eprintid: 10140826 rev_number: 12 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/14/08/26 datestamp: 2021-12-21 10:59:58 lastmod: 2021-12-21 10:59:58 status_changed: 2021-12-21 10:59:58 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Irfan, AE title: Educating Palestinian Refugees: The Origins of UNRWA’s Unique Schooling System ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B03 divisions: C01 divisions: K22 keywords: Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, education, refugee camps, Middle East note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: This article examines the origins of the unique schooling system for Palestinian refugees run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Examining developments c. 1950–57, it illuminates the programme’s beginning and explores the objectives of those behind it. Using archival evidence from numerous international welfare organizations and testimonies from refugees themselves, this article argues that the parties providing education and the refugees receiving it often had conflicting objectives that were highly politicized on both sides. Despite the comparatively greater power and resources of the United Nations, the Palestinian refugees were able to make use of their limited leverage in order to shape the education system as they preferred. The UNRWA education programme thus serves as a revealing case study for explaining developmental aid to refugee populations and its inevitable intersection with politics. date: 2021-03 date_type: published publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP) official_url: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez051 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1910749 doi: 10.1093/jrs/fez051 lyricists_name: Irfan, Anne lyricists_id: AIRFA04 actors_name: Zahnhausen-Stuber, Petra actors_id: PMZAH20 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Journal of Refugee Studies volume: 34 number: 1 pagerange: 1037-1059 citation: Irfan, AE; (2021) Educating Palestinian Refugees: The Origins of UNRWA’s Unique Schooling System. Journal of Refugee Studies , 34 (1) pp. 1037-1059. 10.1093/jrs/fez051 <https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs%2Ffez051>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10140826/1/Irfan_AI_article%20draft_revised.pdf