Written statement submitted by The Palestinian Return Centre Ltd, a non-governmental organisation in special consultative status. Human Rights Council Sixty-first session: 23 February–2 April 2026.
Agenda item 7: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.

UNREF: A/HRC/61/NGO/173 
Date: 12 March 2026
Title: Humanitarian Implications of 20% Salary Reduction for Staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency forPalestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Lebanon: Financial Challenges, Political Pressures, and Recommendations for Sustainable Support of Palestinian Refugees

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UN Human Rights Council Circulates PRC Submission on the Impact of UNRWA Austerity Measures in Lebanon

Geneva – The United Nations Human Rights Council has included a written submission by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) among the official documents of its 61st session, under agenda item 7, entitled “Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories,” under reference A/HRC/61/NGO/173. 

The submission was officially circulated as part of the Council’s documentation on 12 March 2026, within the framework of the 61st session held from 23 February to 1 April 2026. 

The paper addresses the humanitarian and human rights implications arising from austerity measures affecting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Lebanon, particularly the reduction of salaries and working hours for locally recruited staff, and the resulting direct impact on the continuity of essential services provided to Palestine refugees, most notably education, primary healthcare, and social assistance. 

In its submission, PRC stressed that UNRWA’s deepening financial crisis is no longer merely an administrative or operational matter, but a direct threat to the fundamental rights of hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugees who depend on the Agency’s services, particularly amid Lebanon’s severe socio-economic conditions. It further underlined that undermining the rights and working conditions of local staff directly affects UNRWA’s ability to fulfil its humanitarian and human rights obligations toward Palestine refugees. 

The paper also warned against growing efforts aimed at undermining UNRWA’s role or advancing alternatives to it, reaffirming that the Agency remains the only internationally mandated UN body, since 1949, tasked with delivering essential services to Palestine refugees across its fields of operation, and that any disruption to its continuity threatens the international protection framework for Palestine refugees. 

In conclusion, PRC called on the Human Rights Council and Member States to ensure sustainable, adequate, and predictable funding for UNRWA, safeguard its UN-mandated role, protect the rights of its locally recruited staff, and strengthen international and civil society efforts to reaffirm the Agency’s indispensable role in protecting the rights of Palestine refugees. 

The inclusion of this submission comes as part of PRC’s continued human rights and international advocacy within the United Nations system, as a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), reflecting its ongoing commitment to documenting violations affecting Palestine refugees and advancing more just and sustainable international policies toward them.