its robust internal reform efforts, despite difficult operational circumstances, and recognizes its implementation of maximum efficiency procedures to contain expenditures, reduce operational and administrative costs, reduce its funding shortfalls and maximize the use of resources;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East3 and the conclusions and recommendations contained therein;

Appeals to States and organizations for the maintenance of their voluntary contributions to the Agency, as well as an increase in contributions where possible, in particular to the Agency’s programme budget, including in the consideration of their allocation of resources for international human rights, peace and stability, development and humanitarian efforts, to support the Agency’s mandate and its ability to meet the rising needs of the Palestine refugees and essential associated costs of operations;

Appeals to States and organizations not currently contributing to the Agency to urgently consider making voluntary contributions in response to the calls of the Secretary-General for expansion of the Agency’s donor base, in order to stabilize funding and ensure greater sharing of the financial burden of supporting the Agency’s operations, in accordance with the continuing responsibility of the international community as a whole to assist the Palestine refugees;

Calls for the provision by donors of early annual voluntary contributions, less earmarking, and multi-year funding, in line with the Grand Bargain on humanitarian financing announced at the World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2016, in order to enhance the Agency’s ability to plan and implement its operations with a greater degree of assurance regarding resource flows;

Also calls for the full and timely funding by donors of the Agency’s emergency, recovery and reconstruction programmes as set out in its appeals and response plans;

Requests the Commissioner-General to continue efforts to maintain and increase traditional donor support and to enhance income from non-traditional donors, including through partnerships with public and private entities;

Encourages the Agency to explore financing avenues in relation to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals;6

Urges States and organizations to actively pursue partnerships with and innovative support for the Agency, including as recommended in paragraphs 47, 48 and 50 of the report of the Secretary-General, including through the establishment of endowments, trust funds or revolving fund mechanisms and assistance to the Agency to access humanitarian, development and peace and security trust funds and grants;

Welcomes pledges by States and organizations to provide diplomatic and technical support to the Agency, including engagement with international and financial development institutions, including the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, and, where appropriate, to facilitate support for the establishment of financing mechanisms that can provide assistance to refugees and in fragile contexts, including to meet the needs of the Palestine refugees, and calls for serious follow-up efforts;

Requests the Agency to continue to implement efficiency measures through its medium-term strategy and the development of a five-year proposal for stabilizing the Agency’s finances, including specific and time-bound measures, and to continue to improve its cost efficiency and resource mobilization efforts;

Calls upon the members of the Advisory Commission and the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to consider the relevant recommendations in the report of the Secretary-General, including to help the Agency to address resource mobilization challenges and to actively assist the Commissioner-General in the efforts to create sustainable, sufficient and predictable support for the Agency’s operations;

Takes note of the recommendations of the Secretary-General regarding the support provided to the Agency from the regular budget of the United Nations;

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

Encourages the Agency to provide increased assistance, in accordance with its mandate, to affected Palestine refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to those who have fled to neighbouring countries, as detailed in the Syrian regional crisis response plans, and calls upon donors to urgently ensure sustained support to the Agency in this regard in the light of the continuing grave deterioration of the situation and the growing needs of the refugees;

Welcomes the progress made thus far by the Agency in rebuilding the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, and calls for donor funding to enable 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 provision of the necessary support and financial assistance until the reconstruction of the camp is complete;

Encourages the Agency, in close cooperation with other relevant United Nations entities, to continue to make progress in addressing the needs, rights and protection of children, women and persons with disabilities in its operations, including through the provision of necessary psychosocial and humanitarian support, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child,¹⁷ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women¹⁸ and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;¹⁹

¹⁷United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.

¹⁸Ibid., vol. 1249, No. 20378.

¹⁹Ibid., vol. 2515, No. 44910.

Also encourages the Agency to continue to reduce the vulnerability and improve the self-reliance and resilience of Palestine refugees through its programmes;

Recognizes the acute protection needs of Palestine refugees across the region, and encourages the Agency’s efforts to contribute to a coordinated and sustained response in accordance with international law, including the Agency’s development of its protection framework and function in all field offices, including for child protection;

Commends the Agency for its provision of humanitarian and psychosocial support and other initiatives that provide recreational, cultural and educational activities for children in all fields, including in the Gaza Strip, and, recognizing their positive contribution, calls for full support for such initiatives by donor and host countries and encourages the building and strengthening of partnerships to facilitate and enhance the provision of these services;

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;9

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 Nations7 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, at all times;

Takes note of the investigations into the incidents affecting the Agency’s facilities during the conflict in the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014, and calls for ensuring accountability for all violations of international law;

Urges the Government of Israel to expeditiously reimburse the Agency for all transit charges incurred and other financial losses sustained as a result of the 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 levying taxes, extra fees and charges, which affect the Agency’s operations detrimentally;

Reiterates its call upon Israel to fully lift the restrictions impeding or delaying 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 and urgently needed civilian infrastructure projects in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, noting the alarming figures reflected in the United Nations country team reports of 26 August 2016, entitled “Gaza: two years after” and of July 2017, entitled “Gaza ten years later”;

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 positive contribution of the Agency’s microfinance and job creation programmes, encourages efforts to enhance the sustainability and benefits of microfinance services to a greater number of Palestine refugees, especially in view of the high unemployment rates affecting them, and youth in particular, welcomes the Agency’s efforts to streamline costs and increase microfinance services through internal reform efforts, 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 their contributions to the programme budget of the Agency, to increase their special allocations for grants and scholarships for higher education to Palestine refugees 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;

Calls upon the Commissioner-General to include, in the annual reporting to the General Assembly, assessments on the progress made to remedy the recurrent funding shortfalls of the Agency and ensure sustained, sufficient and predictable support for the Agency’s operations, including through the implementation of the relevant provisions of the present resolution.

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?

Table of contents