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) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...

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

Palestine refugee Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodus ...

s living in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, as well as in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

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

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

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

Former commissioners-general of UNRWA

Since 1962, the head of UNRWA has been titled Commissioner-General: *

Pierre Krähenbühl Pierre Krähenbühl (born 8 January 1966) is a Swiss national who has served as Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from March 2014 to November 2019. Before that, he se ...

(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 his country's Minister ...

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

Filippo Grandi Filippo Grandi (born March 30, 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 Agen ...

(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 Karen Koning AbuZayd (born August 21, 1941) is a senior official of the United Nations. She is currently serving as a Commissioner on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. On 5 January 2016, she was appoint ...

(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 ...

. AbuZayd had worked as chief of mission for

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. 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 mission ...

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

Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...

. Hansen joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

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 İlter Türkmen (born 8 November 1927) is a Turkish people, Turkish diplomat and politician. Early life Son of Behçet Türkmen (1899–1968), who between 1953 and 1957 was the director of the Turkish National Security Service (Turkey), National ...

(Turkey) - Commissioner-General from 1991 to 1996. Türkmen served as Turkey's ambassador to France, Greece and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. 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 Giorgio Giacomelli (25 January 1930, in Milan – 8 February 2017, in Rome) was an Italian diplomat who represented Italy as ambassador to Somalia and Syria and was UNRWA's Commissioner-General from 1985 to 1991. Biography Giacomelli was the Ita ...

(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 Perez de Cuellar Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * Javier (album), ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier ...

to become head of the UN's anti-drug campaign. *

Olof Rydbeck Olof Rydbeck (15 April 1913 – 23 December 1995) was a Swedish diplomat, head of Sveriges Radio between 1955 and 1970, Sweden's ambassador to the UN, and a Commissioner-General of UNRWA. Early life Rydbeck was born on 15 April 1913 in Djursholm ...

(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 Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

between 1955 and 1970. *

Thomas McElhiney Thomas Watkins McElhiney (January 22, 1919, West Union, West Virginia, United States – January 17, 1998, Baltimore) was an American diplomat and UNRWA's Commissioner-General from 1977 to 1979. McElhiney grew up in West Virginia, New York City ...

(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 Laurence Michelmore (1909 – April 10, 1997) was UNRWA'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 Spec ...

(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 an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

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 State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

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 over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

. Labouisse left UNRWA to become the head of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

. * 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. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on the

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

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the 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 respo ...

.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 *