\n| \n TOTAL<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 39.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 37.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 38.8<\/span>a<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n| \n 115.2<\/span>a<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \n Income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Regular income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Regular government pledges<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 33.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 33.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 33 6<\/span>b<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n| \n 100.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Other regular income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 1.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 3.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| <\/td>\n | \n 35.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 34.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 34.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 104.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Special income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n World Refugee Year and related income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 4.1<\/span>c<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n| \n 0.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n —<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 4.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Vocational training centre and teacher-training centre training scholarships and related income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n —<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 1.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 1.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 2.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n TOTAL<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 39.1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 36.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 35.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 111.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Excess of expenditure over income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n (0.1)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 1.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 3.1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 4.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\ta \t<\/span>Excluding operational reserve of $0.8 million in the budget for 1963.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\tb \t<\/span>For presentation Government pledges are assumed at same level as for 1962.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\tc \t<\/span>$2.4 million of this was actually received in 1960 but was not used until 1961\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t23. As the table indicates, during this three-year period the Agency expects to expend about $11 million in excess of its anticipated receipts from regular income sources. The necessity of spending beyond current receipts from regular contributions in order to meet the urgent need to expand and improve educational and training programmes was, of course, explained at each of the last two sessions of the General Assembly by the Commissioner-General, and no objections were registered. The Commissioner-General also announced in the fifteenth session that he would undertake to raise at least $4 million from extra-budgetary sources and, after $4.5 million had actually been received, stated at the sixteenth session that he would undertake to raise a further $2 million from extra-budgetary sources before 30 June 1963. To date, about $5.5 million has been raised from extra-budgetary sources, most of it by taking advantage of the World Refugee Year and from donations for scholarships, and it is now the expectation of the Commissioner-General that he will be able to raise an additional $1.5 million before 30 June 1963. This means that the Agency is now committing itself to raise a total of $7 million from extra budgetary sources during the three-year mandate period instead of the $6.5 million set forth in last year's annual report. Parenthetically it should be noted that this amount equals substantially the total cost of the construction and operation of the expanded vocational and teacher training programme throughout the three-year mandate period, and that without this income such expansion would have been impossible. However, even if the goal of $7 million is attained in full, the Agency will still have spent by the end of 1963 approximately $4 million in excess of anticipated total receipts from all sources during the three-year mandate period. This deficit the Agency is having to cover by drawing down its limited working capital reserve. This course of action will have brought the working capital reserve to a critically low level by the end of 1963, which means that a policy of spending in excess of annual receipts could not be followed for long, if at all, beyond that date.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t24. The Commissioner-General considers it unlikely that following 30 June 1963 he would be able to obtain funds for UNRWA from non-governmental organizations on the same scale as he has done in the past because the large donations received as a result of the World Refugee Year were of a one-time nature and no repetition of that effort is contemplated. This, then, means that UNRWA must look almost entirely to Governments for funds, it its mandate is extended.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t25. For the Agency's 1963 fiscal year the Commissioner-General proposes to hold relief expenditures at the same aggregate level as for 1962, i.e. $26.3 million. While this will entail a tight relief policy, the Agency believes it can. be carried out without resort to any reduction in the per capita level of services to needy refugees or change in the basic definition of a refugee In the short run, at least, the Commissioner-General foresees little opportunity of significantly reducing the relief costs of UNRWA. Naturally, if substantial progress is made toward an over-all solution to the refugee problem, that would certainly open the way for a reduction in relief costs. The only relief items which run in excess of $1 million per year are food and health services. Looking first at food, which is by far the largest item, any savings made during the next year, at least, by eliminating the dead and false registrants from the rolls will be offset by adding to the rolls names from the waiting lists of eligible children who currently are denied rations owing to the ceilings which the Agency has had to impose on a country-by-country basis in order to keep expenditure on rations under control.