An official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, complained today, Sunday, of pressures on donor countries to stop their support to the agency.
When he met a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and head of the Refugee Affairs Department, Ahmed Abu Hawli, UNRWA director of operations in Gaza, Matthias Shamali, said that UNRWA "is working in difficult circumstances in light of the continuing pressure on donor countries to stop their support to the agency."
Shamali did not specify the bodies that exert pressure, but stressed that the agency will continue its services in accordance with the mandate granted to it by Resolution 302 of the United Nations General Assembly.
He stated that UNRWA had received international support by extending its mandate for three years to come, with Member States voting overwhelmingly on the decision to extend its mandate.
For his part, Abu Hawli stressed the need for UNRWA to raise funds for its budget, which is estimated at $ 1.4 billion for the year 2020.
Abu Holi said that increasing the budget for the year 2020 by $ 340 million compared to the 2019 budget will contribute to meeting the growing needs of refugees and addressing many outstanding issues resulting from the continuing financial crisis in the past two years.
He added that the challenge is to collect the necessary funding to cover UNRWA´s budget in a way that ensures the stability of the Agency´s budget and the fulfillment of its obligations towards Palestinian refugees.
He stressed that UNRWA is required to redouble its efforts in the search for new funders and partners and urged donors to provide additional funding, stressing the rejection of what was included in the American peace plan known as the "Deal of the Century" in the sixteenth section of the solutions to the refugee issue and the fate of the agency´s work that deviates from what was approved by international legitimacy .
According to the statement, Abu Holly and Shamali stressed that the agency´s authority is the United Nations, and it is the United Nations that determines the fate of its work and not deals and visions issued by countries individually, in reference to what is known as the "deal of the century".
Two days ago, UNRWA launched an appeal to the world to support 1.4 billion dollars to cover its services in 2020 in its five areas of operations, which include the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the camps of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
