UN agency for Palestinians needs $50-80m to “keep running”

AMMAN, SANA – The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini said on Monday that the agency needs $50-80m until the end of the current year to finish the year and maintain the operations of its schools, health centers and other basic services.

Philippe Lazzarini Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in press conference at the agency’s Advisory Commission Meeting in Amman “Our hospitalization program needs more support to remain effective in protecting Palestine refugees’ access to hospitals amid widespread poverty and collapsing public services, in particular in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza”.

Lazzarini warned that failure to raise that amount poses significant risks of industrial action, strikes, and consequently the suspension of services, according to a UNRWA statement.

The agency also needs some 200 million dollars over a period of three years to reach the objectives of the UNRWA Strategic Plan, Lazzarini added.

After years of austerity measures, the current underfunding problem can only be downsized through cuts to services or to the eligibility to access them, he said.

He stressed that the current situation will increase health and security risks for refugees and staff as critical maintenance work and replacement of assets that have been worn down by years of austerity will be further postponed.

UNRWA was established to provide education, healthcare, food and other services to more than 700,000 Palestinians who were forcibly expelled from their homeland by Zionist militias in 1948 – the year the state of Israel was established.

the 4^th Committee of the United Nations adopted last Friday a resolution extending UNRWA’s mandate until 2026, in preparation to referring the resolution to the General Assembly for a vote next month.

Amer Dawa