welcome to the UNRWA family A NEWSLETTER FOR NEW SUP P ORTERS OF U N R W A Thank you for giving generously to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees. Your kind donation will make a real difference to the lives of Palestine refugees, old and young alike. It will educate children and help youth develop their job market skills. It will allow refugees to start their own businesses. It will provide universal health care to all refugee families, will provide social and relief services to those that need it most. Your support will help repair, refurbish and build camp infrastructure. In times of emergencies, as was the case this year in Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, it will swiftly provide emergency aid to families and individuals. Thanks for opening your heart. welcome to the UNRWA family.
Our Story began in 1950 A Palestine refugee is one who lost both home and livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict. When we began our operations in 1950 with the mandate to provide relief and works to Palestine refugees, we were providing assistance to 750,000 refugees. Today, we provide protection and assistance to 5 million registered refugees. These refugees live in 58 refugee camps and cities and towns in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Our funding depends on voluntary contributions from UN Member States, sister UN agencies, NGOs, private companies, and crucially, from individual donors like you.
WHAT WE DO Education 476,000 Students
Health 3.1M
Refugees Access our
Microfinance 324,994
Our students are among the most highly educated in the region
Health Services
We promote development and self-reliance of the marginalized
We provide comprehensive primary health care services, preventive and curative, based on holistic care of the entire family
Loans Awarded
Relief & social services 282,944 Refugees Supported by safety Net
50km north
HAMA
HOMS
We provide sustainable income-generation opportunities, particularly for women
TRIPOLI
Asi
SE
A
Fields of operation
N
Infrastructure & Camp Improvement 1,5 M
LEBANON i SAIDA
TE
Total: 5,208,825
Lit an
518,949 470,604
BEIRUT
SYRIA
AN
Jordan Lebanon Syria West Bank Gaza Strip
2,090,762
886,716
RR
1,241,794
BA’ALBEK
Mar Elias
EA
Population by field*
DAMASCUS
a
sb
ME
DI
Ha
El Buss
ni
TYRE Burj Shemali Rashidieh
Lives Impacted
QUNEITRA
We provide participatory and communitydriven improvement of 58 recognized refugee camps
GOLAN LAKE TIBERIAS
Erez Crossing
AS SUWAYDA
ISRAEL
JABALIA
DERA’A
Jordan
GAZA Nahal Oz Crossing Karni (Al-Montar) Crossing
DEIR EL-BALAH
IRBID
JENIN
TUBAS
TULKARM
JERASH
NABLUS
Kissufim Crossing
QALQILYA
KHAN YOUNIS
WEST BANK SALFIT ZARQA AS SALT
RAFAH
AMMAN RAMALLAH JERICHO
Sufa Crossing Kerem Shalom Crossing
JERUSALEM
JORDAN MADABA
BETHLEHEM Camp Established in 1948
SEA
Arroub
GAZA STRIP
HEBRON
Camp Established in 1967
Refugee Camp Population
600 - 25.000
DEAD
Rafah Crossing
25.000 - 50.000 50.000 - 110,000 Checkpoint
*All figures as of July 2012
Completed Barrier Barrier under construction Planned Barrier
Emergency Response 482,000 Refugees Supported During Syria Conflict
We operate prevention, preparedness, response and recovery phases for when refugees are most vulnerable – in emergency
Mohammed’s Story
Mohammad is a Palestine
refugee from Syria who left Syria for Lebanon because of the war. He now lives in the Shatila refugee camp. Mohammad is in the 8th grade and studies at the UNRWA Ramallah school. He says, “the best thing about this school is that the teachers are good and help us a lot… I can’t imagine studying without them, they have helped us a lot”. He loves the school and his teachers so much, he’d like to take his teachers back to Damascus when he returns with his family. “I wish that our teachers will come with us to Damascus”. His dream is to work oversees to escape discrimination that Palestinians encounter in Lebanon, in particular in the job market where they are barred from a majority of professions. “When I finish my studies and graduate, I will travel and work abroad [because] in a foreign country, over there foreigners won’t label us Palestinians… [over there] no one will ever say you cannot work because you are Palestinian”. Mohammad is among a group of Palestine refugee teenagers from Syria living in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, who will link via Skype in a multi-media educational initiative with peers in three British schools. This pilot project, entitled #myvoicemyschool, will enable the students to explore what it means to have a quality education”. Read more. Thanks to donors like you, we educate nearly half a million Palestine refugee students in our five fields. Our education programme is pupil-centered, supporting children with diverse needs, abilities and backgrounds. One of our key programmes promotes human rights and non-violent communication skills, conflict resolution and tolerance. Although we face the challenge of three quarters of our schools working double-shift, meaning two consecutive school streams run in one school on the same day, our students are among the most highly educated in the region.
