Division for Palestinian Rights

A view of the Headquarters in New York ? UN Photo/Loey Felipe

This website is maintained by the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR) of the in New York and provides an overview of numerous UN actors that work on the Question of Palestine around the globe, including the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and various other Â鶹APP organs, bodies and agencies such as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat and the Human Rights Council.

The Division for Palestinian Rights

The Division for Palestinian Rights serves as the Secretariat of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and provides the following core functions:

Background

Following the establishment of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the General Assembly recognised the need to create an informed public opinion around the world in support of the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Accordingly, the Assembly mandated the establishment of a Special Unit on Palestinian Rights in the Â鶹APP Secretariat to assist the Committee in its work (of 2 December 1977).

On 12 December 1979, the Assembly re-designated the Unit as the Division for Palestinian Rights ( D). The Division is part of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the Â鶹APP Secretariat. Its mandate has been renewed annually and expanded several times over the years (resolution 75/21). As outlined above the Division¡¯s mandate, renewed on 3 December 2024 by the General Assembly resolution A/RES/79/82, includes the following:

International Meetings and Conferences

The Division for Palestinian Rights is mandated by the General Assembly to organize international meetings and conferences in various regions and to encourage the participation of all sectors of the international community. They are held to promote constructive analysis and discussions of the various aspects of the question of Palestine and to mobilise international support for and assistance to the Palestinian people.

In recent years, the programme of international meetings and conferences has placed special emphasis on promoting the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, providing support for the political process and encouraging international efforts towards a peaceful solution of the conflict.

Since 1993, the Committee has convened annual seminars on assistance to the Palestinian people, in either Europe or the Middle East. These events are organised to address the various aspects of the socio-economic and humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to promote wide support by the international community for the Palestinian economy and development. More recently, these events have focused on the urgency of bringing humanitarian relief and reconstruction to the Gaza Strip, as well as on State-building efforts of the Palestinian Authority.

Additional information about various Committee-sponsored events is available HERE

Research, monitoring, publications and the Â鶹APP Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL)

In response to a mandate contained in General Assembly resolution 46/74 B of 11 December 1991 and subsequent annual resolutions, the Division has developed the Â鶹APP Information System?on the Question of Palestine?(UNISPAL)?is the world¡¯s largest online repository of documents on the question of Palestine. The main collection, which is updated daily, contains the texts of current and historical Â鶹APP material concerning the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation and the search for peace. UNISPAL contains the English texts with a growing number in the other official UN languages.

The Division has been requested to monitor developments relevant to the question of Palestine. The collection and dissemination of information by the Division are considered by the Committee to be of particular importance to its political advocacy work aimed at making a constructive contribution to the peace process, in support of international efforts aimed at reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement of the question of Palestine.

The publications programme of the Division includes the preparation of monthly bulletins on international action on the question of Palestine, Annual Compilation of Selected Â鶹APP Reports and Annual Compilation of UN Resolutions and Decisions on Question of Palestine. Over the years, the Division has also published or commissioned a number of studies on legal, political and economic aspects of the question of Palestine.

Training programme for staff of the Palestinian Government

Since 1996, as requested by the Committee and subsequently mandated by the General Assembly, the Division for Palestinian Rights has conducted an annual training programme for staff of the Palestinian Government. The programme is carried out at Â鶹APP Headquarters, in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the Â鶹APP, from September to December each year, in conjunction with the annual sessions of the General Assembly. Focused on capacity building, it is designed to help staff of the Palestinian Government to familiarise with and acquire professional expertise in the various aspects of the work of the Â鶹APP and multilateral diplomatic work.

General Assembly of 2 December 2009, requested that the Programme be further developed and enhanced ¡°in contribution to Palestinian capacity-building efforts¡±. In implementation of that resolution, the Division for Palestinian Rights,? conducted annual training programmes for staff of the Palestinian Government at the Â鶹APP Office at Geneva in collaboration with and hosted by the Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit of UNCTAD. The Division also conducts other training programmes with a view to assisting the Palestinian Government in building capacity. Additional information on the training programme can be found?here.

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Pursuant to General Assembly of 2 December 1977, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed annually on or around 29 November, solemnly commemorating the adoption by the Assembly, on 29 November 1947, of resolution 181 (II), which provided for the partition of Palestine into two States. The observance is held at Â鶹APP Headquarters, the Â鶹APP Offices at Geneva and Vienna and elsewhere. The event includes special meetings at which statements on the question of Palestine are made by high-level officials of the Â鶹APP and intergovernmental organizations and representatives of civil society. The observance also includes cultural events. At other locations, various activities are organized by governmental bodies and CSOs in cooperation with Â鶹APP information centres around the world. It is also traditionally the day that the Â鶹APP General Assembly undertakes its annual debate on the question of Palestine. The General Assembly proclaimed 2014 the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Commemoration the anniversary of the Nakba

On 30 November 2023, for the first time in the history of the Â鶹APP, the General Assembly adopted a resolution A/RES/77/23 requesting the Division for Palestinian Rights, to dedicate its activities in 2023 to the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing a high-level event at the General Assembly Hall on 15 May 2023. Furthermore, on 3 December 2024, the General Assembly adopted another resolution A/RES/79/82?requesting the Division to commemorate the anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing?annual events and through the dissemination of relevant archives and testimonies. Read more about the Nakba and commemoration events.

Liaison and cooperation with civil society and parliamentarians

On the basis of the Committee¡¯s programme of cooperation with civil society, which started in connection with the preparations for the International Conference on the Question of Palestine held in 1983 in Geneva, the General Assembly mandated the Division to increase its contacts with non-governmental organizations and to convene meetings for non-governmental organizations in various regions in order to heighten awareness of the facts relating to the question of Palestine ¨C a mandate that has been renewed annually. CSOs are invited to all Committee-sponsored international meetings and conferences.

As the Committee encourages cooperation, coordination and networking among CSOs, the Division maintains contacts with national, regional and international coordinating mechanisms and periodically holds consultations with various organizations and their representatives on ways and means of enhancing cooperation. On occasion, representatives of the Committee or staff members of the Division participate in events organised by CSOs.

The Committee also attaches great importance to developing its liaison and cooperation with national and regional parliaments and inter-parliamentary organizations with a view to encouraging law-makers worldwide to work together with their governments and together with the Â鶹APP and the Committee for the achievement of the two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This collaboration takes different forms, including periodic meetings of consultations with representatives of national parliaments and inter-parliamentary organizations, and organization of joint international events on the most pressing issues.