The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced it will look to establish a new influx of funds at an upcoming donor conference, after it endured years of financial instability during the administration of former United States President Donald Trump.
At the UN headquarters in New York, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters that the organization needed “predictability” for its operations in order to implement its three core activities related to education, health, and social services.
It was stated that UNRWA will seek donations of $800 million a year at a donor conference scheduled to take place in Brussels next month.
The aformentioned amount will allow the UN agency to run about 700 schools, catering to 550,000 children, as well as health centres and to provide social welfare to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
Lazzarini said there was also a need for an additional amount, estimated at around $500,000 in 2022, to cover the humanitarian aid provided by UNRWA.
The agency, which assists more than five million Palestinians in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Lebanon, was $100 million short to see out this year, and warned that it might have to shut down some activities in November and December.
