BEIRUT, Jun 16 (NNN-NNA) – Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), urged yesterday, countries to increase financial contributions, as the agency suffers from a 100-million-U.S.-dollar funding gap.
Philippe Lazzarini said, at a press conference, held on the occasion of UNRWA’s Advisory Commission meeting in Beirut that, “We are facing a major financial crisis, which reduced our ability to deal with the Palestinian refugees’ crisis.”
Lazzarini noted that, Palestinian refugees are going through a painful period, in light of the agency’s huge financial gap, stressing that, Palestinian refugees are the most vulnerable communities in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
He added that 80 percent of Palestinian families live below the poverty line, and 80 percent of the children suffer from malnutrition.
He also noted that the United Nations General Assembly will host a pledging conference for UNRWA on Jun 23, in New York.
UNRWA was established in 1949, as a United Nations agency, by a resolution of the General Assembly, to provide assistance and protection to approximately 5.6 million Palestine refugees registered with it in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
As one of the oldest humanitarian projects the United Nations had initiated, the agency has spent decades helping the displaced Palestinians.– NNN-NNA