Help for refugees
UNRWA has supported four generations of Palestinian refugees, defined as “persons whose habitual place of residence was Palestine between 1 June 1946 and 15 May 1948, and who have lost both their homes and the means of livelihood due to the 1948 war.” Descendants of refugees in Palestine, including legally adopted children, can also be registered.
When the Agency began operating in 1950, it served the needs of approximately 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Today, approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are eligible for its services.
The group also paid a heavy price in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, with more than 150 of its staff killed in the violence.
Over 30 thousand employees
The majority of UNRWA’s more than 30,000 staff are Palestinian, including 13,000 residents of Gaza. Only 300 are international officials, the rest are local staff, mostly Palestinian refugees. The Agency is therefore one of the largest employers in Gaza.
UNRWA has two headquarters, in Amman and Gaza, and five local offices (Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank).