Following the issuance on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice of the advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNRoD) was established in accordance with General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-10/17 of January 2007.

UNRoD is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly of the United Nations and operates under the administrative authority of the Secretary-General at the site of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) which provides administrative and logistical backstopping.

UNRoD's mandate is to serve as a record, in documentary form, of the damage caused to all natural and legal persons concerned as a result of the construction of the Wall by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem. UNRoD is not a compensation commission, claims-resolution facility, judicial or quasi-judicial body.

UNRoD’s Office, which was established following the appointment by the Secretary-General of the three independent members of the Board and its Executive Director in 2007, is fully operational with 18 staff members comprising 9 Professional staff, and 9 General Service staff.

To fulfil its mandate, UNRoD undertakes outreach activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to inform potential claimants of the existence and purpose of UNRoD and the procedure for filing a claim for registration of damage. UNRoD also assists claimants in completing the official UNRoD claim forms, and collects completed claims forms for processing in Vienna.

UNRoD receives, processes and reviews claims from any natural or legal person who has sustained material damage or loss as a result of the construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. UNRoD's three-member Board has the ultimate authority to decide, based on criteria established by it, whether or not a loss or damage claimed is to be included in the United Nations Register of Damage.

The mandate entrusted to UNRoD is being successfully implemented with the collection, by January 2012, of more than 24,000 claims and over 210,000 supporting documents in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Claim intake activities in Tubas, Jenin and Tulkarem governorates are already completed. The work is currently in advanced stage in Qalqiliya governorate, including its urban areas. As of now, 4,097 of the collected claims have been reviewed by the Board of UNRoD for its inclusion in the Register.