About:
- Establishment:
- It was established in 1949, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.
- In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until 30 June 2020.
- Mandate: To support Palestinian refugees, and their patrilineal descendants, who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war and 1967 Six Day war.
- Services: It provides education, health care, and social services to the population it supports.
- Regions covered:
- Aid is provided in five areas of operation: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem;
- Aid for Palestinian refugees outside these five areas is provided by UNHCR.
- Funding: It is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States. It also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations.
UNRWA vs UNHCR:
UNRWA is separate from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the main UN refugee agency, which was created in 1950.
- Region covered:
- UNRWA is the only UN agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region.
- UNHCR is responsible for aiding other refugees all over the world.
- Refugee status:
- UNRWA allows refugee status to be inherited by some descendants.
- UNHCR has a specific mandate to aid its refugees to eliminate their refugee status by local integration in current country, resettlement in a third country or repatriation.
