I) PREFACE
UNRWA has been providing services to the Palestine refugee population for a long time - some five decades - and there may be a tendency to assume that it will continue to manage somehow, whatever the circumstances. I wish to dispel any impression that things are business-as-usual in the OPT. This is the eighth emergency appeal issued by UNRWA since the OPT was plunged into a severe humanitarian crisis in September 2000. Each appeal has been a little more pressing, each citing the latest statistics of destruction and poverty.
This appeal, like previous appeals, details the needs of the refugees, and describes the emergency measures UNRWA is taking. Even a brief perusal will confirm the remarkable level of services being offered over and above UNRWA's regular programme activities. There is no doubt that UNRWA is confronting the enormous hurdles brought on by economic suffocation and relentless violence to the best of its ability. I am grateful to a committed staff, who continue to work tirelessly, often at great personal risk. Eleven staff members have been killed since the beginning of the intifada. Although the reputation of UNRWA staff has suffered due to the recent strike action in the West Bank, I am pleased that this has now concluded and that the work of the Agency, including its emergency programming, on behalf of the refugee community can now resume.
Since the latest military incursions, I have again visited several camps in the Gaza Strip. In Jabalia, for example, I spoke to the residents of a whole neighbourhood that had been flattened by Israeli forces. I continue to be impressed by the resilience of the refugees, their civility towards outsiders and their confidence in a better future.
The constraints to this better future are largely political and beyond the scope of this report. However, the responsibility of meeting the urgent needs of the refugees is ours and yours. UNRWA has been struggling to make do with a seriously under-funded emergency budget for almost four years. It is no longer working. The 2004 emergency budget was not even half funded. The deficit of need has become too great. Closures, curfews and the wall/fence increasingly disrupt services and prevent economic activity; violent military incursions destroy lives, property and livelihoods. Despite an overwhelming desire to be economically productive and self-sufficient, the refugee population cannot, under current conditions, support itself, or rebuild its communities.
In 2005 we are requesting a total of US$ 185,814,882 which is a reduction on the sum appealed for in 2004. This is not due to any improvement in the situation, but because we have moved a number of activities in health, education and psychosocial support into UNRWA’s General Fund. This is in recognition of the long term nature of these activities, and in part, as a response to the under-funding of previous appeals.
This document shows why we need further emergency funding and exactly how we intend to use it. You will find that we do our utmost to work around the hurdles and to provide meaningful assistance: mobile clinics service those unable to reach regular health facilities, job creation programmes in addition to emergency handouts, supplementary food aid for those families who would otherwise go hungry. The coming months will be crucial in determining the future of the OPT. By meeting the emergency needs of the refugee population, the donor community can replace some of the uncertainty with a modicum of stability, going a long way to allow families, workers, professionals, youth and children to contribute positively to their communities and ultimately to peace.
Peter Hansen
19th November 2004
Israeli Assault on Gaza By Numbers in 30 Days
Date posted: August 09, 2014
By Safa Agency
