CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Abushama, Heba |
|---|---|
| Title | The Role of UNRWA in Empowering Palestinian Refugees: Case Study on the Educational Sector |
| Summary | In 1949, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed Resolution 3022, which led to the creation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (Baruch 2018, 6).This agency tackles various issues faced by Palestinian refugees, including their right to return, as well as essential services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, camp improvement, protection, microfinance, and social services.When the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1949, key stakeholders such as Syria, Jordan, other Arab countries, Israel, and the United States agreed to designate UNRWA as an independent agency specifically for Palestinian refugees, rather than placing them under UNHCR’s broader mandate (Akram 2002, 39).Therefore, UNRWA's mandate is confined to empowering Palestinians through material and humanitarian aid, and it explicitly does not address the political aspects of Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation. UNRWA operates an extensive network of dental care, health clinics, and disease prevention for children and women. It also works to provide Palestinian refugees with clean water, sanitation facilities and roads programs. Through the various agency microfinance emergency relief programs, UNRWA provides business development services, loans, food assistance, shelter, and medical care that address the Palestinian immediate demands and needs while also contributing to their resilience and rehabilitation (Schulz 2021, 4). For over 75 years, UNRWA has remained dedicated to aiding Palestinian refugees, who constitute 78% of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria (Southey 2021, 2). Nevertheless, since its founding, UNRWA has faced a lot of controversy, including issues such as political neutrality, allegations of inefficiency, accusations of corruption, financial challenges, and security concerns. In 2018, the United States withdrew financing from UNRWA, resulting in a one-third reduction in the agency's budget. This resulted in cutbacks to some of its services for Palestinian refugees, including housing, healthcare and emergency response programs (Gottheil 2006, 419). More recently, Israeli officials suggested as much as 10% of UNRWA’sstaff had ties to Hamas, with some participating in the attacks of October 7th. These accusations led to 19 states and the EU suspending their funding for UNRWA, just as the humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza continued to rapidly deteriorate. These two images of UNRWA—one as an essential lifeline for Palestinian survival and empowerment, and the other as an overtly political actor and existential threat stand in stark contrast to each other and drives my investigation: How can we reconcile the images of UNRWA as both ‘political’ and as ‘educational’, humanitarian organization? How did an organization whose work has been about empowering Palestinian people come to be seen as an overtly political actor and existential threat? To answer these questions, I explore the contradictions and perspectives surrounding UNRWA’s reputation, and the impact it has had on the lives of millions of refugees. I use the educational sector as a case study because I believe that education is a key source of empowerment for Palestinians, providing them with creativity, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills to navigate solutions to political, economic, and social challenges. Additionally, it helps them access employment opportunities and participate in educational trainings and workshops on specific topics such as human rights, gender equality, justice, and accountability.This project examines the importance of UNRWA for Palestinian refugees, using the educational sector as a case study. It also analyzes the quality of education provided by UNRWA schools and identifies main periods of educational change. I also argue that the educational system of UNRWA provides a revealing case study and method for elaborating developmental aid and humanitarian needs to the Palestinian refugees, demonstrating that it is a welfare and humanitarian organization rather than a political agency. Despite being principally a humanitarian organization, however, this does not mean it is not politicized in the arenas of international and geopolitical governance. |
| Supervisor | Murray, Michelle |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/abushama_heba.pdf |
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