UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE ...

(UNRWA) agency created by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 9, 1949, to provide relief, health, and education services for those Palestinians (the great majority of whom are Arabs) who lost both their homes and means of livelihood during the Arab-Israeli wars following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Approximately 500,000 Palestinians originally qualified for relief; by the late 20th century some 2,000,000 were on the relief rolls, including children of the original refugees, destitute nonrefugees, and deceased refugees whose ration cards were used by others. Although some have been able to find part-time work or to move out of the camps, UNRWA continues to provide camps, food, clothing, schools, vocational training, and health clinics, often working in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNRWA is financed by voluntary contributions of member governments, and, like its predecessor organization, the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, it was originally designated a temporary agency. Its mandate has been renewed several times, however, because of the complexity of the problem.