The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is in many ways a unique body. It is a "temporary" agency, its 1949 mandate renewed 19 times; it delivers its education, health, social and emergency services directly to its client population rather than through states or governments. Its 3.4 million beneficiary population is defined as a people, those Palestinian refugees registered after the 1948 conflict, plus their descendants. It has no governing board: the Commissioner General reports directly to the UN General Assembly.
It depends for 95 per cent of its budget on voluntary donations, with the US, Scandinavian countries, Japan and the EU prominent. Some 150 internationals support almost 21,000 local staff, most of them employed in education and health services. UNRWA is the largest single employer of Palestinians in the Middle East.