UNRWA’s original mandate applied to the needs of around 750,000 Palestinian refugees; in the seven decades since its establishment, this number has increased by over 600 percent. At the start of 2017, there were approximately 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees and 58 official camps serviced by UNRWA.3 This represents a two percent increase in registered persons on the previous year.4 The graph below displays this growth over the last seven years, from 4,966,664 refugees in 2011 to 5,869,733 in 2017. As the pool of UNRWA beneficiaries has expanded, so too has reliance on the Agency’s key programs. According to UNRWA’s records, the year 2016 saw 8,852,252 visits to UNRWA’s health care facilities, 515,260 pupils enrolled in the Agency’s schools, and 3,310 jobs created for Palestinian refugees as a result of UNRWA’s Infrastructure and Camp Improvement program.5 This growing strain on service provision has been exacerbated by the ongoing crises in Syria and the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, around 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria have been displaced – over 95 percent of them remain in continuous need of humanitarian aid to meet their most basic needs.6 In the Gaza Strip – home to 1.3 million UNRWA registered refugees – three military assaults and an 11 year closure have left 80 percent of the population dependent on humanitarian assistance.7 UNRWA’s limited financial resources, coupled with a growing refugee population, have placed a massive strain on its services, which have been further jeopardized by recent funding cuts.8 This has had tangible effects on the Palestinian refugee population, impacting key areas of UNRWA’s work, especially in the education and health sectors. While the former has been adversely impacted by reductions in teachers’ wages, limitations on fuel allowances for schools, as well as the closing and merging of schools, the latter has suffered from the cancellation of specialized contracts for a 6 3 UNRWA, “UNRWA in Figures 2017,” 11 July 2017, available at: https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/unrwa_in_figures_2017_english.pdf 4 UNRWA, “UNRWA in Figures 2016,” 23 January 2017, available at: https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/unrwa_in_figures_2016.pdf 5 UNRWA, “UNRWA in Figures 2017”. 6 UNRWA, “Syria Crisis,” available at: https://www.unrwa.org/syria-crisis [accessed 22 May 2018]. 7 UNRWA, “Where we work,” available at: https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip [accessed 22 May 2018]. 8 Al Mezan Center For Human Rights, “The Humanitarian Implications of a Possible UNRWA Funding Reduction,” 10 January 2018, available at: http://mezan.org/en/post/22284 [accessed 22 May 2018]; “UNRWA services reduction start to bite,” Middle East Monitor, 2 March 2018, available at: https:// www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180302-unrwa-services-reduction-start-to-bite/ [accessed 22 May 2018].