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t26. To attempt to cut health expenditures (including preventive and curative services, supplementary feeding and environmental sanitation), which currently are at the minimum rate of about 1\/ U.S. cents per person per day, in the absence of progress towards a solution to the refugee problem, would run the serious risk of increased morbidity and mortality, especially among vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant and lactating women. Curative medical services. the largest component in the health budget, must continue to be given high priority, both on merit and because of the importance which public opinion today attaches to the treatment of the sick. Any cutback in preventive services would not only affect adversely the programme for maternal and child health, but force a relaxation in the control of communicable disease. Such a policy would be short-sighted in that it would increase the possibility of an epidemic, something which has hitherto been avoided.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t27. For education, including training, the Agency proposes to expend a total of $12.5 million in 1963. Within this total, sufficient priority will be given to the vocational training and teacher-training centres to keep them operating at capacity. Actually, for the six-month period 1 January to 30 June 1963 most of the funds needed for this purpose are expected to come from donations for scholarships and other special contributions now being solicited, but for the latter half of the year (assuming the Agency's mandate is extended), UNRWA will have to look to Governments for the support of this function.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t28. From the facts just stated it is apparent that the main impact of any substantial shortfall in the Agency's income during 1963 is bound to fall on general education which would have to be cut back in order to offset at least the greater part of the deficit. Should government contributions in 1963 be substantially the same as in 1962, then a shortfall of $3.1 million will occur which will force the Agency to cut general education by as much as one-third. To do this the Agency would of necessity, have to cut deepest into education at the preparatory and secondary levels. This, in turn, would dry up the source of candidates for vocational and teacher training for years beyond 1963, with the result that the Agency's whole programme to help young refugee adults would founder. Such a development would spell tragedy to the individuals to whom education was denied and would make still more difficult the whole refugee problem.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t29. Therefore, in the opinion of the Commissioner-General, it is imperative that the full budget of UNRWA be covered for 1963. To do this will require contributions of nearly $37 million from Governments, as shown by the following table (see part II of the resort for details).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n \n\n| <\/td>\n | \n (In millions of U.S. dollars)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Total budget (including operational reserve of $0.8 million)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n 39.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Deduct<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Miscellaneous regular income<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n Special contributions expected<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 1.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n From working capital (in the event the operational reserve is required to be used)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 0.8<\/u><\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 2.9<\/u><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \n Balance required to be contributed by Governments<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n 36.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThis would represent an increase over 1962 of $3 million in regular contributions from Governments, or a relative increase of about 9 per cent.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t30. Parenthetically, the Commissioner-General points out that, in considering this critically important question of UNRWA's budget needs, Governments should note an inherent difference in the nature of expenditures for relief and for education. Whereas significant progress towards a solution to the Palestine refugee problem should have the effect of correspondingly reducing the relief needs of refugees, the educational needs of these people would, even in those circumstances, still continue to exist. Therefore, a satisfactory solution to the problem would merely mean an ultimate shift of the burden of education to the Governments of the countries in which the refugees then reside rather than any reduction in such costs. Moreover, in line with the general educational trends of the region. it is logical to expect that, in the future, educational costs for refugees (or former refugees) will gradually increase rather than decline as a higher percentage of children go to school and as they remain in school for more years.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t31. The Commissioner-General therefore appeals to Member Governments to contemplate the tragic consequences that would follow any policy that would force a cutback in the educational opportunities provided for Palestine refugee children. The countries where these refugees now reside are themselves confronted with an explosion of demand for educational facilities on behalf of their own native population, and already their resources are being severely strained as they strive to meet this demand. In these circumstances they have found it virtually impossible to provide sufficient educational opportunity for refugee children, and it is for this reason that UNRWA has found it necessary to engage in and support education for the refugee children. Actually, UNRWA has assumed this role with considerable reluctance and it is only recently that the educational opportunities provided for refugee children have even approached those provided for non-refugees in the same countries. If, therefore, UNRWA were compelled in 1963 to cut back drastically and suddenly its educational function, this would mean retrogression in terms of educational opportunities and would further complicate the refugee problem.