Strategy for Sweden’s cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 2020-2023

This strategy will underpin Sweden’s cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) during the period 2020–2023. The strategy establishes the priorities and forms of collaboration for Sweden’s partnership with UNRWA at global, regional and national level.

The strategy is guided by Sweden’s Policy for Global Development and its overall objective of contributing to equitable and sustainable global development, the Policy Framework for Swedish development cooperation and humanitarian assistance (referred to below as the Policy Framework), and the Swedish Foreign Service action plan for feminist foreign policy 2019–2022. The strategy also takes its cue from the Government’s guidelines for strategies in Swedish development cooperation and humanitarian assistance and Sweden’s strategy for multilateral development policy.

The strategy also takes its cue from the Government’s priorities in the area of humanitarian assistance in accordance with the Strategy for Sweden’s humanitarian aid provided through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 2017–2020. According to these, humanitarian assistance must be based on humanitarian needs and be guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and the principles of good humanitarian donorship.

Moreover, the strategy is based on UNRWA’s mandate and strategic policy documents. The organisational assessment conducted by the Government Offices (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) in 2019 forms the basis of the strategy. The strategy also takes into account the information on cooperation with UNRWA contributed by Swedish missions abroad and government agencies in Sweden. The agreement on four-year core support to UNRWA entered into in August 2018 and applicable during 2018–2021 also forms the basis of Sweden’s advocacy work within the organisation.

The Government has devised the strategy in consultation with the relevant government agencies and civil society actors.

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