Published : 29-06-2018
Matthews Shamali, Director of Operations for UNRWA, warned that the Arab region will go into chaos if UNRWA stopped providing its services, calling on the international community to avoid reaching this stage, in order to preserve stability in the region.
Media agencies quoted Matthews that UNRWA's financial deficit is already below zero, because we carried a deficit of $146 million from last year. The current deficit is $446 million. He noted that the pledges made by some countries compared to UNRWA’s deficit, are not significant.
Shamali revealed that some of the pledges made at the recent New York donors' conference were announced at the Rome conference. He said: "The funds and pledges that are being talked about by some Arab and international parties are distributed as follows: 50 million from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and 10 million from Turkey, which were pledged in March at the Rome Conference. They have already been received and are therefore they are not new funds, but they have been announced again by the countries in the New York conference.
The UN official stressed that UNRWA will not cease to provide its services, and will not hand over its services and functions to any other parties, stressing that it is not UNRWA, but the General Assembly and Member States which decide on such an issue. “I do not see anyone in the Assembly and Member States making this decision that UNRWA will hand over its functions to any other party,” he adds.
UNRWA is experiencing a severe financial crisis after the United States significantly reduced its assistance to the international agency.
Matthews Shamali, Director of Operations for UNRWA, warned that the Arab region will go into chaos if UNRWA stopped providing its services, calling on the international community to avoid reaching this stage, in order to preserve stability in the region.
Media agencies quoted Matthews that UNRWA's financial deficit is already below zero, because we carried a deficit of $146 million from last year. The current deficit is $446 million. He noted that the pledges made by some countries compared to UNRWA’s deficit, are not significant.
Shamali revealed that some of the pledges made at the recent New York donors' conference were announced at the Rome conference. He said: "The funds and pledges that are being talked about by some Arab and international parties are distributed as follows: 50 million from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and 10 million from Turkey, which were pledged in March at the Rome Conference. They have already been received and are therefore they are not new funds, but they have been announced again by the countries in the New York conference.
The UN official stressed that UNRWA will not cease to provide its services, and will not hand over its services and functions to any other parties, stressing that it is not UNRWA, but the General Assembly and Member States which decide on such an issue. “I do not see anyone in the Assembly and Member States making this decision that UNRWA will hand over its functions to any other party,” he adds.
UNRWA is experiencing a severe financial crisis after the United States significantly reduced its assistance to the international agency.
