United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
private sector partnerships Annual IMPACT Report 2024
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United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Dear Valued Supporters,
As I write this, an unprecedented human tragedy continues to unfold for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and indeed the entire region. By the end of 2024, more than 45,000 Palestinians had been killed, including an estimated 14,500 children – and many more lay buried in unmarked tombs under the rubble. An estimated 108,000 were injured, and up to 17,000 children were left without mothers or fathers and had to fend for themselves.
While the Gaza Strip was the epicentre of suffering on a profound scale, Palestine Refugees in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were also experiencing historic levels of violence and struggle amidst rampant settler attacks, raids by the Israeli forces, internal displacement and widespread damage to property. Escalations also occurred in Lebanon where hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel claimed more than 600 lives and resulted in the displacement of over 112,000 people. In Syria, despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the end of more than 13 years of civil war, inflation has led to widespread struggle. Today, more than 60 per cent of Palestine Refugees in Syria are food insecure. While the majority of Palestine Refugees in Jordan enjoy the same rights as Jordanian nationals, the situation for thousands of Palestine Refugees from Syria living in Jordan remained tenuous as many faced an uncertain future.
As the challenges increased, including attacks against the Agency and the loss of over 260 staff by the end of 2024, so too did your support. From individual givers to institutional donors, long-term partners and first-time givers - many of you reached out to ask: “How can we help?” and “What more can we do?” Your commitment and compassion sustained our efforts even as the hurdles became larger and arose more frequently.
Your solidarity, including contributions from hundreds of thousands of people and private institutions from all over the world, culminated in record-setting contributions of US$ 91.5 million to the Agency’s programmes in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. We say it time and again: the Agency’s lifesaving support for Palestine Refugees would not be possible without your generosity and commitment. In 2024 we needed you more than ever – and as this Impact Report will show, you came through, time and again.
From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.
Blanca Pérez Ramos
Chief, Private Sector Partnerships
Department of External Relations and Communications
*The above breakdown by Field of Operation represents the total income to the Agency, including public and private sector contributions.
$91.5M
USD
How the combined impact of public and private donors around the world kept UNRWA’s lifeline strong in 2024
Thanks to you, UNRWA distributed food parcels to
1.7M
people, accounting for more than 80% of the population
With your support, UNRWA distributed
76K
metric tonnes of flour to 388,000 families (approximately 1.9 million people)
With your help, UNRWA delivered
960M
litres of domestic and potable water throughout 2024
5.8M
medical consultations were delivered by UNRWA healthcare staff in 2024
thanks to you
730K
people received mental health and psychosocial support,
including 520,000 children
700K
people received tents, mattresses, blankets
967K
individuals received sanitation supplies
193K+
families received at least one hygiene kit
$124
provides a family with a food parcel
Each parcel helped a displaced family meet their basic needs with essential items like rice, flour, sugar, vegetable oil, chickpeas, lentils, canned beans, tuna or sardines, salt, yeast and dried milk powder. Every donation, large or small, helped make this possible.
Gaza—Food assistance
Mahdia has been displaced eight times with her family in the Gaza Strip. The 40-year-old, now living in the southern city of Khan Younis, decided to build a small oven to help feed her six children. The warm bread she baked became a symbol of hope amid the chaos. But when a flour shortage hit, even this small comfort was threatened. “I once baked to feed my children, but now I’m struggling to ensure they have enough,” she said.
This is life in the Gaza Strip, where silence in UNRWA shelters holds the fear of a community trapped between violence and starvation. Families like Mahdia’s have depended on UNRWA’s lifesaving support for generations. "Since childhood, we have relied on UNRWA—for our healthcare, education, and survival. Without its support, I don’t know what we would do," Mahdia said.
Yet even in this darkness, your support restores hope and helps countless Palestine Refugees like Mahdia navigate unimaginable challenges. Thanks to your generosity, UNRWA’s lifeline remains steady.
Your support allows Mahdia to keep her oven warm, her children nourished, and her hope alive. Every bag of flour, and every parcel of food that reaches their homes is a message of solidarity and unwavering support. It tells families in Gaza: you are not alone. Thank you for standing with them.
How your support sustained Refugees in Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
241K
students received education across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem
530K
children benefited from non-formal learning activities and psychosocial support in the Gaza Strip
Jordan—education
“If there were no UNRWA schools, I don’t know what we would do,” Aseel says without hesitation. “As Palestine Refugees, we don’t have another option. We have been in UNRWA schools ever since we were kids.”
At just 15 years old, Aseel knows how vital education is. She attends a UNRWA school in Jordan and speaks with confidence about the impact it has had on her life. One of her happiest memories from 2024 was the recreational summer camp at her school. “It was so nice,” she says with a bright smile. “All the students wanted to take part, because it was so helpful. We also made new friends, especially us girls.”
Aseel dreams of working in technology, driven by her passion for computers. But she is also thinking beyond herself. Inspired by the support she has received and her experience at the summer camp, she’s already imagining ways to give back. “I want to create initiatives like this summer camp, free and fun ways to learn for people who can’t afford it.”
