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UNRWA - the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- was established by General Assembly Resolution 302 in December 1949 to deliver
humanitarian assistance to some 750,000 Palestinians who became refugees as a
consequence of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and their direct descendants.
Reporting directly to the General Assembly, UNRWA began operations
on 1 May 1950. In the absence of a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem,
the General Assembly has renewed the Agency’s mandate every three years, most
recently extending it to 30 June 2005.
Today, UNRWA provides
education, health care, relief and developmental social services to
approximately 4 million refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon
and Syria. The Agency’s headquarters are located in
Gaza (the
office of the Commissioner-General and support services) and Amman (programmes
and operational technical services), and there are five field offices based in
Gaza, Jerusalem, Beirut, Amman and Damascus. UNRWA employs some 23,600
locally-recruited staff, mainly Palestine refugees themselves, and around 130
international staff. The Agency depends almost entirely on voluntary funding
from donor States.
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LATEST NEWS
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MISSION STATEMENT
UNRWA was
created as a temporary organization to provide direct relief and longer-term
works’ programmes to the Palestine refugees, in collaboration with the local
host Governments, without prejudice to the rights of the refugees to
repatriation or compensation. In the 1950s, over two-thirds of the budget was
spent on direct relief. Today, developmental programmes – especially preventive
health care, education and training – account for the bulk of expenditure.
Capacity building and improvement of living conditions are key priorities.
However, UNRWA has also been called upon to mount emergency operations
repeatedly over the years. Since October 2000, the urgent needs for
humanitarian relief and reconstruction in the West Bank and Gaza have made
compelling claims on the Agency’s resources.
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COUNTRY
STRATEGY
UNRWA provides services to over 401,000 Palestinian refugees
in Syria: in Damascus
city and the surrounding countryside and in and around Aleppo, Lattakia, Hama,
Homs and Dera’a. Facilities include 111 schools, a vocational and technical
education centre, 23 health centres, 15 women’s programme centres and five
centres for community-based rehabilitation of refugees with disabilities. The
annual budget for these services is over US$ 26 million. In early 2003, the
Agency will also launch a multi-million dollar micro-credit and micro-finance
project, beginning with the Yarmouk quarter of Damascus, to promote economic
independence and improved living standards for thousands of Palestinian
refugees.
Additionally, the Agency receives important funding for
extra-budgetary projects from local and international donors, totalling over US$
17 million over the past four years. These projects have included: new and
upgraded courses at the Damascus Training Centre ( information systems
technology and financial management); an additional school in Husseinieh; new
health centres in Khan Dannoun and Muzeireeb; water supply and sewage networks
in refugee camps; a Community Centre in Qabr Essit; and low-income housing and
related infrastructure in Ein el Tal and Neirab.
The Syrian, Palestinian and
expatriate public in Syria have donated US$ 2.9 million to date to UNRWA’s emergency appeals for humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza – a
unique expression of popular support for the Agency and the Palestine refugees.
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PROJECTS
Rehabilitation Project
The Neirab Rehabilitation Project is an integrated rehabilitation and
development effort to improve the living conditions of some 13,000 Palestine
refugees in Neirab and the nearby camp of Ein el Tal.
For a summary overview of the project, please click on one of the links below (4
page project brief in .PDF format, March 2004; English and Arabic)
For detailed description of the project, please click on the link below (48 page
project document in .PDF format, April 2003; English only)
[Detailed English .PDF]
For information about UNRWA's
other projects in Syria, please
contact the office at the details below.
Employment and Vocational
Education Project
Palestine refugees living in Syria face a high level of poverty (25% of the camp
population live with less than US$2 per day) and are particularly affected by
unemployment (25-30%).
Enhancing the economic development of the Palestine refugee community requires
support to help refugees identify and access suitable employment. One crucial
action to tackle this issue is to increase and provide expansion opportunities
in vocational training, thus providing refugees with relevant and marketable
skills. Another critical venue is the establishment of services supporting the
development and management of small-scale businesses. The EC and UNRWA are
joining efforts to increase the employability of Palestine refugees in Syria,
thus actively targeting the impoverished state of the refugees.
In November 2006, the European Union contributed 2,5 million EUROS for a
four-year programme to be carried out in partnership with UNRWA, the
implementing Agency, with the aim of alleviating the poverty among Palestine
refugees in Syria by increasing the employment opportunities for Palestine
refugees. UNRWA will absorb the permanent costs generated by the Project at the
end of the Project period.
UNRWA, together with EU, has agreed on a 4-year plan that will substantially and
durably enlarge the UNRWA VET system, not only through the introduction of new
courses at the DTC, but also through the diversification of its beneficiaries
and the decentralization of its facilities, through the establishment of
employment units and the development of labor market information systems.
[read more...]
Employment and Vocational
Education Project New Courses
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PUBLICATIONS
The Syria Field Office produces a quarterly newsletter, Hand in Hand,
to keep UNRWA staff and the refugee community informed of news and
developments in the Agency’s programmes and services.
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JOB
OPPORTUNITIES:
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With effect from 5
November 2007, all UNRWA Syria Field Office vacancies will be
advertised via a new Online Recruitment Information
System (ORIS). Please visit the site:
www.unrwajobs.org
and create your personal
profile for subsequent application to UNRWA vacant
posts. |
Personal History Form
Contact
Person:
Mr.
Aziz
Husein, Deputy Field Administration Officer, SAR
Email:
a.husein2@unrwa.org
Job opportunities in
other UNRWA Field Offices:
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CONTACT US
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Email:
piosar@unrwa.org
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LINKS
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