“The real challenge in Gaza is the unavailability of needed items such as ventilators and other medical items,” she said. In 2020, Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria will continue to face a range of daunting human development and protection challenges. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals. united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east. Lazzarini said supporting UNRWA “is one of the best investments in stability in the region at a time of extraordinary unpredictability and volatility.”. All contributions to the UNRWA Programme Budget go directly towards serving the Palestine refugees the Agency is mandated to protect and assist. The Acting Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Christian Saunders, today called for a minimum of US$ 1.4 billion to UNRWA Launches 2020 Budget Appeal for US$ 1.4 Billion | UNRWA The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is experiencing a financial crisis that could force it to halt some services to an already impoverished population of more than 5 million people. © 2015-2020 The Arab Weekly. The Swiss humanitarian expert said UNRWA is facing an estimated shortfall of about $200 million between now and the end of 2020 if the agency wants to maintain all the services in its five fields of operations, including schools, health centres and social welfare. I humbly call on our donors and partners to strongly support UNRWA this year; your investment is very well-placed, it is an investment in a beleaguered people deserving of your continued support and it is an investment in the region’s stability,” said Mr. Saunders. It also receives some revenue from the regular UN budget, mostly for international staffing costs. An additional amount of US$ 155 million is required to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza,  and US$ 270 million is needed in support of the Syria Regional Crisis Emergency Appeal (in Syria and for Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon and Jordan). “We have people being more and more in despair expecting UNRWA to deliver more services, at a time UNRWA is already experiencing financial crisis,” Lazzarini said. US President Donald Trump said in January 2018 that the Palestinians must return to peace talks with Israel to receive US aid money. “It makes it much, much harder to mobilise the necessary resources.”. UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east. Of the required US$ 1.4 billion, the Agency will use US$ 806 million for essential core services, which encompass education, health, infrastructure and camp improvement, relief and social services, protection and microfinance and contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. The US gave $360 million to UNRWA in 2017, but only $60 million in 2018, and nothing last year or so far this year. Understanding the UNRWA Funding Structure, The General Fund Programme Budget 2020-2021, The General Fund Programme Budget 2018-2019, The General Fund Programme Budget 2016-2017, The General Fund Programme Budget 2014-2015, The General Fund Programme Budget 2012-13, Proudly developed and maintained by Vardot - Enterprise Web Solutions, Refugees’ rights under international law are protected and promoted, Refugees’ health is protected and the disease burden is reduced, School-aged children complete quality, equitable and inclusive basic education, Refugee capabilities are strengthened for increased livelihoods opportunities, Refugees are able to meet their basic human needs of food, shelter and environmental health. It was the first time the virus was detected outside quarantine zones set up for people returning from abroad. In budgeting, UNRWA is guided by the strategic objectives and priorities outlined in its Medium Term Strategy 2016-21 (MTS). UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. Gaza has reported hundreds of coronavirus infections since the first case emerged in the general population last week, and UNRWA warned that a lack of key medical items including ventilators could make it hard to treat the disease effectively. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.6 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. “We now need our donors and partners to match that support with the necessary funding to allow us to provide Palestine refugees with protection and those critical services considered a basic human right. “There is a really deep sense of hopelessness and despair today in the Palestinian camps,” he said, adding that some families have been forced to cut back on food purchases. An estimated US$170 million is required for priority projects, in particular, rehousing and reconstruction initiatives in response to conflicts in Syria and Gaza, as well as, initiatives designed to complete and strengthen programme reforms and delivery. Widely impoverished and densely populated, the Islamist-ruled Palestinian enclave has been on lockdown since authorities confirmed four infections from a single family on August 24. “Until there is a just and durable solution to the plight of Palestine refugees, we are the only agency able to provide the type of essential services that Palestine refugees are entitled to. In budgeting, UNRWA is guided by the strategic objectives and priorities outlined in its Medium Term Strategy 2016-21 (MTS). The UNRWA Programme Budget (General Fund), approved by the General Assembly for the 2020-2021 biennium, comprises recurrent staff and non-staff costs. Refugee students gesture on the first day of the new school year at one of the UNRWA schools, amid fears of rising numbers of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Amman, Jordan. The US gave $360 million to UNRWA in 2017, but only $60 million in 2018, and nothing last year or so far this year. All rights reserved. UNRWA will be able to provide education to over half a million girls and boys in some 700 schools across the region, and enable 8.5 million patient visits in its health facilities, like it did in 2019. