Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Tuesday, appealed for $1.6 billion to support its lifesaving work this year amid acute regional crises and chronic funding shortfalls.
UNRWA provides services and programs, including education, health, and food assistance, to more than five million Palestinians across the Middle East.
The funding for 2022 will fulfill the mandate of the UN General Assembly to provide millions of Palestine refugees vital, lifesaving services and programs, including education, health, and food assistance.
The request includes additional emergency funding for UNRWA to address the humanitarian needs arising from crises in Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) Syria, and Lebanon.
The 2022 budget proposal comes as UNRWA confronts a chronic funding shortfall that undermines its effort to provide humanitarian and human development support to some of the world’s most vulnerable refugees, whose needs keep increasing.
Moreover, COVID-19 continues to pose serious health risks and exacerbate economic hardships across the region, with now an estimated 2.3 million Palestine refugees living in poverty. UNRWA is their only remaining lifeline.
Distress and despair have become the norm among Palestinian refugees, where many in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon report their readiness to use any means to try to migrate outside of the region.
Additionally, for the budget proposal UNRWA has just published a report on the emergency situation in Lebanon. An estimated 73 % of Palestine refugees in the country live below the poverty line. Please find the link here.
