ABSTRACT

The Geneva Conference,2 organised by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Swiss Government in 2004, prompted an ambitious agenda for reform, including a comprehensive overhaul of the Agency’s management, which became known as the Organisational Development (OD) process. A strategic planning framework, based on the political status quo prevailing, was established for UNRWA’s programme management to prepare for the challenges that lay ahead (Takkenberg 2010). This framework is embodied in the Medium Term Strategy (MTS) that guides three two-year cycles of field planning. UNRWA’s first MTS was introduced in 2010.3 In addition, human development became the Agency’s focus for the twenty-first century and its role as a promoter of human development was explicitly recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 when it affirmed UNRWA’s responsibility to provide ‘services for the well-being and human development of the Palestine refugees’ (Bartholomeusz 2010: 465). With no solution to the plight of Palestine refugees being near, the new

planning framework aimed to improve ‘living conditions of Palestine refugees to acceptable international standards’ (UNRWA, MTS 2010-15: 15). UNRWA articulated four human development4 goals that should guide all of its operations: 1) a long and healthy life; 2) acquired knowledge and skills; 3) a decent standard of living; and 4) human rights enjoyed to the fullest extent possible. Increasing demands and funding constraints had over the years led to a decline in quality of certain services. As stated in the MTS:

If services are substandard, UNRWA will fall short of achieving the human development goals that are its purpose … [P]roviding quality services is not only a necessity for human development, it is also fundamental to respect refugees’ rights and preserving their dignity.