The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) :an evolving autonomous actor in the international community -

Abstract

This thesis discusses UNRWA as an international actor, as it is able to influence and shape the international community. A large constructivist framework allows for the examination of international organizations as actors and is coupled with a sociological approach when examining UNRWA’s bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is defined as a single entity that includes the people, procedures and internal structure of the organization. It is the bureaucracy of UNRWA that provides the Agency with a level of autonomy. UNRWA’s has evolved since it began ground operations in 1950 within its operational environment. The Agency’s operational environment includes the UN donor community that provides funding to UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees who receive services from UNRWA. With these different actors UNRWA becomes a site of contestation, as there are multiple narratives taking place simultaneously within the Agency. The thesis focuses on how the Agency influences and shapes the international community and examines UNRWA’s level of autonomous influence. A short genealogy of UNRWA from 1950 to 1999 is provided to see how UNRWA evolved into an international actor. An in-depth analysis from 2000 to 2012 provides a closer look at how UNRWA’s bureaucracy utilizes its role as an actor within the international community. UNRWA’s level of autonomy and influence on the international community is examined to see how this has impacted the Palestinian refugees and the future of the Agency.