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t32. Already a few Governments, recognizing the critical financial needs of UNRWA, are supplementing their regular contributions by grants from their technical assistance funds in support of vocational training. These Governments have done so only after sending their own teams of experts to the Middle East in response to UNRWA's invitation to survey the Agency’s operations and needs. In extending such an invitation the agency requested that assistance be given only if, in the judgement of the survey experts, UNRWA's programme merited support in competition with other technical assistance projects already before the respective Governments. The Commissioner-General now urges any other Governments which have available funds for technical assistance to consider taking similar action.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCONCLUSION\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t33. UNRWA now performs the dual function of administering relief to Palestine refugees, in the form of food, health, welfare and shelter assistance, and of providing education for refugee children and young adults, including general education, vocational and teacher training and university scholarships. Its direct responsibility is to minister to the pressing needs of refugees and its by-product role, so to speak, is to contribute to the stability of the Middle East. It is not UNRWA's responsibility, as delineated by the General Assembly, to solve the Palestine problem in its broader aspects, and, in the opinion of the Commissioner-General, experience has indicated that, at least pending progress towards a general solution, UNRWA is not an appropriate agency to attempt works projects to provide rehabilitation. Currently, UNRWA faces a critical financial problem because its educational costs are increasing whereas its regular income has remained stationary.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t34. During the present mandate period the Agency has struggled to meet this problem by holding relief costs to the low level of 1960; by raising funds from extra-budgetary sources for the construction and operation of the expanded vocational and teacher-training centres; and by drawing down its operating reserves by some $4 million to cover the expanding needs and costs of basic education. Only by resorting to these extraordinary measures has the Agency been able to carry forward its three-year programme to assist refugee children and young adults in preparing for useful lives. For reasons already explained, these extraordinary measures cannot be relied upon in the future as a means of supplementing the Agency's income.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t35. With respect to the mandate of UNRWA, which expires as of 30 June 1963, it is the considered judgement of the Commissioner-General that both the relief and educational functions now performed by the Agency must be continued well beyond 30 June 1963 if deserving refugees are not to suffer physically or be denied much-needed educational opportunities and if reasonable stability is to exist in the region. Whether the General Assembly considers that these services can best be rendered by an extension of the Agency's mandate or by some other means, any significant cutback in the magnitude of these services must, of necessity, be related to progress towards a general solution of the refugee problem.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t36. The Commissioner-General takes this opportunity to convey to the Member Governments which are represented in the General Assembly, and particularly those which have consistently contributed to the Agency's budget, his sincere appreciation for the support and co-operation which they have accorded. He also takes this opportunity to appeal to Member States who so far have not contributed to reconsider their position and accept a share of responsibility towards the Palestine refugees.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Part I<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t REPORT ON UNRWA OPERATIONS, 1 JULY 1961-30 JUNE 1962<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t A. The provision of relief<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t 37. There has been no essential change in the Agency's relief services since 1950. The basic ration has remained virtually the same, and the supplementary feeding programme has assisted the same proportion of the refugees during the past seven years. The Agency's programme of operations, during its three-year mandate to 30 June 1963, as renewed in 1959,<\/span>2 <\/sup><\/span>has presupposed the maintenance of existing per capita levels of relief services, with increases in total expenditure to cover only such factors as the natural increase in the refugee population.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tBASIC RATIONS\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t38. Almost 40 per cent of the Agency's relief budget (of approximately $25.3 million a year) is devoted to the primary task of the supply and distribution of basic food commodities. During 1961-1962 the Agency imported some 111,000 tons of flour and 29,000 tons of other foodstuffs. The basic ration consists of flour, pulses, sugar, rice, and oils and fats. It provides 1,500 calories per day in summer and 1,600 in winter, and a total vegetable protein content of approximately 42 and 44 grammes respectively. This meagre and unvarying basic ration provides only a bare minimum of subsistence. Continued over a long period of years such a diet becomes scarcely tolerable unless it is supplemented or varied in some way. No fresh food items are supplied but refugees usually manage to supplement their rations with a little meat, fruit, vegetables, eggs, etc., either grown by themselves or bartered for part of their dry rations, or bought with their limited earnings.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tNUMBERS, ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t39. During the past twelve months, the number of refugees registered with the Agency increased by about 24,000 to a total on 30 June 1962 of 1,174,760, of whom 877,888 were registered for full UNRWA assistance, including basic rations, and 296,872 were registered for various degrees of assistance but no basic rations. Table 1 of the annex contains the Agency's basic registration statistics for the entire period of June 1950 to June 1962. It may be observed that, while the Agency inherited ration rolls with some 960,000 ration beneficiaries in June 1950, by June 1962 the corresponding figure was 877,888. Table 2 indicates the distribution of refugees by country of residence, category of registration and age groups on 30 June 1962.