As it struggles to overcome persistent budget shortfalls, UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, issued an appeal on Tuesday for $1.6 billion to support its work in 2023.
UNRWA, which serves the nearly six million Palestinians who are registered in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria in addition to the Palestinian territories, including the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, warned that “compounding challenges” had placed it under immense strain.
The organization employs nearly 30,000 people, the majority of whom are Palestinian refugees. It operates over 700 schools and provides health, sanitation, and social services, as well as food and cash assistance to half a million children.
UNRWA stated that such fundamental services required $848 million out of the requested $1.6 billion.
It stated that emergency operations required an additional $781.6 million.
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Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, stated that the organization played “an indispensable role” for millions of Palestinian refugees.
In a statement, he said, “We work to maintain the delivery of basic services in an extremely difficult financial and political context.”
The organization issued a warning that the majority of Palestinian refugees now live below the poverty line and that a growing number of them are reliant on UNRWA for assistance, sometimes even just for their own survival.
According to Lazzarini, he had recently returned from a trip to Syria, where he had witnessed unimaginable suffering and despair firsthand.
UNRWA has struggled with chronic budget shortfalls for a long time, which became significantly worse in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump reduced support for the organization.
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His administration supported Israeli criticisms of UNRWA, which was established in 1949, a year after Israel was established, by labeling it “irredeemably flawed.”
While UNRWA has stated that it is still struggling, the administration of US President Joe Biden has completely restored support.
Lazzarini stated that UNRWA only raised nearly $1.2 billion out of the $1.6 billion it had requested.
Lazzarini stated, “We cannot and should not be always scrambling to bring in funds to cover our contribution to human rights and stability,” emphasizing the need for a more long-term, consistent, and predictable funding model.
