Published : 11-11-2020
The United Nations has pledged to maintain support for the U Palestine Refugee Agency in order to help it keep up its services for millions of registered Palestinian refugees.
In a daily press briefing dating November 9, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said: “A distressing announcement from our colleagues at UNRWA: The Commissioner General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, announced that the Agency has run out of money as of today to pay for the salaries of 28,000 UNRWA staff for November.”
“The Agency needs to raise $70 million by the end of the month if it is to pay full salaries for the months of November and December”, added Dujarric. “Lazzarini said if additional funding is not pledged in the next weeks, UNRWA will be forced to defer partial salaries to all staff.”
The UN official warned that over the last five years, UNRWA cut $500 million out of its budget by enacting efficiency and cost‑reduction measures. This has included cutting staff, stopping needed repairs and investments in its infrastructure, increasing classroom size to 50 students per teacher, and reducing life‑saving humanitarian assistance at a time of rising needs.
Founded in 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) runs schools and provides health services as well as other humanitarian aid to an estimated 5.7 million Palestinians with refugee status.
Lazzarini was appointed to head the agency in March, after a predecessor was forced to resign late last year amid accusations of mismanagement that led key donors to snap shut their purses.
The developments only added to the agency's financial woes, coming after US President Donald Trump terminated US contributions to UNRWA in 2018.
Washington had until then been providing the agency with more than $300 million a year.
Around 40 countries initially helped fill the gap, but contributions have since diminished and the novel coronavirus pandemic has also taken a financial toll on donor countries.
The United Nations has pledged to maintain support for the U Palestine Refugee Agency in order to help it keep up its services for millions of registered Palestinian refugees.
In a daily press briefing dating November 9, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said: “A distressing announcement from our colleagues at UNRWA: The Commissioner General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, announced that the Agency has run out of money as of today to pay for the salaries of 28,000 UNRWA staff for November.”
“The Agency needs to raise $70 million by the end of the month if it is to pay full salaries for the months of November and December”, added Dujarric. “Lazzarini said if additional funding is not pledged in the next weeks, UNRWA will be forced to defer partial salaries to all staff.”
The UN official warned that over the last five years, UNRWA cut $500 million out of its budget by enacting efficiency and cost‑reduction measures. This has included cutting staff, stopping needed repairs and investments in its infrastructure, increasing classroom size to 50 students per teacher, and reducing life‑saving humanitarian assistance at a time of rising needs.
Founded in 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) runs schools and provides health services as well as other humanitarian aid to an estimated 5.7 million Palestinians with refugee status.
Lazzarini was appointed to head the agency in March, after a predecessor was forced to resign late last year amid accusations of mismanagement that led key donors to snap shut their purses.
The developments only added to the agency's financial woes, coming after US President Donald Trump terminated US contributions to UNRWA in 2018.
Washington had until then been providing the agency with more than $300 million a year.
Around 40 countries initially helped fill the gap, but contributions have since diminished and the novel coronavirus pandemic has also taken a financial toll on donor countries.