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. It now provides education, health care, food and other services to 5.8 million refugees and their descendants in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. This strategic vision is further refined by strategic plans for each UNRWA field of operation, based on programme cycle management. In addition to its regular budget, UNRWA receives funding for emergency activities and special projects, such as in response to the Syrian civil war and the COVID-19 pandemic. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance. ... Top 20 Donors to UNRWA’s Core Programme over the period 2000-2009 [PDF] Sign up below to receive the latest news and updates about our work with Palestine refugees across the Middle East. Aoun called for the return of Palestinians who fled to Lebanon in recent years from Syria’s civil war. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA is mandated by the General Assembly under resolution 302(IV) to respond to the needs of more than 5.6 million refugees in its five fields of operation until a just and durable solution is found to the refugee issue. (Reuters). Lazzarini said the coronavirus is having “a huge economic and financial impact also on our donor base.” He said most donor countries are in recession at a time when Palestinians need even more aid because of the pandemic and various lockdowns. Alrifai, in a virtual briefing for reporters streamed from Geneva, said Israel had not hindered humanitarian assistance to Gaza since the coronavirus crisis began and that whatever has been needed to fight COVID-19 “has been well facilitated.”. The MTS identifies five strategic outcomes: To link financial resources directly to the achievement of results consistent with the Agency's strategy, the budget includes a breakdown based on these goals and strategic objectives. UNRWA Launches 2020 Budget Appeal for US$ 1.4 Billion, Join the #DignityIsPriceless campaign to stand up #ForPalestineRefugees, Meeting the Human Development and Humanitarian Needs of Palestine Refugees, 2020 syria regional crisis emergency appeal, Proudly developed and maintained by Vardot - Enterprise Web Solutions. Sign up below to receive the latest news and updates about our work with Palestine refugees across the Middle East. “I believe that despair and hopelessness in a situation like this one can indeed lead to violence and to instability,” he said. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Copyright© United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. BEIRUT – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is experiencing a financial crisis that could force it to halt some services to an already impoverished population of more than 5 million people, the head of the agency said Wednesday. The presentation of the Agency’s 2020 priorities and financial requirements comes in the wake of the recent extension by the United Nations General Assembly of the UNRWA mandate for another three years until June 2023. He has since put forth a plan for resolving the conflict that heavily favours Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians. Since then, 603 new cases have been recorded, nearly all among the general population, with four deaths since August 24, according to Gaza’s health ministry. UNRWA’s financial crisis was sparked by the loss of all funding from the United States, its largest donor, in 2018. “I do believe that ceasing our activity in a context where there is such a level of despair, such a level of hopelessness, can only fuel the feeling that the Palestinian refugees are abandoned by the international community,” said Lazzarini, who took office in March. Central to these pressures is the ongoing occupation of  the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the blockade of Gaza, the continuing conflict in Syria, the political crisis in Lebanon and the growing needs in Jordan, all of which continue to dramatically impact the lives of Palestine refugees. Philippe Lazzarini also warned in an interview in Beirut that the spread of coronavirus, an economic meltdown in Lebanon and a huge deficit in UNRWA’s budget are deepening the hopelessness among Palestinian refugees, some of whom are trying to flee the Mediterranean nation on migrant boats. “The immense support that UNRWA received at the General Assembly in December of last year was an overwhelming validation of the Agency and of our mandate,” said Mr. Saunders. The UNRWA Programme Budget (General Fund), approved by the General Assembly for the 2020-2021 biennium, comprises recurrent staff and non-staff costs. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Copyright© United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.