4 \ outline of protection initiatives 1. introduction “Protection is what UNRWA does to safeguard and advance the rights of Palestine refugees”. 1 Serving a population of approximately 5 million Palestine refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza eligible for services, and with a staff of nearly 30,000, UNRWA is one of the largest agencies in the United Nations. The services UNRWA provides through its five main programmes – education, health, relief and social services, microfinance and infrastructure and camp improvement – mean that it has direct responsibilities for ensuring the well-being of Palestine refugees in a variety of sectors. Addressing protection needs is an essential dimension of UNRWA’s humanitarian and human development work, ensuring that the challenges Palestine refugees face are comprehensively addressed. This document presents an overview of UNRWA’s work and priorities within protection for the period 2011-2013. Section 2 of the document outlines what protection means to UNRWA and the Agency’s protection framework and methodologies. Sections 3 and 4 of the document present, respectively, key protection initiatives for the Agency as a whole and for the each of the five UNRWA Fields. The initiatives presented in this document are either under implementation or are planned. In order to ensure their continuation, additional financial and technical resources are needed. The protection priorities outlined in this document will contribute to all four UNRWA Human Development Goals and related strategic objectives set out in the UNRWA Field and Headquarter Implementation Plans for 2012-2013. For each initiative described below, information is presented explaining to which human development goal and related objective the initiative contributes. Progress and results will be monitored and reported on as part of achievements of outcomes in Field and Head Quarter Implementation Plans. 1 Morris, N. (2008) “What protection means for UNRWA in concept and practice”, Consultancy report, pp. 2-3, para. 3.1. See also UNRWA Medium Term Strategy 2010-2015, para. 49. © Alaa Ghosheh/ UNRWA archives