UNRWA Programs

EDUCATION

  • Education is UNRWA's largest area of activity accounting for half its regular budget and two-thirds of its staff.
  • In the 2002/2003 school year, UNRWA is providing basic, free education to 490,949 young Palestine refugees in 656 elementary and preparatory schools throughout its area of operations and in five secondary schools in Lebanon.
  • 50 per cent of the pupils are female.
  • Eight vocational and technical training centres with 5,101 places equip young refugees with marketable skills and a teacher training programme ensures sufficient qualified teachers for Agency schools.

For more information about UNRWA education click here.

HEALTH

UNRWA's health programme aims to protect, preserve and promote the health of Palestine refugees and to meet theirbasic health needs. Since its establishment, the Agency hasbeen the main health care provider for the Palestine refugee population, providing the following health services:

  • Primary health care
  • Nutrition and supplementary feeding
  • Assistance with secondary health care
  • Environmental health in refugee camps

For more information about UNRWA healthcareclick here.

RELIEF & SOCIAL SERVICES

  • UNRWA supports Palestine refugee families unable to meet their own basic needs and helps promote the self-reliance of the refugee community through community social development.
  • Direct material and financial assistance including food is given to families in special hardship. These are families without a male adult medically fit to earn an income and without other identifiable means of financial support sufficient to cover food, shelter and other basic needs. Some 233,044 persons, or 5.7 per cent of all Palestine refugees registered with the Agency are receiving assistance under this programme.
  • UNRWA provides technical and financial support to 108 locally-managed women's programmes and community rehabilitation centres, which provide a range of social services to the refugee community.
  • This department also registers refugees and carries out assessments of eligibility for UNRWA services on an ongoing basis.

For more information about UNRWA relief &social services click here.

MICROFINANCE & MICROENTERPRISE PROGRAMME

  • Create employment and income generating opportunities to both Palestinian refugees and residents by promoting the development of small-scale and microenterprises through the provision of loans for working capital and investment funds at commercial interest rates;
  • Make credit available to enterprises in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy;
  • Encourage export-oriented manufacturing with foreign income-earning capacity;
  • Encourage import substitution in order to improve the balance of trade;
  • Increase the volume of lending and extend the programme's outreach to those who do not have access to credit because of a lack of collateral;
  • Encourage the participation of women in the economy;
  • Be self-sustaining with funds from its credit operations.

For more information about UNRWA Microfinance& Microenterprise Programmes click here

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ABOVE: Children in classroom