AMMAN - UNRWA's Jordan office is unlikely to face a budget shortfall this year, despite expected deficits for the agency as a whole, according to Sandra Mitchell, director of the agency's operations in Jordan.
"We don't expect any deficit this year, while the overall UNRWA deficit for the five fields of operation is likely to stand at $30 million," she said during a meeting with reporters on Sunday.
Despite facing perennial funding challenges, the agency has no intention of reducing any of its services or staff in Jordan, Mitchell added.
"Our mandate is to keep serving the Palestinian refugees until there is a lasting peace and until the right of return is recognised... UNRWA continues to advocate for the rights of refugees," she emphasised.
Touching on previous measures UNRWA has taken to scale back its services, the official noted that the agency had to make "difficult" choices in previous years, but pointed to its efforts to reach new donors and establish partnerships with the private sector.
"Sometimes we spend more money to be efficient... but at the end of the day, we have to manage according to the budget," she said, adding that while it is true that the agency struggles with deficits, this should not be confused with failure to serve the refugees.
Mitchell underlined the significance of the Kingdom as chair of the UNRWA advisory committee's current session in acting as a driving force in appealing to donor countries to meet their financial obligations to the agency.
Turning to the UNRWA social rehabilitation centres in refugee camps, Mitchell denied allegations that the agency plans to reduce the number of social workers or to transfer responsibility for these centres to the government.
"In fact, we increased the numbers of social workers in the last quarter of this year and there are no pending discussions to move the social responsibilities to the government," she stressed.
The UNRWA social rehabilitation workers held a two-hour work stoppage last Wednesday, in protest against what they called attempts by the agency to abdicate its responsibilities towards them.
Regarding the dismissal of Maha Rantisi, former director of the centres' aid programmes and social services, Mitchell said it was an internal administrative decision and that she was in no position to comment on the issue.
During yesterday's meeting, Mitchell also touched on the agency's current programmes in its three main fields of education, healthcare and social services.
"Education is our biggest project. Most of the budget is allocated to education and still the challenge remains in eliminating the two-shift system in schools and the floating classroom," she said.
With a budget of $105 million, UNRWA Jordan provides education to more than 120,000 students through 172 primary schools as well as institutions of higher education.
Mohammad Tarakhan, chief of the UNRWA education programme in Jordan, noted that the agency launched an initiative earlier this month to enhance the status of teachers and the educational environment as a whole within its schools.
The initiative includes programmes that target the disabled and others to develop the learning atmosphere and improve teachers' performance, he said, adding that it also entails appointing a quality assurance director for each 10 schools and finding ways to address overcrowding in classrooms.
Meanwhile, Ishtawiwi Aby Zayed, chief of the agency's health programme in Jordan, noted that all medications are available in UNRWA's 24 healthcare centres, adding that these clinics also provide psychological counselling.
He highlighted that UNRWA managed to reduce child mortality among refugees in Jordan from 160 per 1,000 children in 1960 to 22.6 per 1,000 in 2010.
Mitchell noted that a new healthcare centre will be established in the Wihdat refugee camp soon, while another will be established in Irbid next year.
The agency also provides food assistance to around 54,000 underprivileged refugees, Mitchell said, pointing out that the agency is currently implementing the Proxy Means Test Formula to identify the poorest households.
"We will also embark on a salary survey in cooperation with the agency unions in Jordan to have our staff salaries comparable with their counterparts in the public sector... we are waiting to see the government salary restructuring plan to embark on the survey," Mitchell highlighted.
© Jordan Times 2011