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t40. During 1961-1962 the following changes of entitlement were effected: 34,189 were removed from the rolls because of death, false and duplicate registration, self-support, absence, etc.; 48,545 were added to or re-instated on the rolls, including 42,470 children. Not all the changes in registration involved changes in entitlement to rations and the net increase in the number of ration beneficiaries as compared with 1960-1961 was 7,622. Table 3 of the annex gives a comprehensive picture of changes in the composition and entitlement of families registered for rations during the twelve-year period of July 1950 to June 1962. Table 4 gives information regarding the total registered population.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t 41. Since the beginning of its operations in May 1950, the Agency has recognized that its rolls have contained large inaccuracies with regard both to those ineligible for assistance who receive it and those who are eligible but who do not receive assistance. Many of these inaccuracies existed when the Agency took over the rolls of its predecessor organization, the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees. The Agency has reported to the Assembly on many occasions, notably in 1950-1951, at the very outset of the refugee problem and in 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960 and 1961, on the progress made through its routine processes in rectifying the ration rolls.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/span> Since 1950 these routine processes have resulted in the removal of more than 425,000 names from the Agency's ration rolls, as indicated in table 3 of the Annex.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t 42. As the Agency has pointed out on a number of occasions, with regard to this sensitive and complicated problem, the possibility of achieving substantial results in rectifying the rolls and placing relief on the basis of established individual need rather than on the basis of an assumption that anyone who has the status of a registered refugee is thereby both eligible for and in need of relief, depends on the co-operation of the refugees as well as of the host Governments. In resolution <\/span>1456 (XIV)<\/a> of 9 December 1959, the General Assembly called upon the host Governments to co-operate more closely with the Agency in the rectification of the rolls. In 1960 the Agency reported some progress in this endeavor. During 1961 efforts were concentrated on eliminating the names of non-existent persons from the rolls, while at the same time issuing rations to children who had been registered for services but were not receiving them so far.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t43. The Agency's current policy is to hold relief services at the current per capita level and at the aggregate expenditure level of 1962; and to concentrate, in accordance with resolution 1456 (XIV), on the three-year programme for expanding vocational training. UNRWA field directors, working' within the framework of this general policy and in co-operation with the host Governments, are striving to remove false and duplicated registrations and the names of the dead, and for each name so eliminated the name of a needy eligible refugee (usually that of a child) is being added. The problem of removing the names of those who have sufficient income to support themselves is more complex and only limited progress has been made up to this time.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t44. During 1961-1962, the Agency's efforts to rectify the rolls in Jordan and Syria were somewhat delayed owing to political developments, involving administrative changes in the ministries concerned with refugee affairs in those countries. In Jordan, where some half of the refugees are living and the problem of rectification is largest numerically, there has been some increase in the rate of rectification, despite continued resistance brought about by suspicion of UNRWA's motives on the part of the refugees. During the period since the current efforts were started in October 1960, some 20,000 rations, representing dead, false and duplicate registrations and absentees were cancelled, with the simultaneous issue of rations to eligible refugee children who before were receiving only services.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t45. In Lebanon the Government, with assistance from UNRWA, carried out during the year under review a complete census of the refugee population, dealing first with those living outside the Agency's camps and later with those living in camps. Although the problem of rectification of the rolls is numerically much smaller than in Jordan, the success of this special operation, together with the Agency's routine eligibility procedures, is producing significant results. While the complete data will be available only at the end of 1962, thus far some 3,200 rations have been cancelled, 1,500 of which were due to the census operation. In the Gaza Strip, joint action by the Government and the Agency to verify the existence of elderly refugees and the presence of refugees believed to be absent from the Strip has eliminated some 3,500 names from the rolls and allowed an approximately equivalent number of children on the waiting list to be inscribed. No special progress was made in Syria.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t46. As noted above, on an over-all basis, the total deletion of ineligibles, including persons who had become self-supporting, has resulted in the removal of 34,189 names from the ration rolls in 1961-1962, as compared with 20,694 during 1960-1961.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t47. It should be noted that in the past year the Agency has continued to be under pressure to provide assistance to the so-called "economic refugees" and to similar "other claimants for relief" (estimated at 317,000) who fail on technical grounds to satisfy the Agency's present relief criteria. Virtually the only assistance these people have received has been the services given to them in the fields of relief and education by the host Governments and voluntary agencies and, in particular, the distribution of United States surplus foodstuffs to them through the host Governments and voluntary agencies. There are, moreover, tens of thousands of eligible refugee children who are now denied relief as a result of budgetary limitations, which in turn necessitate a ceiling on the number of rations distributed in each country. Budgetary considerations have also necessitated a very strict limitation on providing assistance to refugees who, though originally self-supporting, have now become destitute, owing to age, sickness or lack of work.