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The
international community works closely with host governments and
non-governmental organizations to provided needed assistance to
Palestinian refugees. Primary host governments report annual
expenditures totaling more than US$ 500 million. More than 250
institutions and non-governmental organizations provide a range of basic
services to refugee communities in 1967 occupied Palestine, Jordan,
Syria and Lebanon. Refugee students and trainees
make voluntary contributions at prescribed rates to improve Agency
facilities and equipment in schools and training centers. Other forms of
community support include in-kind donations of equipment, furniture, and
supplies. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees (UNRWA) is the primary international body mandated to provide
assistance to Palestinian refugees. UNRWA has an annual budget of around
US$ 300 million. The Agency has faced continual budget crises since it was
established in 1950.
Chronic Budget Shortfalls
Chronic budget problems are related to the
system of voluntary funding by UN member states, delays in
contributions for current budget cycles, political and humanitarian
crises which necessitate emergency programs, rising costs and inflation.
The high rate of natural growth in the refugee population and lack of
durable solutions place further strain on Agency services. Budget
shortfalls have affected the Agency's regular (i.e., recurrent and
non-staff costs, including provision of education, health and social
services) and projects (i.e., non-recurrent costs, including most of the
capital costs) budgets. UNRWA
currently requires a budget growth of 7.5 percent per annum based on an
average 3.5 percent growth in the refugee population and an annual
weighted average rate of inflation in the Agency’s areas of operation of
4 percent. During the 1990s the gap between UNRWA’s budgeted and actual
expenditure has reached as much as US $50 to $70 million per year out of
a total budget of around US$ 250 to $300 million.
Impact of the Assistance
Gap
Shortfalls in donor
contributions have led to cutbacks in international staff posts,
services and freezing of planned expansion of services as well as
postponing maintenance and construction costs. Specifically, it has
resulted in high rates of double-shifting in schools, reliance on
unsatisfactory rented buildings, over-crowded classrooms, reduced
teacher/student interaction, higher workloads for staff, difficulties in
hiring qualified teachers at existing salary scales, and inability to
keep pace with educational reforms in host states. It has also resulted
in restrictions on referrals and duration of hospital stays in some
areas, some redeployment of contracted beds from the private sector to
less expensive NGO hospitals, below average per capita expenditure on
health services, a higher number of patients per health personnel, and
difficulties in maintaining competitive salaries for recruitment of high
quality health care professionals. Finally, funding shortfalls have led
to excessively high patient caseloads for Agency social workers,
increasingly stringent criteria for qualification as a special hardship
case, limiting special cash assistance to acute crises, and limitations
on needed shelter rehabilitation.
Donor Report Card
Since 1950
one-hundred and sixteen donor states, in addition to the European Union
and non-governmental sources, contributed US$ 6.9 billion (not
including inflation) towards UNRWA services. Calculated as contributions per capita and as a percent of
total GDP, Norway, Sweden and Denmark are the most ‘generous’ donor
states among the top 13 donors to UNRWA when total contributions as of
2000 are calculated on a per capita basis as well as percent of GDP. The
largest single donor between 1950 and 2002 is the United States (US$
2,447,762,217) while the largest overall donor is the European Union
(US$ 2,958,715,982). Arab states contributed just over a quarter of
a billion dollars during the same period (US$ 262,192,773). Israel contributed nearly US$ 15 million. |
