رسالة للموظفين من مديرة شؤون الأونروا في لبنان، دوروثي كلاوس

Message to Staff from the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Dorothee Klaus

Beirut, 31 January 2026

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to you at a very difficult moment. On 14 January 2026, the Commissioner-General announced that, in response to the unprecedented financial crisis facing UNRWA, a 20 per cent reduction in working hours will be implemented across all fields of operation, with salaries adjusted accordingly. As outlined by the Commissioner-General, this measure aims to safeguard the Agency’s mandate and preserve essential services in 2026 within the reduced budgetary envelope available to the Agency. Attached are the related communication from the Commissioner-General and the Director of Human Resources for your reference.

Accordingly, the Lebanon Field Office will have to translate this decision into revised work modalities which will come into effect as of 1 February 2026. The reduction in working hours by 20 per cent will translate into a 4-day work week for 90 per cent of all staff.

Exempted from this decision are the life-saving operations related to environmental health, water and sanitation in the camps and the hospitalization programme. In addition, a few critical functions as outlined in the note by the Director of Human Resources will continue performing as before on a five day working week schedule.

Lebanon Field Office – General Working Arrangements

Staff will work at LFO from Monday to Thursday with a few being present also on Fridays.

Education Programme

UNRWA schools will continue to operate five days per week, and students will continue to attend school on all five days.

School-based staff will work four days per week.

Each school-based staff member will be assigned one fixed non-working day, in addition to Friday and Sunday.

Teaching schedules have been adjusted, which may include reducing the number of periods on some days.

Health Programme

All health clinics will operate four days per week.

Hospitalization services will continue without interruption as before, to ensure the provision of this critical service to the community.

Water, Sanitation and Environmental Health

Camp water and sanitation services, including solid waste collection, will continue to be delivered according to the regular schedule.

Relief and Social Services

All relief and social services offices will open for four days per week.

Support to high-risk cases will continue as before through a limited case management capacity at area level.

Protection

Protection staff and related services will operate four days per week.

Some project-funded services will continue including on Fridays.

Community and Camp Services

Community and camp service offices will continue to open five days per week with the deployment of key staff to this office.

Infrastructure and Donor-Funded Projects

Construction projects, including the Nahr el-Bared Reconstruction Programme, as well as other major donor-funded projects, will continue operations unaffected.

Administrative Functions and Offices

Selected offices will remain open five days Monday to Friday, including the Lebanon Field Office and Area Offices. A limited range of functions will be operating at these locations on Fridays.

A limited home-office-home service is provided for staff attending on Fridays to the Lebanon Field Office.

Further programme-specific or operational guidance will be shared as required through individual programme and area chiefs that will work with their teams to adjust to the new work modalities. Doing so effectively will help us retain service provision for a community that depends entirely on UNRWA’s capacity to deliver for their basic needs. We will not pretend that these changes in working hours will not have an impact on the scope and quality of service delivery. Given all your demonstrated commitment and high motivation to your excellent work, this will be a frustrating experience. However, if we succeed to adjust, we prevent inflicting more damage to our operations and the people we serve. Our mission remains. Thank you for your continued dedication, solidarity, and professionalism during this difficult period.

UNRWA cares, UNRWA delivers, where no one else does.

With respect and appreciation,

Dorothee