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCAMPS AND SHELTER\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t 48. The steady increase in the population in the Agency's fifty-seven official camps, noted in annual reports since 1959, has continued.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/span> The number of refugees living in UNRWA camps by 30 June 1962 was i 456,400, or about 40 per cent of the total. The only substantial change in the numbers was due to the natural increase in the refugee population.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t49. The fact that some 60 per cent of the refugees do not live in UNRWA official camps does not imply that, as a group, these particular refugees are self-supporting. The primary reason they do not live in the UNRWA camps is that they were not brought into them immediately after their displacement from Palestine and that they found such shelter as was available in other places. If some had small reserves, long since exhausted, they often may have preferred to rent a room or accept the hospitality of friends or relatives rather than face the rigours of the primitive arid overcrowded refugee camps in the earlier years. These people have been dependent on rations and other Agency services from the beginning, and the constant pressure for admissions into Agency official camps which, for physical and financial reasons cannot be met, speaks for itself. Nor in general is there any evident distinction in regard to well-being or employment opportunities between those who do live in Agency camps and those who do not.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t50. The Agency continued to maintain 57 camps during 1961-1962, as noted above, with 25 in Jordan, 16 in Lebanon, and 8 each in the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Arab Republic. In Lebanon, land was obtained for the extension of one camp, which has long been needed, and plans for construction are in progress. Because of the need of assurances that refugees will not reoccupy vacated areas, construction of a new camp to house the refugees living in deplorable conditions in the old Jewish quarter of Jerusalem has not begun. In the Gaza Strip, construction to reduce overcrowding in two camps has continued.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t51. The amount of construction during the year has continued to decrease, and over the three-year period of 1959-1962, it may be observed, construction costs, including maintenance and road works, have averaged $550,000, as compared with an average expenditure of $625,000 for 1958. The decrease has occurred, despite the increase in the population of the camps, largely because the tent replacement programme was completed at the beginning of 1960.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t52. In general most older camps are becoming seriously crowded due to the establishment of new family units at time of marriage and the tendency of squatters to crowd into and around camps – particularly those located near larger villages and cities.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCLOTHING\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t53. During the second year of the new clothing programme, designed to minimize omissions and duplications, under which each refugee received 1.7 kilogrammes of clothing, a further saving of $50,000 was achieved in the transportation of clothing made available by voluntary agencies. Used shoes and other articles for which there was no demand were eliminated from the issues of clothing and refugees suffering special hardship are being given shoes made by refugee shoemakers, the cost being met from savings on the overseas freight of clothing. The voluntary agencies, moreover, have been most helpful in obtaining from contributors better quality clothing more suitable items, and a larger proportion of men's garments. While this programme has thus been much improved, particularly in regard to quality, there still is need for more clothing of certain types and UNRWA is working with the contributing agencies to this end. In Syria the distribution of clothing which had been interrupted in 1959, but resumed in 1960, was restricted to refugees suffering special hardship.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tSOCIAL WELFARE\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t54. Over the years, the Agency's social welfare services have been primarily concerned with helping refugees suffering special hardship. The Agency has also encouraged a revival of effort and self-help on a community basis through co-operatives, sewing and carpentry centres and youth activities centres. The field welfare staff have acted both as case workers and community development advisers. The primary welfare programmes are outlined below.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Youth activities programme<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t55. During the past two years the Agency has helped to promote youth activities in order to give young people something constructive to do in their idle hours. Now almost 800 younger men have benefited from courses in the Leadership Training Centre at Broumana Lebanon, established in 1960 with the co-operation of the World Alliance of YMCA's. Much of the cost of this effort has been borne by the YMCA Alliance and other donors. While originally these courses were conducted entirely at Broumana they are now being de-centralized. For example, in 1961, two-week sports training camps were conducted in Jordan, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and in 1962 one-month training courses were held in Jordan and the Gaza Strip, at reduced cost despite an increase in the number of trainees. More than 400 trained and active volunteer leaders help to supervise 5,300 centre members, and there are 176 committees responsible for various activities, and 740 teams and interest groups. There are now 38 youth activities centres as compared with 26 in April, 1960, and those with adequate facilities have grown from 6 to 24. Twenty-one of these centres are under the direction of volunteer leaders.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t56. The programme has proved increasingly effective in combating idleness, lethargy and low morale among refugee youth. In Jordan particularly, service committees have fostered a programme of practical service to fellow refugees, including door-to-door surveys of handicapped refugees, tree planting, laying out of small gardens, clearing drainage facilities after heavy rain, registering people for emergency inoculations, soliciting funds for camp road improvement, delivering mail, and visiting the old and sick. In the summer of 1962 the youth of twelve centres will carry out summer recreation programmes for more than 1,000 younger boys. There has also been a noticeable increase in membership initiative in improving centre facilities.