Briefing by UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd

Capitol Hill

May 7 2008

I extend my warm appreciation to Congressman Kucinich for kindly organising this hearing.  Thanks also to his staff for their help in preparing it.  The invitation reflects a growing interest on Capitol Hill in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  The Congressman’s invitation, and your participation, provide a welcome opportunity for me to brief on UNRWA’s work, and update you on the grim situation in the West Bank and, in particular, the Gaza Strip.

To my regret, the Arab-Israeli conflict remains a divisive issue here in Washington.  But I think it is equally true that in our nation’s capital, there is a tireless commitment to finding humanitarian solutions to the many tragedies this conflict creates. 

There are many expressions of this commitment.  The most significant is the US Government’s humanitarian assistance to the Palestine refugees.  In bipartisan spirit, the US Congress and every Presidential Administration have generously supported UNRWA since 1950, when it began assisting Palestine refugees who fled or were forced out of their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. 

UNRWA’s investment in the human resources of the refugees has helped promote their self-reliance and enterprise, and the peaceful economic development of their communities.  This United Nations mandate is in line with deep-rooted foreign policy objectives of the United States. 

The US has long been the largest bilateral donor to the Agency.  In 2007 it contributed $154 million; approximately $90 million was allocated for our regular operating budget and some projects, and $63 million for emergency services in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon. In 2008 UNRWA anticipates roughly the same level of funding. 

I would like to say a few words about our use of such funds, and the track record of cost effectiveness that has helped sustain US confidence in UNRWA.  Our regular budget funds the main services we provide to 4.4 million refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  UNRWA is the principal education and primary health provider for these refugees.  In that sense, UNRWA is “quasi-governmental”. 

In education:

We enroll 485,000 children in our 650 gender-balanced schools, built and run by UNRWA with US and other donor support. 

We employ over 20,000 teachers.  Our educational innovations are unique in the region.  We established the first women’s vocational training center in the Middle East in 1962, thereby encouraging their social mobility. 

And we have integrated a Human Rights, Tolerance and Peaceful Conflict Resolution programme into all our schools. 

In health:

We vaccinate approximately 100,000 infants a year, and have brought infant mortality rates down to among the lowest in the entire Middle East

Our pre and post-natal care has similarly reduced maternal mortality associated with childbirth to among the lowest rates in the region.

Our achievements, however, are being placed increasingly at risk by funding that fails to keep up with needs, and more recently the Dollar’s decline and rising food and energy prices.  This year we expect a funding gap in our regular budget of $98 million.  We have been facing major funding gaps for over a decade.

The US contribution, though generous, has declined relative to overall contributions; it accounted for 25% in 2004, and has slipped now to 17%.  We are making efforts to raise the share to previous levels.

Without increased donor support, we fear for the stability of our operations and the quality of essential services we provide to the refugees.   

Gaza Strip and West Bank

I would like to turn to our emergency operations in the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, where conditions are worsening by the day for the refugees, whom constitute close to half the population.  While I struck a note of concern about UNRWA’s financial health above, the gravest concern we confront now as an Agency is the critical humanitarian situation in those areas, in particular Gaza, whose social and economic fabric is unraveling.  

In Gaza, 1.5 million people, half of them under the age of 16, have been cut off from the outside world.  This is the direct result of a “closure” policy imposed by Israel, which has long cited security concerns as its basis.  Closure intensified after the takeover of Gaza by Hamas in June 2007.

The closure of Gaza, and Israel’s continuing military operations, are turning a once outward-looking and cosmopolitan culture in on itself.   The consequences for peace are grim.  This is a key point I wish to convey.  Those suffering the most are not extremists, but the civilian population.

The economic impact of the “closure” is devastating.  Gaza now can not export anything it manufactures, and its imports have been reduced to a trickle. 

80,000 Palestinians have lost their jobs within the last year; up to 90% of Gaza’s industries have shut down. 

In addition to the commercial closure of Gaza, the population of Gaza is largely prohibited from leaving via Israel and Egypt.

This has severed family ties, and prevented education abroad. 

It has denied many Palestinians access to critical medical treatment. [A significant number of Palestinians have died as a result since mid-2007].

