The ongoing conflict in Syria is increasingly encroaching on UNRWA camps, and the Agency estimates that over half of the 529,000 Palestine refugees in Syria are now displaced, either within Syria or to neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Jordan . The Saudi contribution will support UNRWA efforts to continue delivering food and cash assistance, as well as emergency relief, health and education services to the Palestine refugee population.

Welcoming the donation, UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi said: “With the areas of Syria where most Palestinians live seeing intensified fighting, the number of Palestine refugees displaced and destitute is growing by the day. Once again, Saudi Arabia has demonstrated its commitment to mitigating the suffering of Palestine refugees.”

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the major UNRWA donors. As the Agency’s foremost Arab partner, Saudi Arabia has provided consistent support to the Agency’s work in health, education, and relief and social services. It has also contributed to the reconstruction of Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, in Lebanon , and to a flagship project to rehouse Palestine refugees in Rafah, Gaza . Phase I of that project was inaugurated in February 2013.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some five million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.

Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency’s General Fund (GF), supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently the deficit stands at US$ 54.3 million.

“Whether because of damage to buildings or because of the overall insecurity, nearly two thirds of our students in Syria will not be able to return to their schools this fall,” UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said in a press release.

He added that in addition to disrupting their education, the closures make it even harder for children to maintain a sense of continuity in an already difficult situation.

Of the UN agency’s 118 schools in Syria, only 49 will reopen for the 2013-2014 school year.

UNRWA said it is working on alternatives, such as broadcasting classes on its television channel and developing long-distance learning materials.

“The situation in Syria is a great challenge, but it has only increased the importance of ensuring that Palestine refugees have access to high-quality and continued education,” said Caroline Pontefract, UNRWA Director of Education.

Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced. In addition, at least 6.8 million Syrian require urgent humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children.

Following a visit to the region in July, Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said without a political solution to the conflict in Syria, the country faces “a generation of angry, illiterate adults.”

She said schools in the region are trying to assist Syrian children, but challenges remain stemming from discrepancies in curriculum, capacity and language.

In Lebanon, which hosts around 50,000 Palestine refugees, only about 35 per cent of students are enrolled in school, according to UNRWA figures.

“Working with Arab Idol Mohammed Assaf, the Agency’s Regional Youth Ambassador, UNRWA hopes to highlight the struggles and needs of these vulnerable Palestine refugees,” the UN agency said in a statement.

The campaign, which will be broadcast on MBC1 and advertised on many different media, including social tools like Facebook and Twitter, aims to remind viewers of the difficult situation Palestine refugees in these areas are facing.

“In Syria, the long-running conflict has displaced thousands, while years of conflict and blockade have left the majority of Gazans dependent on international assistance. Despite the difficult political, operational and financial circumstances, UNRWA is committed to providing refugees in both these areas with the support, assistance and protection that they need,” UNRWA said.

Launching the fundraising and awareness campaign, the Agency thanked those supporters who made it possible, including Jawwal, the Bank of Palestine and Al-Wataniya Mobile.

UNRWA spokesperson Sami Mshasha added: “With the support of these valued partners, UNRWA was able to reach out to new audiences. With your support, we will be able to continue and increase our work for and with Palestine refugees in Gaza and Syria.”

Meanwhile winner of Arab Idol, Mohammed Assaf, said: “I have been familiar with UNRWA and its work all my life. I am very proud to be able now to join the Agency in extending a hand to other Palestine refugees in Syria and Gaza.”

The families in Ein El Hilweh refugee camp in Saida fled the long-running conflict in Syria, which has uprooted millions of people since fighting began between Government forces and opposition groups in March 2011.

During the 11 July visit, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Robert Watkins, accompanied by Leila Zerrougui, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and Ann Dismorr, the Director of Operations in Lebanon for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), met with Palestinians currently residing in collective temporary accommodation.

“The families, wishing for an immediate end to the violence in Syria and a speedy return to their homes, told them about the difficult conditions they face in Lebanon, the high cost of living and the trauma of war and displacement,” said a news release issued by UNRWA.

The UN officials also met with Palestinian refugee children from Syria who are enrolled in UNRWA schools, a number of non-governmental organization representatives and the Palestinian popular committees.

Dismorr briefed her colleagues on UNRWA efforts to alleviate the suffering of the 71,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria that are now in Lebanon, as well as the challenges facing the Agency as it works to address their urgent needs in housing, food, water, camp infrastructure, health and education.

