44 . MOPAN 2017-18 ASSESSMENTS . UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST to be put in place to enable an effective immediate response to emergencies. The Agency demonstrates an ability to respond effectively to changing funding conditions and has taken steps to review and reform the provision of assistance across all fields (e.g. transitioning from food cash across Jordon, Lebanon and the West Bank). However, while project planning includes risk mitigation measures, UNRWA’s mechanisms are less well-developed for supporting adjustments at an Agency-wide scale to allow continuity and the evolution of specific programmes (e.g. education, health) in the face of different scenarios. UNRWA works in partnership with a broad range of organisations that include UN agencies, donors, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), host governments, implementing partners including camp and communitybased organisations, and representative bodies of the refugee population and staff. The Agency’s strategic framework for partnerships is clear about the comparative advantage that it brings to partnerships. The nature of partnerships varies across the organisation and its field offices, given the diverse contexts and programmatic areas in which UNRWA engages. UNRWA’s current financial challenges compel it to think more innovatively about partnerships; to maximise opportunities to increase resource mobilisation through partnerships; and/or to find ways to strengthen outcomes through creative combinations of UNRWA staff resources, funding and partnering. Risks to the organisation in regard to service delivery remain high, at least in the short term, and will continue to require active management. Is UNRWA a well-oiled machine? With its organisational reforms which began in 2007, UNRWA has invested significantly and effectively in enhancing its leadership, management and operational capacity to deliver services to Palestine refugees. Key policies and systems have been introduced to its change agenda to clarify the line of sight between the organisation’s budget and intended results. UNRWA’s structure and approach support its ability to continue to operate across a diversity of contexts, each with its own political realities and sensitivities. The process of change and improvement has been incremental. While aspects of UNRWA’s operational effectiveness and efficiency have improved, gaps remain and new challenges are emerging that shrinking revenues and protracted conflict only exacerbate. A well-managed and mature reform process has significantly improved the delivery of education and health services, and these improvements are now well embedded. However, these programmes are largely not resilient to the strains of continuing uncertainties around funding and of an increasingly challenging operating context, given increasing class sizes, etc. In the areas of relief and social services and camp improvement/ infrastructure, the direction of reform is set but the change process is nascent; both the gains achieved to date and the momentum of reform remain vulnerable. UNRWA has yet to establish the systems that would allow it to show, in a coherent way, that its services are bringing its beneficiaries durable relief and sustainable development gains. UNRWA is constrained in how it operates by the dual challenge of being “temporary” and at the same time necessary for the foreseeable future; this has implications for its funding model and its planning processes. UNRWA has a strong corporate commitment to results-based management, and results data are reviewed and discussed regularly to inform decision-making and planning, at both headquarters and field office levels. While the Agency’s results-based monitoring system is relatively new and evolving, it rests on strong foundations. The system currently captures programmatic results but soon will be integrated with REACH, UNRWA’s enterprise resource planning system, and this will help to improve the preparation of financial statements and project accounting and to enhance the Agency’s ability to undertake results-based budgeting. The results-based monitoring system generates a large volume of data. Although the data are used for decision-making, the system processes are onerous for the few staff who are responsible for its management. Key elements of UNRWA’s work such as protection are not fully reported on in the results-based monitoring system; indicators for individual cases of gender-based violence, child protection, and gender and protection were removed recently from reporting requirements, as some fields of operations were unable to collect reliable and accurate data on these.