UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, providing education, health, relief, and social services to over 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. It is unique in the UN system as an agency dedicated to a specific refugee population. UNRWA provides education to over 500,000 students, operates 137 primary health care facilities, and delivers humanitarian assistance including food, cash, and shelter.
The agency’s existence serves as both a humanitarian lifeline and a political marker of the unresolved Palestinian refugee question. Unlike UNHCR, which works toward permanent solutions for refugees, UNRWA’s mandate is to provide services pending a political resolution of the refugee issue, a resolution that remains elusive after more than seven decades.