“The conflict in Syria is one of the greatest challenges UNRWA has seen since it was established, in 1949, to provide relief to Palestine refugees,” she said.

The UN envoys were also informed about the shortfall in the UNRWA relief fund for Palestinian refugees from Syria, and the Agency’s efforts to raise the funds to cater for their needs.

On 7 June, UNRWA appealed for $65 million to cover the needs of Palestinian refugees from Syria from January to December 2013. Of that sum, the Agency has received over $25 million, and has confirmed pledges of an additional $3 million.

“We are committed to providing vital services and support to the refugees who have come to Lebanon,” Ms. Dismorr said, reiterating the refugee families’ wish for a swift end to the violence in Syria.

“Filippo Grandi, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has named 23-year-old Mohammad Assaf as the first UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador for Palestine Refugees. This follows Mohammad winning the Arab Idol crown and reflects his personal commitment to Palestinian refugees and to UNRWA,” the UN agency said in a statement.

A diplomatic source in Beirut, where MBC’s Arab Idol is filmed, told Maan news agency the agreement was signed days ago to make Assaf the first-ever Palestinian refugee to become a UN ambassador.

The performer from the Gaza Strip which has become an audience favorite for singing about the troubles of Palestinians under Israeli occupation Accepting his appointment as Youth Ambassador, said: “I’m truly honoured to become an Ambassador for Palestine refugees. All my good memories of the UNRWA school in Khan Younis in Gaza, where I had the opportunity to study and grow, are still very fresh. Being a young refugee myself, I can understand better than anybody else the challenges and the opportunities before us. I’m committed to doing my very best to help UNRWA succeed in giving other young people like me the same chance.”

Thousands of Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza celebrated in the streets late Saturday.

The first Palestinian to win Arab Idol, Assaf was born to Palestine refugee parents in Libya. He returned to the Gaza Strip with his family at age 4 and was raised largely in the refugee camp in Khan Younis. He has described himself as a “son of Palestine” and a “son of UNRWA”: his mother is an UNRWA teacher, and he himself was educated in UNRWA schools.

Speaking in Amman at the bi-annual meeting of UNRWA’s Advisory Commission, Grandi said that more than half of the 530,000 Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Syria are believed to be displaced; 15% of all refugees have fled abroad, including over 60,000 to overburdened Lebanon, which already hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, and over 7,000 to Jordan”. According to Grandi, “even Egypt now hosts many Palestine refugees from Syria, and some have reached Gaza”.

UNRWA has joined the United Nations’ recent appeal for fresh funds to respond to the Syria crisis for the remainder of the year. The Agency is asking donors for a total of US$ 200m for its Syria-related emergency activities.

Commenting on UNRWA’s General Fund (GF) for core services, Grandi described the current financial situation as “challenging”. “While stringent austerity measures remain in place, the projected 2013 shortfall stands at US$ 65m, and for the time being cash flow will sustain UNRWA only through October. The struggle to bridge the gap will be more intense because internal financial management has been tightened almost to breaking point”, said Grandi.

He concluded, that “the distress of Palestine refugees in Syria and displaced from Syria has given the lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process an added, and very stark dimension. For refugees, this might well be another tragic turning point. They feel it very strongly. Because across the lands of their painful and protracted exile, Palestinians are connected to each other by their history, their present and their future. The loss of camps in Syria and the uncertainty that it has wrought, are suffered by all, just as the bombardments in Gaza.”

As of 5 June 2013, UNRWA has recorded 1,820 families of Palestinian refugees from Syria as being of concern to the Agency. Currently, 197 Palestinians reside in Cyber City Refugee Camp, the government-appointed facility in the Irbid governorate of Jordan.

The joint UNRWA-Bimkom report analyses the consequences of the relocation which started in 1997 in order to expand the Ma’ale Adummim settlement, which, like all settlements is illegal under international law.

The study highlights the deterioration of the social and economic conditions of the Bedouin refugees transferred to Al Jabal village. The move to one central urban location has deprived these mobile pastoralist communities of social cohesion and is destroying their social fabric and traditional economic base.

According to UNRWA Spokesperson, Chris Gunness, “the Israeli authorities are currently considering plans to create a second centralised Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank”. “However”, says Gunness “the stark conclusions of this report may lead to a reassessment of this policy”.

The rural communities targeted to be transferred to the second village reject the move, stating it will irreparably damage their social fabric and their traditional economy, as in the case of Al Jabal. If implemented, such a move may amount to individual and mass forcible transfers and forced evictions contrary to international law.