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Adult training courses<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t57. From the very beginning of its work in 1950, the Agency has maintained, at comparatively small cost, short training courses in sewing for young women and in woodwork for young men which, although not sufficient to achieve self-support, train the women to sew clothes for themselves and their families and take orders for their neighbours, and the men to do odd jobs in the camps or the nearest town, or to get work as carpenter apprentices. Most applicants for woodwork training were those who lacked the qualifications for admission to the Agency's vocational training centres.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t58. In response to popular demand, the number of courses has increased from year to year. During 1961-1962 the number of sewing centres grew to 37, and the first carpentry centre outside the Gaza Strip was opened at Karameh, Jordan. The sewing centres conduct a six-month course and accommodate 30 trainees, and the woodwork centres accommodate 20 trainees for a one-year course. During the year, 1,748 women completed the sewing courses, and 101 Gaza refugees completed the course in woodwork. In almost all these centres there is a long waiting list for future courses. In the Gaza Strip, it may be noted, the Near East Christian Council has established a professional dressmaking course for 20 trainees of the sewing centres.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Refugee co-operatives<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t59. In 1958 the Agency first introduced the co-operative concept to refugees as a concrete example of the possibilities of community effort. Sixteen registered co-operatives were in operation up to 1961. While two of these failed during the year, two new co-operatives were organized in Jordan, one in handicrafts and the other a bakery. The Agency particularly stressed the organization of small co-operatives (which have a value both from the educational and the practical point of view) in the schools and youth activities centres. Ten school savings co-operatives and four youth centre co-operatives were organized in Jordan and one school canteen each in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. A list of currently operating co-operatives is contained in table 8 of the annex.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Hardship cases<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t60. Both within and outside the Agency's camps there are thousands of refugees who are incapable, owing to age, infirmity or some other disability, of helping themselves in any way. With $42,150, the Agency was able to assist 10,984 of the most needy families, while some 34,000 were given special distributions of clothing, blankets and firewood. Agency welfare workers assisted many other refugees through consultation on personal problems and helped to arrange the reunion of families still separated fourteen years after the Palestine conflict. An Agency survey is now being made to determine by category and by degree of need the number of those suffering special hardship or privation.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Small grants to individuals<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t61. Many refugees, who had minor trades before the Palestine conflict, have been unable to pursue them since that time because of lack of tools or equipment. During 1961-1962, with an expenditure of $8,850, some 200 refugees have been enabled to resume work and earn small sums.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Handicapped youth<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t62. This programme, which was inaugurated in 1958, is designed to assist blind, dumb, deaf and crippled refugee youth. During the past year funds for this purpose have been limited but, with the held of outside donations, it proved possible to continue the training of 96 refugees from previous years and to initiate the training of a further 29 new entrants.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t63. Twenty-two of these handicapped refugees completed their training during the past year, and 14 are already at work. The cost of the average course of six years is $1,800. Eleven Middle East institutions have co-operated in the programme. The most important development in this field during the past year was the grant of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine of $60,000 for the construction and equipment of a Centre for the Blind in Gaza, with provision for the first two years' operation. The Centre, which is to be opened in October 1962, will provide education and vocational training for 60 blind children, refugees and non-refugees, and operate a home service for adult blind throughout the Gaza Strip.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t B. Health services<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t64. During 1961-1962, there was no major change in the nature of the Agency's health services. Work was continued in the preventive and curative medical fields, on milk and supplementary feeding programmes, and on environmental sanitation, at a total cost of $5.5 million. Three priorities were established for 1962, i.e., (a) streamlining of medical care services; (b) studies and review of the nutritional status of the refugees; and (c) training and professional stimulation of the health staff. The World Health Organization continued to assist the Agency through technical advice and the secondment of personnel, one of whom served as the Agency's Director of Health. Implementation of the health programme, as in the past, was almost entirely effected by a staff recruited from among the Palestine refugees.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t65. The success of the health programme has been materially enhanced by the generous and substantial special assistance of Governments, universities, voluntary agencies, United Nations agencies (particularly WHO), private firms and individuals. Such assistance has taken the form of personnel, free hospital beds, services in out-patient clinics, maternal and child health centres, assistance in immunization campaigns, medical supplies, vaccines, layettes and supplementary food supplies. Some funds have also been provided in this manner for the construction of clinics and maternal and child health centres. The programme of medical rehabilitation through the physical training of crippled children is made possible only through donations received for this specific purpose. Similarly, two voluntary societies have made available the skills of a group of orthopaedic surgeons on a carefully planned basis which permitted doctors to come to the area in rotation. Donations have also helped to provide scholarships for a number of refugee students, particularly in basic training as nurses.