OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF UNRWA . 43 Recognising that its ability to meet these identified needs is contingent on available resources and resource mobilisation, UNRWA has put significant effort into diversifying and professionalising its resource mobilisation efforts. One example of the organisation’s efforts to establish alternative funding mechanisms is the Dignity is Priceless global fundraising campaign (#DignityIsPriceless). In other examples, UNRWA is exploring the development of a Trust Fund with the World Bank and an Islamic Endowment Fund, or Waqf, with the Islamic Development Bank as alternative funding streams to provide the Agency with further and flexible funding. The organisation also has implemented a number of reforms, most notably in the fields of education and health but also in microfinance programming, to improve its efficiency and the quality of its service delivery. Further, UNRWA has implemented extensive efficiency, costsaving and austerity measures. These have included management and organisational reforms such as centralisation of procurement, a review of administrative functions and co-location. There are positive signs that these efforts are increasing the organisation’s funding base while also respecting the parameters within which UNRWA management can work. Nevertheless, measured against the scale of UNRWA’s funding challenges, these efforts, as yet, are not yielding adequate results. Additionally, there remain somewhat existential and ideological questions that are outside the scope of this organisational performance assessment; these regard the extent to which UNRWA, given its temporary and politicised mandate, can “future-proof” itself without more fundamental questions being considered and addressed through its governance structure and within the dynamic of the international political order. Is UNRWA making best use of what it has? UNRWA is specifically mandated to ensure that the humanitarian, human development and protection needs of Palestine refugees are met. The organisation is uniquely situated to deliver this support across diverse contexts, thanks to the scale and geographic coverage of its operations, its proximity to the communities it services and its extensive experience working with refugee communities. Both the organisation’s staff and its partners clearly recognise these comparative advantages that are also well articulated in strategic documentation. UNRWA’s experienced workforce is its most important – and unique – asset. Most of its workforce of around 28 000 are Palestine refugees who are not only UNRWA staff but also its beneficiaries. This means that the Agency’s work rests on a strong contextual underpinning and inherent understanding of the challenges experienced by Palestine refugees. This contextual understanding is demonstrated in much of UNRWA’S strategic documentation, spanning issues of conflict, political economy, gender and vulnerability. Another recognised great asset of UNRWA is the technical capacity of its staff, particularly as concerns its education programme where the Agency is able to share best practice and educational materials in the contexts in which it works. UNRWA has put in place some measures to support its accountability to affected populations, although the practice of refugee participation in the programme management cycle is not fully embedded within UNRWA and feedback mechanisms are not systematically used across the Agency. The role of accountability to affected populations remains a significant and somewhat challenging issue for UNRWA, given that many of its staff are members of the communities they serve. There are protests from refugees and staff in response to the Agency’s funding cutbacks and redundancies and over the risk of UNRWA shutting schools, and these require delicate and clear management from the Agency and appropriate support mechanisms. UNRWA operates in a way that mirrors how a state actor operates; and it has extensive experience working in protracted crises and emergencies and in delivering development interventions. Reflecting these roles, the Agency has measures in place to ensure the registration process of refugees, to act with urgency and to be accountable to the vulnerable population affected by the consequences of emergencies in the regions where it is present. UNRWA has a robust emergency framework that outlines the operational structures, protocols and tools used in emergencies and that explains roles and responsibilities. The framework establishes structures, systems and procedures that are