Japan and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Thursday signed an agreement worth 22.4 million dollars to support the needs of the Palestinian refugees.
The agreement was signed by Masayuki Maguchi, representative of Japan to Palestine, and Acting Commissioner-General Christian Saunders, at the agency´s headquarters in Jerusalem, according to a statement released by Xinhua, and a copy of which was received by Xinhua.
The statement indicated that the important donation will secure vital funding for the provision of services by UNRWA to Palestine refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank, which includes occupied Jerusalem.
He pointed out that $ 4.2 million of the total donation will be allocated to support "UNRWA" in Syria for the year 2020, in addition to the amount of $ 7.6 million for the emergency agency´s response to the goals of humanitarian aid in Gaza for the same year.
As part of the emergency appeal for the occupied Palestinian territories, $ 2.8 million will be allocated to support the families of Palestine refugees by creating more than 2,000 temporary job opportunities in Gaza.
Additional funds will be allocated to provide health services in Syria and Lebanon and basic educational services in Lebanon and Jordan.
The representative of Japan expressed his happiness that "the donation supports the important activities carried out by UNRWA in all of its five fields of operation."
"The donation shows Japan´s strong commitment to support UNRWA and its necessary operations to assist Palestine refugees," he said.
In turn, Saunders thanked the donation, saying: "The Japanese government´s support for UNRWA comes completely in its time and is very generous."
He added, "The support enables UNRWA to advance in many very vital areas, including health and education, and our program for emergency humanitarian response and sustainable development."
The Japanese support comes in the wake of the warnings launched by "UNRWA" earlier today, from the danger of reducing its services in May due to the lack of international funding for the agency.
Adnan Abu Hasna, media advisor to UNRWA, said in a written statement that Xinhua received a copy of him, that up to now, there are promises of 299 million dollars from a budget of one billion and 400 million for the year 2020, of which only practically 125 million dollars arrived.
On the 31st of last month, UNRWA launched an appeal to the world to support it with $ 1.4 billion to cover its services in the year 2020.