Thanks to your generous support in 2024, students like Aseel had access to teaching, extracurricular activities, psychosocial support, and inclusive learning environments across UNRWA schools in Jordan. Your contributions helped provide accessible materials and create spaces where young people could thrive.
With your support, Aseel can continue to dream big. She is now ready to lead and give back because you offered her the chance to learn, grow, and believe in her potential. From every notebook opened to every dream nurtured, you help UNRWA give all Palestine Refugee students in Jordan access to quality education.
With your continued support
2.5M
patients received primary healthcare at UNRWA clinics in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem
LEBANON—HEALTH
Since the loss of her husband, Amira has faced one hardship after another. Sharing a small home with her only daughter in Beirut’s Jinah neighbourhood, the 64-year-old depends on UNRWA for support. With hypertension and a narrowing artery in her heart, Amira relies on the medication and care she receives from UNRWA’s clinic in Mar Elias.
Despite her health condition, Amira works tirelessly to keep her family fed, safe, and sheltered. Because of you, Amira does not have to face these struggles alone. During Ramadan 2024, a time of giving and compassion, your generosity found its way into countless Palestine Refugee homes in Lebanon, including Amira’s.
Your contributions helped keep UNRWA’s clinics running. “Without UNRWA, I could not manage,” she says. “Illness doesn’t wait, but Ramadan reminds us to be patient and grateful, and I am happy to have this support”, she concludes.
With your support, UNRWA can continue to provide primary healthcare and preserve dignity, hope, and strength for Amira and thousands of Palestine Refugee families in Lebanon.
600K
Palestine Refugees received cash assistance in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
GAZA—FOOD ASSISTANCE
Sixty-five-year-old Mamdouh carries a burden few could imagine. Displaced from his home by the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, he now lives in the Al-Amal shelter in Khan Younis, trying to care for his 10 married sons and 50 grandchildren. The weight of responsibility is immense, especially now that he can no longer provide for them as he once did. Mamdouh finds himself feeling helpless in the face of overwhelming need. “We have nothing to eat,” he shares, his voice heavy with fatigue. “We lack food and flour. I suffer from multiple health issues, made worse by lack of food and medicine. I’m left exhausted and still unable to sleep.”
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated beyond words. Families like Mamdouh’s rely on UNRWA’s emergency programmes including food assistance, to survive. “Without UNRWA's support, my family and I would have died from hunger. I am grateful for the help — it's the only lifeline we have in this desperate time.”
Even as resources grow scarcer, your continuous support is what keeps this lifeline alive. Every parcel of food and every bag of flour is more than relief; it's a sign that the world still cares.
59K+
Palestine Refugees living in extreme poverty in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem received monthly food vouchers
By the end of 2024, 263 UNRWA colleagues had been killed in the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip —men and women who were parents, children,
siblings and friends.
Some of them were killed in the line of duty while others were killed at home with their families.
We grieve and honour them every day.
We close this 2024 Impact Report with deep gratitude.
Thanks to the voluntary contributions from you and other partners, our teams were able to continue providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Your generosity also enabled us to protect rights, livelihoods and education of millions of Palestine Refugees across Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Throughout this year, the darkest of our 75-year history, your support has buoyed and humbled us. For this, we would like to express our deepest thanks to the individuals and institutional private donors who reminded us that we are not alone.
In 2025, the needs are more urgent than ever. Despite the current challenges resulting from the siege in the Gaza Strip, the restrictive Israeli legislation and the unprecedented attacks the Agency has faced this year, UNRWA will continue to deliver its mandate and to do everything in its power to maintain its services. We remain determined to pursue our work in development, humanitarian relief, education and health in our five fields of operation in the service of Palestine Refugees, whom we have proudly served since 1949.
As we look to the future, we hope that we can continue to count on you to support Palestine Refugees across the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Together, with your continued support, we will persevere.
FROM Our donors
I give every month because I can’t look away. The struggle of Palestine Refugees doesn’t end after one day, one week, or one crisis—so neither should our support. Being a monthly donor means I’m standing with them consistently, through every heartbreak and every small victory. It’s my way of saying, ‘I see you. I’m with you. I won’t forget you.‘
Rita, Portugal
I donate to UNRWA because it has had a profound significance in my life as a Palestine Refugee under its care; from education to food vouchers and medical care at UNRWA health centres. My family's collective academic success, with 11 postgraduate degrees among us, is thanks to UNRWA's assistance. UNRWA is a lifeline for Palestinians and a beacon of hope amid collective tragedy.
Dana, Palestine Refugee living in Germany
We, at Fondation VRM, are proud to support UNRWA’s crucial and lifesaving work throughout this devastating time for Palestinian families and children in Gaza. UNRWA remains unmatched in its on-the-ground reach, field experience and ability to deliver vital aid and services.
Fondation VRM