BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

Assistance
27 Luigi De Martino, “Main Trends”, p. 15.
28 Tribute to the memory of His Excellency Mr Yasser Arafat, late President of the Palestinian Authority, General Assembly, A/59/
PV.52, New York, 11 November 2004. Also “Strengthening of the co-ordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of
the United Nations, including special economic assistance: reports of the Secretary-General” (A/61/79 and A/61/463), Agenda
item 69, General Assembly, A/61/PV.52, New York, 13 November 2006.
29 Assistance to the Palestinian People, Report of the Secretary-General, General Assembly, A/61/80 and E/2006/72, 12 May 2006, para. 8.
30 Assistance to Palestine Refugees, UNGA, A/RES/302(IV), 8 December 1949, para. 7.
31 According to Article 6 of Resolution 302(IV), all relief and works operations were to be terminated by the middle of 1951.
32 (1) “Work Relief”, i.e., small-scale training and employment creation; (2) “Works Projects”, i.e., medium-sized public sector
government-controlled projects (such as road-building and tree-planting), aimed at creating employment; (3) assistance to and
subsidization for small numbers of Palestine refugees willing to resettle in places such as Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada,
Columbia, Chile, Egypt, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Venezuela,
Germany and Yemen; (4) large-scale regional development projects with regional governments.
33 See UNGA Resolution 1315(XIII), 12 December 1958, requesting UNRWA “to plan and carry out projects capable of supporting
substantial numbers of refugees and, in particular, programmes relating to education and vocational training”. Also see Resolution
1456 (XIV), 9 December 1959, directing the Agency “to continue its programme of relief for the refugees and … expand its
programme of self-support and vocational training”.
34 UNRWA and the Transitional Period: A Five-Year Perspective on the Role of the Agency and its Financial Requirements, UNRWA,
Vienna, 31 January 1995.
35 See “UNRWA – Under Attack and Underfunded”, al Majdal, Issue 19, Bethlehem: Badil Resource Center, September 2003.
36 Report of the Commissioner-General, 1 July 2003–30 June 2004. UN GAOR, Fifty-ninth Session, Supp. 13 (A/59/13), 19 October
2004, para. 108, p. 25.
37 Report of the Commissioner-General, 1 July 2004–30 June 2005. UN GAOR, Sixtieth Session, Supp. 13A (A/60/13/Add.1),
paras.1.26, pp. 6–7.
38 Hansen, Peter, “Meeting the Humanitarian Needs of the Palestine Refugees in the Near East: Building Partnerships in Support
of UNRWA”, Commissioner-General’s Closing Remarks, International Conference Centre, Geneva, 8 June 2004.
39 Comay-Michelmore Agreement, 14 June 1967, entered into force on 14 June 1967. Michael Comay was then political adviser
to the Foreign Minister and Ambassador at large of Israel, and Lawrence Michelmore was UNRWA Commissioner-General.
The agreement is reprinted in Schiff, Benjamin, Refugees unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians. Syracuse, New York:
Syracuse University Press, 1995, pp. 295–96.
40 See Assistance to the Palestinian People, Report of the Secretary-General, General Assembly, A/61/80 and E/2006/72, 12 May
2006, para. 62.
41 UNRWA Director: “Counting Down to a Crisis in Gaza”, UNRWA Press Release, HQ/G/06/2006, 11 April 2006.
42 “Children Pay the Price as UNRWA Operations in Gaza are Grinding to a Halt,” UNRWA Press Release, HQ/G/15/2006, 24
August 2006.
43 Press Conference by Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, UN Department of Public Information, New York, 30 August 2006.
44 In Syria, for instance, the Association for the Liberation of Palestine was formed in 1948 to provide assistance to Palestinian
refugees. By mid-1948, however, the number of refugees in Syria had grown too large to manage effectively, and the association
appealed to the Syrian government for help. Assistance included relief in kind and cash payments, extra allowances for pregnant
women, and free medical care for the sick. Orphans were provided with food, lodging and primary education. In Egypt, the
Higher Committee responsible for Palestinian refugee affairs, together with the Egyptian Red Crescent and international nongovernmental
organizations, established an assistance system for 5,000–7,000 Palestinian refugees with material supplied by the
UN and later through USAID.
45 United Nations NGO Meeting on Palestinian Refugees, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 28 April 2000.
46 As of July 2007, there were 92 Palestinian member organizations of the Palestinian NGO (PNGO) network. See http://www.
pngo.net/pngo.htm.
47 See “United Nations and NGOs Increase Emergency Appeal for Palestinians by 80%”, United Nations Press Release, Jerusalem,
31 May 2006.
48 See “The Role and Performance of Palestinian NGOs in Health, Education and Agriculture”, World Bank and Bisan Center for
Research and Development, December 2006, p. 27.
49 UNRWA Emergency Appeal 2007, p. 3.
50 UNRWA Emergency Appeal 2006, p. 3.
51 “Violence, poverty and despair are overtaking hopes of recovery in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The international isolation of
the Palestinian Authority (PA), the conditions of siege on Gaza and the ongoing fragmentation of the West Bank are destroying the fabric
of Palestinian society, creating an ever more distressed, degraded and angry population.” UNRWA Emergency Appeal 2007, p. 3.
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