Recently, the closure worsened.  The supply of electricity from Israel into Gaza was reduced in October 2007, and since 10 April 2008 the Israeli authorities stopped fuel imports.  The cumulative effect on Gaza has been deplorable. 

Bread is scarce - flour mills cannot operate;

Cooking gas is not available to most.  Many Gazans have reverted to cooking on wood-fired stoves.  There is little wood in Gaza.

Most vehicles, including 20% of Gaza’s ambulances, are not running

The fishing industry is decimated. In 1999 Gazans caught 304 tonnes of fish per month.  In March 2008 the catch was 4 tonnes. 

Water, sewerage and waste treatment facilities have been crippled; over 50 million litres of raw sewage has been pumped into the Mediterranean, and sewage lakes are forming in Gaza City.

Mechanised garbage collection has stopped; there is a growing risk of disease and rodent infestation

Gaza’s central pharmacy lacks fuel to refrigerate cold-storage medications;

The UN has not been spared the consequences of the cut in fuel supplies, despite repeated appeals to Israeli authorities – with whom, I would like to stress, we maintain good relations and regular contact at both working and senior levels.

The recent rupture in fuel supply forced UNRWA to suspend its food distribution to 650,000 refugees for four days in late April, after it ran out of fuel and the Israeli authorities failed to re-supply it.  This was a first in UNRWA’s history. 

I am pleased to report, however, that on 5 May Israel released 3 weeks worth of fuel to UNRWA which has enabled us to resume our food distribution.  This is an important and constructive step taken by the Israeli authorities. 

However we remain deeply concerned about the stability of fuel supply after the events of the last week. 

Other imports, including raw materials for UN construction projects, remain blocked from entry.  These imports are required to strengthen or build infrastructure such as sewage and water networks.  $213 million in projects have been forced to a halt for months, with potentially serious implications for public health in Gaza.

The UN recognises that threats to Israel’s security are all too real.  The recent killings of Israeli civilians by armed Palestinians at Nahal Oz are tragic evidence, as are the Qassam attacks on Southern Israel. Israel’s security, however, must be maintained in line with international law. 

The UN has taken a clear position on Gaza; the crossings with Israel and Egypt must be open to human and commercial traffic, with due precautions for Israel’s security taken into account.  Their closure is tantamount to collective punishment.

Before my concluding remarks, I draw attention briefly to the West Bank. Conditions are not as acute as in Gaza, but hardships accumulate daily.  To improvise on a phrase used by the World Bank: the West Bank is a “shattered” economic and social space.

The UN recently estimated 600 road blocks and other impediments to movement – up from the 2007 average of 550. 

40% of its territory is off limits to Palestinians

Impediments to the movement of both the UN and Palestinians at major transit points are increasing: we see this as a “crisis of access”, in which, for example, 12 commercial crossings from Israel into the West Bank currently open to UNRWA will be reduced to 4.  This could hinder UNRWA’s services to almost 800,000 refugees in the West Bank.

Conclusion

In 2003, the World Bank estimated that losses to the Palestinian economy during the intifada exceeded those of the US during the Great Depression of the late 1920s.  Five years on, the economic devastation has worsened.

I live and work in Gaza.  I moved there in 2000, just before the Intifada began.  I saw an enterprising society connecting to the outside world and on its way to reducing poverty and despair. It is now an impoverished society; enterprise has been strangled by closure, and despair is rampant. 

Gaza’s poverty rate has tripled.  Almost 80% of the population is dependent on external assistance.  In 1999 it was under 10%.

I strongly believe it is not in anyone’s interests to see an aid-dependent society full of desperate people take root in Gaza.  The same is true of the West Bank.  To be sure, the UN recognises that the pre-eminence of Hamas in Gaza is threatening to Israel, and poses a challenge to a resumption of the peace process. 

But the international community also agrees that the peace process must resume, and that Gaza can not be excluded.  As one Israeli official recently put it, no one wants a “three-state solution”.

In the absence of a sustained peace process, UNRWA continues to apply a band aid to refugees suffering from conflict, and to invest in the human capital of the refugees and the stability of their communities throughout the region.  We are counting on the proven generosity of the US Government, and our other partners, to be able to do so.

Thank you.