United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...

) is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to over 4.7 million Palestine refugees living in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, as well as in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. It is the only agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict. It is separate from and created before

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

, the UN Refugee Agency, which is the only other UN agency aiding refugees, dedicated to aiding all other refugees in the world.

Commissioners-general of UNRWA

Since 1962, the head of UNRWA has been titled Commissioner-General: * Philippe Lazzarini (Switzerland) - appointed Commissioner-General 19 March 2020 by UN Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

. * Pierre Krähenbühl (Switzerland) - appointed Commissioner-General 30 March 2014 by UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

. He resigned on 6 November 2019 amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement. *

Filippo Grandi Filippo Grandi (born 30 March 1957) is an Italian diplomat and United Nations official, currently serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agenc ...

(Italy) - Commissioner-General from 2010 to 2014, appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Grandi served as Deputy Commissioner-General since 2005. Before UNRWA, Grandi had served in

and other UN organizations.Secretary General Appoints New Commissioner-General and Deputy Commissioner-General
, UNRWA.org * Karen Koning AbuZayd (U.S.) - Commissioner-General from 2005 to 2010, appointed by UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

. AbuZayd had worked as chief of mission for

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. AbuZayd is a current member of the Board of Directors at the

Middle East Policy Council The Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that produces analysis and commentary on issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It was founded in 1981 under the stated missi ...

in Washington D.C.. * Peter Hansen (Denmark) - Commissioner-General from 1996 to 2005, appointed by UN Secretary-General

Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992 to 1996. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Boutros-Gha ...

. Hansen joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

as Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning and Coordination. Between 1985 and 1992, he served as Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations. In March 1994, he took over the post of Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. When his term ended in March 2005, he was not allowed to stay for another term due to Israeli and US pressure. * İlter Türkmen (Turkey) - Commissioner-General from 1991 to 1996. Türkmen served as Turkey's ambassador to France, Greece and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Before that, Türkmen was Turkey's permanent representative to the UN in New York and was representative to the UN in Geneva. Türkmen served from 1979 to 1980 as the Secretary-General's special representative in Thailand, dealing with humanitarian issues. From 1980 to 1983 Türkmen was the foreign minister of Turkey.Benjamin N. Schiff, ''Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians'', (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 293. * Giorgio Giacomelli (Italy) - Commissioner-General from 1985 to 1991. Giacomelli represented Italy as ambassador to Somalia and Syria. Giacomelli left UNRWA when appointed by Secretary-General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime min ...

to become head of the UN's anti-drug campaign. * Olof Rydbeck (Sweden) - Commissioner-General from 1979 to 1985. Rydbeck represented Sweden at the UN in New York from 1970 to 1976 and was ambassador to the U.K. from 1976 to 1979. Rydbeck was also Director-General of the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation between 1955 and 1970. * Thomas McElhiney (U.S.) - Commissioner-General from 1977 to 1979. McElhiney had been UNRWA deputy Commissioner-General before his appointment as Commissioner-General. McElhiney served as Inspector-General of the

U.S. Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

and U.S. ambassador to Ghana and to Ethiopia. * John Rennie (U.K.) - Commissioner-General from 1971 to 1977. Rennie had been UNRWA deputy Commissioner-General before his appointment as Commissioner-General. Rennie served as Britain's deputy colonial secretary for Mauritius. * Laurence Michelmore (U.S.) - Commissioner-General from 1964 to 1971. Michelmore had been senior director of the UN's Technical Assistance Board, deputy director of personnel, and administrative consultant of the UN Special Fund and the Secretary-General's representative on Malaysia.

List of directors of UNRWA

Until 1962, the head of UNRWA was titled Director: * John Davis (U.S.) - Fourth Director and first Commissioner-General from 1959 to 1963. Davis had been U.S. assistant secretary of agriculture in the

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

administration.Benjamin N. Schiff, ''Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians'', (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 292. * Henry Labouisse (U.S.) - Director from 1954 to 1958. Labouisse had been the principal

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

official dealing with the implementation of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

. Labouisse left UNRWA to become the head of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. * John Blandford Jr. (U.S.) - Director from 1951 to 1953. Blandford served as chairman of the UNRWA Advisory Commission before becoming director of UNRWA. Blandford served as deputy chief of U.S. Economic Cooperation Administration in Greece and a consultant to president

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

on the

. * Howard Kennedy (Canada) - Director from 1950 to 1951. A former Major-General in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

.Benjamin N. Schiff, ''Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians'', (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 292

References

{{reflist Directors and Commissioners-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Directors and Commissioners-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Directors and Commissioners-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East *