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t66. Throughout this period the Agency purchased most of its medical supplies through UNICEF on a world tender basis. The system of decentralization of supplies, introduced in 1961, is now working smoothly. Direct shipment of supplies to the various fields has eliminated the need for storage at the Beirut base warehouse and made possible considerable savings to the Agency.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCURATIVE AND PREVENTIVE MEDICAL SERVICES\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Clinics, hospitals and laboratories<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t67. The Agency now maintains 99 static health centres and 12 mobile clinics. These centres provide in both curative and preventive services, including doctor's consultations, dressings, injections, eye treatments, dispensing of medicines, maternal and child health care, dental attention and health education. During 1961-1962 certain improvements were achieved in the system of medical consultation. A standard staffing pattern has been drawn up and is now being implemented. Out of savings already achieved in the health programme, some additional medical and paramedical posts have been established which will enable the Agency to raise the over-all quality of its services. Moreover, through the clinic construction programme, several older structures have been replaced by better-planned and more efficient buildings. As indicated in table 12 of the annex refugees averaged six visits per person to the health centres during the year.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t68. The number of hospital beds maintained by or reserved for the Agency was reduced slightly from 2,080 in 1961 to 2,035 in 1962, primarily as the result of the closure of the Agency's hospital at Salt (Jordan) and the reduction in the number of beds subsidized in the Bhannes Tuberculosis Sanatorium (Lebanon) from 150 to 100. In general the Agency has continued its basic policy of using local resources, where possible, subsidizing beds for refugees in hospitals operated by Governments, local authorities, voluntary agencies or private concerns. The Agency now operates only two small camp hospitals, one cottage hospital and two tuberculosis sanatoria (one in conjunction with the Government authorities). After closure of the UNRWA hospital at Salt, redistribution of the Agency subsidized beds was made for the purpose of providing a wider and more efficient allocation of facilities, taking into account the needs and geographical distribution of the refugee problem. In the Syrian Arab Republic a new agreement was reached with the administration of the Mouassat Hospital in Damascus under which the Agency reserves 25 beds. Currently the ratio of hospital beds per 1,000 persons stands at 1.88.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t69. The Agency continues to rely heavily on laboratories operated by Governments, universities and private organizations, depending on circumstances and the type of examination required. The Agency operates its own units only where necessary and currently this includes two small clinical laboratories in Lebanon, one in the Tuberculosis Hospital in Nablus (Jordan) and a central unit in the Gaza Strip.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Control of communicable diseases<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t70. There were no major epidemics during the past year and not a single case of any of the six "Convention" diseases – smallpox, plague, cholera, yellow fever, epidemic typhus, and louse-borne relapsing fever – among the refugee population. There was a small, very localized outbreak of malaria in the Jordan Valley and an increase in its incidence in the Gaza Strip, where, however, the source of infection was mostly exogenous. In the latter area also 13 cases of tetanus neonatorum<\/i> occurred. The incidence of diphtheria (19 cases) was slightly higher than in the previous year, while that of poliomyelitis continued to be low in all countries, and there was a considerable decrease in the reported number of enteric group fever cases. Measles incidence showed a 32 per cent decrease and the number of cases of whooping cough also fell. During warm weather the prevalent diseases continued to be diarrhea, dysentery and infective eye conditions, such as acute conjunctivitis and trachoma.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t71. The Agency; has continued its active immunization programmes against the enteric group fevers, small-pox, whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus. The Agency has also carried out immunization of the age group 4 months-5 years in the Gaza Strip with oral 9 poliomyelitis vaccine.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Tuberculosis control<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t72. The Agency has continued to provide facilities for the treatment of refugee patients suffering from tuberculosis in hospitals and through out-patient services. In this treatment there has been very close co-operation with the corresponding services of the host countries, particularly in the Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan and Gaza. Adequate medical supplies have been provided and, in addition, out-patients under treatment are given double basic rations, on the recommendation of the supervising medical specialist.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Maternal and child health<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t73. Special care for expectant mothers, infants, pre-school children and the school population generally has been one of the major activities of the Agency's health programme since 1950. Supervision, advice and guidance are given to mothers, before and after delivery, in 84 maternal and child health centres. Layettes are issued, supplementary rations authorized, and prophylactic immunization schedules suitable for infants and young children implemented. Since gastroenteritis is a common condition among the young during warm weather, a special regime for its treatment has been evolved, based on the maintenance or restoration of the body fluids and electrolyte balance, appropriate medication, and special diet (at the supplementary feeding centres). In addition, two rehydration units have been equipped in the Gaza Strip for the treatment of infants and young children suffering from this condition with an associated mild or moderate dehydration. The results are very encouraging in the terms of the number of lives saved.