Here is an almost complete list of UN agencies that work in the Palestinian territories.
| Name | Full |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization |
| ILO | International Labour Organization |
| ITC | International Trade Center |
| OHCHR | Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
| UN Habitat | UN Habitat |
| UN Women | UN Women |
| UNCTAD | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
| UNDP | UN Development Program |
| UNDSS | United Nations Department of Safety & Security |
| UNEP | UN environment |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| UNFPA | United Nations Population Fund |
| UNICEF | United Nations Children’s Fund |
| UNIDO | United Nations Industrial Development Organization |
| UNMAS | United Nations Mine Action Service |
| UNODC | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |
| UNOPS | United Nations Office for Project Services |
| UNRWA | United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees |
| WFP | World Food Programme |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
There are so many UN agencies in the territories that another organization, UNDAF (United Nations Development Assistance Framework) is needed to coordinate the other 20-odd agencies.
As a result of this infantilizing of Palestinian Arabs, they have no idea how to do anything themselves.
Think about it. The PA has existed for over 20 years now. Yet basic services that one would expect a nascent nation to do are still not done, and Israel is blamed instead of them acting like adults.
A tiny example from a recent newsletter I saw from the “Directorate of Joint Service Council Ministry of Local Government Japan International Cooperation Agency” which helps the PA with waste management.
The newsletter says:
Open dumps (or so-called “random dumps”) have a negative impact on the environment and on the public health and safety. The impact of open dumping is potentially affects water resources, and some additional expenditure on waste management, which could provide clean water cheaply (ISWA, 2017). Now is the time to consider closing or upgrading open dumpsites and changing waste disposal practices. In West Bank – Palestine, non-negligible number of open dumps were in operation.MoLG-JICA’s project supports the initiatives for Joint Service Councils (JSCs) to change the final disposal works from open dumps to designated landfills where the waste is better contained and covered, and where environmental impacts from waste disposal are progressively reduced. In order to promote the initiatives, the project has focused on five JSCs for their capacity development in waste management. Since January 2015, three out of the five JSCs, successfully closed 4 open dumps, but still 17 open dumps are in operation.
Why can the PA not close open waste dumps and create proper facilities after 20 years? If they asked for the money from the international community with a specific plan, they’d get it. But they wait for the Japanese to come in and tell them “Hey! You are dumping waste where it can hurt people!”
Why do the Palestinians need outside people to tell them how to keep their own areas clean?
This, and hundreds of other NGO projects, create a cycle where Palestinians depend on the rest of the world to do basic services for them and Palestinians themselves act like spoiled brats who cannot assume any responsibility for their own actions.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
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