GAZA, Oct 11 (NNN-WAFA) – A lack of 120 million U.S. dollars, affected the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to provide services this year, the agency warned yesterday, calling for donations.
“UNRWA has a financial shortfall of approximately 120 million U.S. dollars, an amount that is necessary to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees, in UNRWA’s five areas of operation,” Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA’s media advisor in Gaza, told reporters.
“Our services provided to refugees will be influenced, if we don’t receive the needed fund by the end of the year,” he said, adding that, the amount comprises 20 million dollars for Oct and 100 million dollars for Nov and Dec.
Since its establishment in 1949, UNRWA has been providing humanitarian services to 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, who live in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, in areas such as education, health care, relief social services and camp infrastructure.
Abu Hasna said, UNRWA is preparing to hold an international conference for donors, in the Belgium capital, Brussels, in Nov, under the sponsorship of Jordan and Sweden.
The agency “will present its vision to develop and modernise its programmes for the coming years,” he said, adding that, 90 percent of UNRWA’s budget is voluntary donations from donor countries, and the agency will demand multi-year financial pledges, in case the crisis renews and exacerbates.– NNN-WAFA