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Nursing services<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t74. The Agency directly employs a staff of 127 nurses and 333 nursing auxiliaries in preventive and curative services, in addition to the considerable nursing staff employed in clinics and hospitals subsidized by UNRWA. While UNRWA nursing staff participates in virtually every aspect of the Agency's health programme, they have particular responsibilities in those activities related to maternal and child health, home visiting, school health, health education and tuberculosis control.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Health education<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t75. The programme of health education, which dates almost from the inception of the Agency, uses various methods and media to disseminate information, create interest and stimulate a better understanding of good health practices. These include health films, flannel-graphs, health calendars, and specific seasonal programmes on the prevention of infectious diseases and nutritional subjects. In schools, health education is promoted through health committees. In addition to its medical, nursing, pare-medical and teaching staff members, the Agency also employs 25 health education workers who maintain close contacts with the various communities and groups, especially in camps and villages, and utilize every opportunity to spread ideas for healthier living.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tNUTRITION AND MILK AND SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING PROGRAMME\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t76. Since the basic ration is dietetically inadequate, the protection of such vulnerable groups as infants, young children and expectant and nursing mothers is of paramount importance. The Agency provides a daily issue of whole milk to infants (aged 0-1 years), skim milk to children (2-15 years), and to mothers from the fifth month of pregnancy to the end of the twelfth month after delivery. It also provides a nutritionally balanced hot meal! six days per week, to medically selected beneficiaries (mainly in the age group 0-6 years) and special diets for severely under-nourished infants and those suffering from diarrhea. It provides vitamin A and D capsules to those receiving supplementary feeding and to children in elementary schools. Through the school milk programme, it gives a daily issue of skim milk to all children up to the age of 12 years.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t77. In order to obtain the optimum results from the supplementary feeding and milk programmes, certain changes in the procedures for supplementary feeding and milk distribution were introduced in the spring of 1962. The main changes were: (a) the issue of a whole milk\/skim milk mixture for babies aged 6-12 months, and for non-breast fed babies under 6 months, in place of the whole milk previously issued for babies ~12 months; and (b) the provision, on an experimental basis in certain camps, of a daily hot meal to all children aged 2-6 and to certain older, under-nourished children. Previously all beneficiaries over 2 years of age of the latter part of the programme were subject to medical selection, but in future only those over 6 years wil1 be.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t78. Two full-scale nutrition surveys were carried out by the United States Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defence (one in Lebanon and one in Jordan in the spring of 1961 and 1962 respectively), involving both the refugee and non-refugee population in these two countries. Senior members of the Agency's Health Department participated in these surveys. The resulting information obtained has proved to be most valuable. In general it can be stated that the nutritional status of the refugee population has been found to be approximate to the standard of nutrition of the other sections of the local population.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t79. The essential environmental sanitation programme, which provides for water supply, sewage and refuse disposal, insect control measures and drainage, was implemented satisfactorily. Overcrowding and inadequate control of hut construction continue to impair environmental sanitation in many camps, particularly in suburban areas. Although the rainfall during 1961 was within the normal range, in Jordan an emergency water supply programme costing $45,000 had to be implemented to meet water shortages, especially in camps near municipalities. With regard to waste disposal, it is noteworthy and encouraging that more and more refugee families are accepting and participating in the construction of family latrines. The use of these latrines is promoted and subsidized by the Agency.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tMEDICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t80. The Agency programme of professional training in the medical sciences at the university level, through the granting of 168 scholarships, is described elsewhere in the report. During the past year a subsidy was granted to the School of Nursing at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, Jerusalem, where there are 17 students following courses in basic nursing. For the in-service training of Agency medical and pare-medical staff, there are facilities for attendance at scientific assemblies, such as the annual Middle East Medical Assembly in Beirut, lectures by distinguished specialists and various courses for nurses and midwives. In May 1962, Agency medical officers attended a one-day symposium in Beirut on the practical aspects of management with respect to diarrhoea and malnutrition treatments in childhood. Contributors to this symposium included not only senior UNRWA staff members but the Professor of Paediatrics of the American University of Beirut and the UNICEF Professor of Child Health at the Makerere Medical School, Kampala, Uganda. A Health Department Bulletin has been created for circulation to the staff. Plans are now being developed for the inclusion next year of a training course in environmental sanitation in one of the Agency's vocational training courses\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n | | | | | | |