Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the resulting displacement of millions is a political, logistical and financial challenge for all actors involved. Within the UN system alone, a wide range of agencies and subsidiary bodies such as UNHCR, IOM, WFP or UNICEF are tasked to provide or to coordinate information, security, shelter and all kinds of social support required in dozens of host countries. This requires significant resource mobilization efforts by the administrations of these UN organizations.
However, besides recent studies by the UN’s Joint Inspection Unit on resource mobilization as an administrative function in the UN system, there is little academic knowledge on how IOs’ bureaucrats mobilize resources for short-term crises and long-term challenges. Recent advances on the study of budgeting administration in international organizations and the growing interest in IR in the voluntarization of IO finances suggest that these issues require more in-depth study.
In this paper, we therefore analyze the role of one particular UN body – the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) – in mobilizing resources to address both the ongoing needs of millions of Palestine refugees across the wider Middle East while having to support the more than 300,000 Palestine refugees in Syria that have been displaced (again) since 2011. To understand if and in how far the present crisis is different from previous crises in the Middle East affecting Palestinian refugees, we analyze all UNRWA’s Annual Reports from 1951 until today as well as official documents and speeches relating to resource mobilization efforts.
Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationship between short-term and long-term crisis management, linking questions of aid mobilization and international refugee policy. We show the persistence and repeated occurrence of UNRWA’s financial crises since its creation as well as the efforts by UNRWA’s administration to adapt over time.
We observe the emergence of dedicated resource mobilization strategies in UNRWA in recent years. These strategic efforts are not just a reaction to a new regional crisis but also reflect UNRWA's adaptation to an international environment and an organizational field in which many IOs and their administrations compete for voluntary contributions for the financing of multilateral humanitarian and development work. The present refugee crisis and UNRWA's difficult financial situation highlight the challenges that result from these new dynamics.
