07 May 2021
During her first official visit to Syria from 24-28 April 2021, newly appointed Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA Deputy Commissioner-General, Leni Stenseth, visited with Palestine refugees and Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA installations in Syria. She met with several Government officials, including Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and expatriates, Dr. Salwa al-Abdallah, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, and Mr. Ali Mustafa, Director-General of the General Authority for Palestinian Arab Refugees (GAPAR). She briefed them on Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA operations and the Agency¡¯s efforts to modernize and become more efficient, and the ongoing financial challenges. Ms. Stenseth particularly emphasized the Agency¡¯s ?deep appreciation for strong, continuous support to Palestine refugees by the Government of Syria. ¡°The excellent cooperation has not only allowed Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA to provide 438,000 Palestine refugees across the country with essential services, but also to jointly respond to overwhelming challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic,¡± she said.
During her visits to the Sbeineh and Yarmouk camps in Rif Damascus, Ms. Stenseth witnessed the extreme hardship and increasing needs of Palestine refugees. In Sbeineh, she talked to staff who briefed her about how Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA quickly adjusted its services at the beginning of the pandemic, including the change to remote learning, telehealth and increased safety measures. Palestine refugee women at the food distribution point expressed the multiple challenges they face and how they depend on Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA assistance.
In Yarmouk, once home to approximately 160,000 Palestine refugees and now laying in ruins, Ms. Stenseth was troubled by the level of destruction. She talked to Palestine refugees who have returned to the camp, and who shared testimonies of pain and despair, but were also full of hope and resilience. To respond to their most urgent needs, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA provides weekly primary health care services via a mobile health clinic, transportation for students to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA schools outside the camp, and food and non-food items distribution. All Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA installations in Yarmouk camp were either severely damaged or destroyed during the now over ten-year-long conflict. ??¡°Rehabilitation of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA installations is one of our top priorities,¡± Ms. Stenseth said.? ¡°More Palestine refugees are expected to return to Yarmouk, where living conditions are unbearable. Coping mechanism are depleted, and enormous efforts need to be put in place to make sure the camp becomes a habitable place for Palestine refugees.??? The international community needs to step up to make sure when the refugees return to the camp they can live in dignity.¡±
Updating Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA staff on the Agency¡¯s financial situation, Ms. Stenseth noted: ¡°2020 was an extremely difficult year for Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA and for all of you, with unprecedented and compounded financial, public health and socio-economic crises. It is only thanks to your dedication and hard work that Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA has been able to continue providing services to the Palestine refugee community in Syria without interruption. You gave an example to the world. I promise you that we are working relentlessly to overcome Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA financial challenges. We urgently need additional contributions to ensure sufficient, predictable, and sustained funding for Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA. Having met with you and the Palestine refugee community will help me and the Commissioner-General to be your voice when meeting with our donors,¡± she said.
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency¡¯s programme budget. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.7 million Palestine refugees registered with Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
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Document Sources: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA)
Country: Syria
Subject: Assistance, Refugee camps, Refugees and displaced persons
Publication Date: 07/05/2021
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