Planning NGO, BIMKOM contends that the type of urban plans developed by the Israeli authorities for Al Jabal are not an appropriate solution: “The allocation of a small parcel for each family and the connection to minimal infrastructure can lead to significant harm to human rights. An appropriate plan should take into account socio-cultural aspects, provide subsistence and development opportunities, be developed with the villagers themselves and must be acceptable to them.”

Al Jabal village is next to the largest rubbish dump in the West Bank, where 700 tonnes of waste are disposed of each day. According to recent environmental studies, there are “high levels of toxic gases, which pose an immediate health threat to residents, but also cause internal and surface combustion at the dump site leading to explosions, land subsidence, surface fires and other safety hazards. High numbers of pests thriving off the site and its surroundings include rats, packs of dogs, cockroaches and flies, all of which pose significant health threats to livestock, the young and those of less robust health.

If the plan being considered by the Israeli authorities to relocate all remaining rural refugee Bedouin communities from the Jerusalem periphery to a second location – or other sites in the future – goes forward, the number of displaced people would be four times higher than the number relocated to Al Jabal. UNRWA remains concerned that more than six decades after they were first displaced from their homes, Palestine refugees continue to face the threat of displacement and loss of livelihood.

Accepting the donation, UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi thanked the Dutch Government, stating: “We rely on strong partners like the Netherlands to keep our much needed programmes for Palestine refugees operational. We are extremely grateful to the Government and the people of the Netherlands for their consistent and generous support.”

“The Netherlands wishes to extend its deep appreciation to UNWRA for their great effort and dedication in assisting Palestine Refugees, often under difficult and complex circumstances”, said Dutch Representative to the Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA Birgitta Tazelaar.

She continued: “As donors and host countries alike face difficult economic situations, they have to make choices on how to spend their money, while at the same time the number of refugees supported by UNRWA continuous to grow and the Syrian crisis is creating more challenges. This makes it extremely important that UNRWA continues its efforts to further improve the efficiency of the organization and the transparency of the budget that shows refugees, governments and taxpayers how funds are being spent. The Netherlands has full confidence that UNRWA will live up to this challenge and will continue to support UNRWA in this process.”

The Netherlands government has been a longstanding partner of UNRWA, and in 2012 was the Agency’s seventh-largest donor.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international mathematics and science evaluation that compares the achievement of 4th and 8th grade students in 63 other countries. The evaluation allows for the collection of extensive data on the quantity and quality of teaching all over the world.

The latest study revealed that UNRWA students in the West Bank scored better than the national average scoring 430 points in maths and 451 in science as compared to their national colleagues, with the national average achievement set at 404 in maths and 420 in science.

According to UNRWA’s education department, the achievements shown in the study are the result of hard work and coordination between students, their parents, school management and teachers.

“2011 was our first foray into TIMSS. We made it a goal and priority to achieve high scores, but high scores were not our only focus”, said school principal Ali Aseedeh. “Rather, the skills that are built in the process is what made TIMSS a central tool in our teaching strategy”.

While the hard work of students is at the heart of the high scores, UNRWA teachers have gone out of their way to help their students, the UN agency says. Maths teacher Ghassan Ismail organised private tutoring sessions in his home, after school and at weekends. School administrators created special maths and science periods every day, giving a focus and attention to the exam that would facilitate the high-scoring trend. The motivation and initiative of school staff provided the students with the support they needed to realise their potential.

“Based on the assurances UNRWA in Gaza received from different local parties, the Agency will reopen its installations across the Gaza Strip effective today, Tuesday 9 April,” UNRWA said in a statement.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been demonstrating outside the UNRWA office in Gaza since last week, in response to a programme cut necessitated by budget shortfalls according to the agency.

Protests against the cuts turned violent on 4 April, when demonstrators stormed the UNRWA office in Gaza, leading to the closure of all relief and distribution centers, which together provide food to more than 800,000 Gazans altogether.

“UNRWA was forced to close its distribution and relief offices last week due to ongoing demonstrations that affected its operations, a regrettable decision that hindered the Agency’s ability to provide much needed services and relief supplies to Palestine refugees in Gaza,” UNRWA said.

“While UNRWA understands the frustration of the population, heightened by the tightened blockade on the Gaza Strip, and respects the right to peaceful demonstrations, UNRWA must ensure the safety and security of its staff. UNRWA in Gaza reaffirms that while it is re-opening these facilities now, if its staff or facilities are threatened or operations hindered by demonstrations in the future, it will again be forced to close those installations.”

UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, pending a solution to their plight.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.