“ the best thing about this school is that the teachers are good and help us a lot… I can’t imagine studying without them, they have helped us a lot”
Hanan’s Success Story “For 18 years, I used to take my pocket money from my dad”, says Hanan. But no more. With the help of UNRWA’s microfinance programme, Hanan, a 35 year old Palestine refugee from Jordan, was able to launch her own health magazine, the first of its kind in the country.
Hanan started work early, working for a Swiss company so she could pay her college fees while studying chemical engineering. However, she had to leave her job at a chemical products factory because of allergies. After overcoming various challenges in the job market, Hanan approached the microfinance programme, which offers sustainable income generation opportunities for Palestine refugees, to help sustain ‘ Joheart’, the first Arabic magazine in Jordan, one that deals with health education and awareness. As she attests, “My visit to UNRWA“ microfinance lifted a huge burden off my shoulders”. With her first loan of JOD 1,000 (US$ 1,412) she rented an office on Khalidi Street. A year later, a second loan of JOD 2,000 (US$ 2,824) enabled the purchase of a computer for designing. A third helped her hire more employees, and the final loan took the company online. In March 2014, the magazine celebrated its seventh anniversary. “I consider UNRWA a partner in my success!” Hanan says, adding the lesson she has learned over the years: “Success does not come by chance, but will come to those who are determined, those who maintain good faith and selfconfidence, those who persevere, work hard and take action to achieve their dreams!”
“I consider UNRWA a partner in my success!” Thanks to donors like you, we’ve awarded US$368 million since we began in 1991, with 38% of our clients women and 33% youth. Most clients operate small, often informal businesses on the margins of the economy and include fishermen, garage-owners, at-home seamstresses and vegetable stall-owners. The programme is not a handout. Rather, it is a helping hand that encourages and makes possible for Palestine refugees to realize their dreams of being self-sustainable and independent.
How we ethically spend your donations All of the funds we receive go directly to our Programme Budget, or to a specific appeal/activity that you have donated towards, to assist and serve Palestine refugees whom we are mandated to protect and serve. Our planning is meticulous and the current budget reflects our Medium Term Strategy for the period 2010–2015. We make sensible investment in fundraising and communication and undertake prudent expenditure on management support and administration. Our programme budget is approved for the biennium 2014-2015 by the UN General Assembly.
How We Spend Funds To read our latest audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2013, click here. It is important to us to be transparent because we want to remain accountable to you and to assure you that your kind donations will have the greatest possible impact. To have a look at our General Fund Programme Budget for 2014-2015, click here.
Kefah El Najjar
UNRWA Doctor from Gaza During the devastating hostilities in Gaza over July and August this year, Dr. Kefah El Najja, a Senior Medical Officer at UNRWA based in Jabalia showed tremendous courage and resolve to assist those that needed it most. She did so at tremendous risk to her own life. Dr Kefah commuted to work from her home in Gaza City, and with tears in her eyes, recalls the dreaded daily journey, “ When I left my house, I prayed to God that I can reach the Health Center safely. While at work, I prayed to God to save my family at home. My kids tried to stop me from coming to work every day. Still many patients came to my health center, so of course I continued coming to work.”
Other Ways you can Help • Become a monthly donor to ensure we have the stable income needed to respond quickly and meet the urgent needs of Palestine refugees in our five fields of work • Follow us on social media to keep up to date on the latest campaigns, thunderclaps and appeals • Share with family, friends and loved ones our online portals, appeals and our monthly newsletter or encourage them to subscribe • Visit us the next time we have an event in your area and show your support for Palestine refugees!
Keep in Touch! We’d love to hear from you. Send us your questions, concerns and recommendations because we always want to do better. Here’s how you can reach us: Our website: www.unrwa.org/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/unrwa , Twitter: www.twitter.com/unrwa Write to the fundraising team at: donations@unrwa.org