“The Palestinian experience of recentyears and the travail of the present,daunting as these are, must not bethe sole measure of prospects for thefuture. I prefer to dwell on the rangeof possibilities that exist in the rich socialand cultural Palestinian heritage,the Palestinian affi nity for knowledge,learning and professional skills, andthe capacity of the Palestinian peoplefor economic self-reliance. It is onthese attributes – and on the genuinethirst for peace among the majority ofPalestinian civilians - that hope for thefuture rests.<strong>UN</strong>RWA will remain dedicated to nurturingthese possibilities through itshuman development work, and by itscommitment to the values of neutrality,non-violence and respect for thehuman rights of all.”and Social Services department has concentratedits efforts on the poorest of thepoor. Basic food supplies and cash subsidies,as well as emergency cash grantsand adequate shelter to the most vulnerablerefugees are provided by these services,currently dealing with over 260,000 specialhardship cases.In an aim to promote economic developmentand to alleviate poverty among Palestinerefugees, the Microfinance and Microenterprisedepartment was established in1991. Since then, more than 180,000 loanshave been awarded with a value of about200 million USD, targeting at women, lowincomehouseholds and microentrepreneursamong others.Throughout its sixty years of operation,<strong>UN</strong>RWA has been continually challengedby crises stemming from conflict and politicalinstability in its areas of operation. Inresponse to the changing needs of refugees,the Agency has established new servicesthat deal with the consequences of protractedviolence and insecurity. In the recentGaza fighting, <strong>UN</strong>RWA continued to workquite literally under fire standing shoulderto shoulder with the Palestinian people justas it has done through sixty years of conflict,exile and dispossession. In the most fraughtof circumstances, <strong>UN</strong>RWA staff in Gaza continuedfood distributions and emergencyhealth care provision to a million refugees,a fact that has done much to shore up thecredibility of the United Nations on the Arabstreet and in the Middle East region morewidely. Moreover, just a week after the endof the war, <strong>UN</strong>RWA opened all its schoolsin Gaza to 200,000 refugee children. Humandevelopment work was resumed immediatelyafter the fighting – a pattern that hasbeen repeated by the Agency many timesduring its 60-year presence amid the turbulenceof the Middle East.Advancing respect for the human rights ofPalestine refugees is implicit in <strong>UN</strong>RWA’shuman development and humanitarianwork, which exemplifies the efforts of theinternational community to promote socialjustice and to protect the most vulnerable.<strong>UN</strong>RWA’s protection role includes internationaladvocacy. This entails stressing theentitlements of Palestine refugees underinternational law and reminding States andpolitical actors of their obligations underhuman rights instruments as well as internationalhumanitarian law.<strong>UN</strong>RWA Commissioner-General,Karen Koning AbuZaydAll these achievements well deserve a commemoration.Already during the <strong>UN</strong> GeneralAssembly in New York last September,a series of events took place at the <strong>UN</strong>Headquarters. This series was inauguratedwith the unveiling of <strong>UN</strong>RWA’s@60 bannerby <strong>UN</strong>RWA’s Commissioner-General,Karen AbuZayd, and Palestinian President,Mahmud Abbas. On a background featuringdozens of young faces, a vision of the nextgeneration, and carrying the words, “Peacestarts here”, the banner covered for the firsttime the façade of the General Assembly.The unveiling was then followed by a ministerialmeeting to discuss the role of <strong>UN</strong>RWAand endorse its future operations. In earlyMay, a football match between the Belgianand the Palestinian teams was organised inBrussels. Also in late June and late Octobera fund-raising concert and play took placein Vienna and New York respectively. Moreevents will be held in other locations in thecoming months. ❚22 – <strong>UN</strong> <strong>Special</strong> – Décembre 2009
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