The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will launch Monday an electronic application to automate and digitize the civil status records of Palestinian refugees across the world.

The application allows refugees, wherever they are, to register cases of birth, marriage, divorce, death, and to view all data online.

They can also follow up on the submitted registration requests and obtain a copy of the electronic family registration certificate.

The international umbrella for Palestinian refugees has been running accredited registration centers in all 13 Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan for 75 years.

UNRWA has records for approximately 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees and provides services to more than 750,000 others, who meet the standard eligibility and registration requirements in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza Strip.

UNRWA is unique in its long-term commitment to one group of refugees. It has contributed to the well-being and human development of four generations of Palestinian refugees. Originally envisioned as a temporary organization, the agency has gradually adjusted its programs to meet the changing needs of the refugees.

According to UNRWA, Palestinian refugees are those people whose place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, and who lost their homes and livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.

UNRWA's services are available to all those living in its areas of operations who meet this definition and who are registered with the Agency and need assistance. The direct descendants of Palestinian refugees are also eligible to register with UNRWA.

When the Agency began its work in 1950, it was responding to the needs of approximately 750,000 refugees. Today, some 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are entitled to receive UNRWA services.