UNRWA MOPAN Assessment Report (August 2024) – Occupied Palestinian Territory

Donor-led organisation performance assessment report praises UNRWA’s unparalleled services for Palestinian refugees

August 26, 2024

AMMAN

A review of UNRWA by a group of UN member states, all donor countries, has praised the agency for its ability to continue operating under extremely challenging circumstances, including the war in Gaza. The report, which analyses UNRWA’s performance and effectiveness between July 2018 and April 2023, confirms its unparalleled ability to provide education, health and social services to Palestinian refugees.

“UNRWA has demonstrated a commendable ability to adapt and continue its activities under very challenging circumstances, including active conflict zones,” said the report by MOPAN – the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network.

“The Agency’s ability to deliver education, health and social services at scale to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations is unparalleled,” it added.

MOPAN previously assessed UNRWA in 2011 and 2018. Germany and Qatar jointly led this latest assessment. According to the report, the Agency’s key strengths are:

• UNRWA’s unique and valuable contribution to regional and local stability.
• A proven ability to consistently deliver quality services to growing numbers of people under increasingly challenging circumstances.
• Demonstrated adaptability to deliver services in deteriorating circumstances, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Gaza.
• Committed employees with sound contextual insight.

MOPAN acknowledged that there had been improvements since the 2018 assessment, particularly in evaluation and monitoring, planning and reporting, and external outreach, including to donors and other parts of the UN system. It gave the agency an overall rating of “sufficient” in the vast majority of areas assessed.

MOPAN also identified areas where UNRWA could improve its performance. It recommended the development of a more decentralised organisational structure, called for the improvement or replacement of the Agency’s physical infrastructure and assets, and said that the digitalisation of its work processes and systems should be strengthened.

In addition, it recommended that UNRWA do more on gender equality and environmental sustainability, risk management, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, ethics, evaluation and human resources. In addition, the MOPAN report recommended that the Agency further strengthen its external and internal communications – highlighting the significant improvement in these areas since the last assessment – ​​as well as its performance monitoring, needs assessments and learning.

“We are pleased with MOPAN’s recognition of UNRWA’s unparalleled service delivery and unique contribution to regional and local stability,” said UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Natalie Boucly. “We are determined to address the areas for improvement and call on Member States to increase their political and financial support to the Agency to enable us to do so. Such support is crucial to continue delivering public services to Palestine refugees in all areas and to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza.”

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Notes for editors

• UNRWA is currently analysing the findings of the MOPAN assessment. The Agency is comparing the MOPAN recommendations with those of the Independent Review of UNRWA – the Colonna Report, published in April – to identify synergies in the implementation of both.
• The members of MOPAN are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand (observer), Norway, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey (observer).

Background information:

UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with the mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s area of ​​operations, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.

UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the 1948 conflict remain displaced and in need of assistance nearly 75 years later.

UNRWA helps Palestine refugees reach their full potential in human development through the quality services it provides in education, health, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.