Reports & Researches

If UNRWA’s services are reduced or suspended, the education of 39,000 students would be directly affected, and the capacity of 26 primary health care centres to deliver essential services would significantly decline. Environmental health services within the camps — from waste management to sewage networks and public sanitation — would also be disrupted in an already overcrowded environment that cannot withstand a service vacuum. Tens of thousands of refugee families would be immediately impacted by the deterioration of education, health care, and environmental health services in the camps, in a country whose state institutions are fundamentally unable to fill such a gap. In a context where the number of Palestinian refugees effectively residing in Lebanon is estimated at approximately 231,000 — nearly 80% of whom live below the poverty line — any disruption in the Agency’s operations is not a mere administrative matter, but a direct shock to the basic conditions of daily life.

This summary is based on an expanded report issued by The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) as part of its ongoing human rights mandate to monitor and analyses the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon considering international human rights standards. The report provides a detailed quantitative and legal analysis of UNRWA’s role as a structural pillar in the lives of refugees, rather than merely a service provider.

The report is against the backdrop of the deepening financial crisis facing UNRWA and the widening gap in its operational budget. This has been reflected in austerity measures affecting the education, health, and environmental health sectors due to resource shortages. Political pressures and conditionalities attached to financial contributions have further placed the continuity of essential services under direct threat.

Approximately 470,000 Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon. In the education sector, the Agency operates 65 schools serving 39,144 students, making it the largest educational provider for Palestinian refugees in the country. In the health sector, it runs 26 primary health care centres across camps and gatherings, delivering preventive and curative services, including chronic disease management. UNRWA also plays a central role in environmental health services within the camps, including waste management and improvements to water and sewage networks — services that are directly linked to public health and epidemic prevention in settings already characterized by high population density and fragile infrastructure.

The legal foundation of UNRWA’s mandate originates from a 1949 United Nations General Assembly resolution, and its mandate has been renewed until mid-2026, reflecting the continued international recognition of the collective responsibility toward Palestinian refugees pending a just and durable solution to their plight. However, recurring funding crises have exposed the fragility of the Agency’s financial structure and demonstrated how external political decisions can directly affect fundamental rights. The suspension of certain forms of support in recent years has placed substantial pressure on programs and services, highlighting the vulnerability of the current funding model.

In the Lebanese context, the sensitivity of this issue is further compounded. Restrictions related to access to the labour market, limitations on property ownership, and weak social protection systems render UNRWA an indispensable safety net whose absence would have far-reaching consequences. Any substantial reduction in its operations would not only intensify pressure within the camps but would effectively transfer a significant humanitarian and social burden to a state grappling with one of the most severe economic and financial crises in its modern history. Humanitarian needs will not disappear if the Agency weakens; rather, they will expand within an environment far less capable of absorbing them, thereby threatening broader social stability and public health.

The expanded report underscores that discussions concerning UNRWA’s future must not be reduced to budgetary figures alone but must be understood within the framework of existing legal and moral obligations under international law. Education, health care, and environmental health services are not temporary privileges; they are intrinsically linked to internationally guaranteed fundamental rights and to the duty of the international community to ensure a minimum standard of human dignity.

Accordingly, the report calls for a more stable and sustainable funding approach that shields essential services from political fluctuations and recognizes them as a necessary component of Lebanon’s humanitarian stability framework. UNRWA is not an administrative detail within the United Nations system; it is the lifeline through which an entire community sustains itself, and any interruption of that lifeline would carry humanitarian and social costs far exceeding any financial deficit it is intended to address.