d) e) f) g) h) 10 refugees have been persistent in UNRWA’s preservation. Not only is UNRWA a symbolic agency and witness to their plight, but it is also an international agency that is UN-mandated to provide protection to Palestinian refugees. Declining UNRWA service delivery to refugees is not a recent phenomenon, but clearly emerged as a trend in the 1980s and was further exacerbated in the 1990s and more recently, affecting all UNRWA programs. Over the last decade, as a result of its continuously shrinking financial capacity, the right of service reduction has increased sharply, threatening the very existence of UNRWA itself. Securing UNRWA’s financial resources is challenged by the fact that the Agency’s budget relies on voluntary contributions. This system was designed under the assumption that the Palestinian refugee and IDP issue would be resolved in accordance with relevant resolutions and international principles. In other words, UNRWA was to be a temporary agency10 and the agency would cease its functions when Palestinian refugees and IDPs exercised their right of return, and that this would occur shortly after the Nakba. UNRWA is not a civil society organisation; nor is it mandated to provide its own budget. Rather, UNRWA’s financial stability and sustainability are responsibilities of the UN. Accordingly, any fundraising activities made by the Agency are extra efforts, which should not replace or relieve the UN of its primary responsibility. Reductions in services and programs, through administrative procedures taken by UNRWA management, violate refugee rights. These reductions do not alleviate the root causes of the problem; the chronic financial crisis caused by structural deficiencies. Nor does it relieve UNRWA from its responsibility to challenge the attempts to terminate its operations. At the very least, the Agency should expose the political pressure to interfere with, condition and constrain its operations. UNRWA is not an opponent of refugees, nor is it the target of their protests and campaigns. Protests are directed at the states which impede UNRWA’s funding, prevent the development of its UNRWA’s original temporal mandate was for 3 years; since 1950, its mandate has been renewed every 3 years by the UNGA. 11