The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) signed an agreement with UNICC that aims to enhance opportunities for Palestine refugees in Gaza. With this agreement, UNICC will be able to benefit from the skills of UNRWA ICT personnel in the delivery of services.
UNICC, in its firm commitment to supporting the local constituencies of UN Agencies in the delivery of ICT services worldwide to over 35 UN Agencies and 25 related organizations, is excited to open up this partnership.
This agreement will strengthen the UNICC capacity to deliver reliable ICT services driven by best practices. With its world-class technology and state-of-the-art infrastructure, together with the vast cross-domain experience of its very knowledgeable staff, UNICC is always ready to offer UN-friendly shared solutions to United Nations organizations and international institutions with similar missions and value.
Sameer Chauhan, Director, UNICC
UNRWA, as a Partner Organization, already subscribes to UNICC’s ICT services. This ICT services support partnership agreement brings closer collaboration between the two entities, with ICT skills development and delivery being the new bridge for partnership. Now skilled and professional Palestinians ICT personnel at UNRWA can share their skills with the wider UN transformation efforts.
UNRWA employs young and qualified Palestine refugees at its IT Service Centre (ITSC) in Gaza to provide service desk, application development, infrastructure and information management services to all five field offices of the Agency. With this agreement, UNICC will be able to benefit from the skills of UNRWA personnel in the following areas:
- ICT technical capacity augmentation
- ICT end-to-end solutions delivery
- ICT operations and maintenance support.
Through this joint project, young and skilled Palestine refugees will be able to contribute to the digital transformation of the UN in the IT domain without the restrictions of geographic borders.
Kaan Cetinturk, UNRWA CIO and Director of Information Management and Technology Department
Strengthening refugee capabilities and increasing livelihood opportunities are two pillars of the UNRWA strategy towards Palestine refugees and constitute direct contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
About UNRWA
UNRWA is a United Nations Agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.6 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
In support of:
