HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNWRA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNWRA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

A worsened humanitarian and political situation would result from the decline in donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of that agency, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

One food distribution had already been cancelled, Mr. Hansen said.  Further cutbacks in emergency relief could follow, exacerbating an already tense situation.  He was in New York to see to it that UNWRA's continuing financial crisis was addressed as effectively as possible.

At the start of the crisis that began last September, he went on, there had been a strong response to a three-month emergency appeal, with donors providing about 110 per cent of what was needed.  The next three-month appeal, however, garnered only 65 per cent of requirements.  Response to the most recent appeal -- covering six months of this year -- had reached only 50 per cent of needs, according to the most optimistic accounting.

Since the crisis started, UNWRA had been feeding around 130,000 families in Gaza and 70,000 families in the West Bank, with each family averaging around seven persons.  It had also been providing some emergency employment.

This was in addition to the regular services provided by UNWRA, for which demand was also growing.  The refugee population was increasing at a rate of 3.5 per cent per year, along with a 4 per cent inflation rate in the region.  That meant the agency would need an increase of 7.5 per cent just to maintain its basic services, which were already one third less than they were 25 years ago. 

The situation continued to deteriorate.  Just last night, he said, 13 people were killed and 150 wounded after new incursions into Palestinian areas.  "One can only hope and pray that this ever-increasing tension will be lowered so we will have a chance to catch up on what must be done in terms of providing the basic minimum for the refugees." 

Of course, Mr. Hansen acknowledged, yesterday's tragedy must take centre stage for the present.  However, it did not erase the fact that there were currently 4 million Palestinian refugees whose plight was, possibly, the core issue in the Middle East conflict.  Contrary to the popular impression, there had not been widespread rejoicing by Palestinians over yesterday's terrible events.  A videotape of such celebration, which had been broadcast over and over, involved only 10 people.  The mosques in Gaza had, indeed, encouraged people to go out and celebrate this morning, but that call had not been followed.  It was his hope that all Palestinians would express solidarity with yesterday's victims.   He had been informed that senior Palestinian officials were holding a quiet vigil outside the American Consulate in East Jerusalem. 

Asked for specifics regarding the decline in contributions, Mr. Hansen said that the response to the first two short-term appeals had totaled around $39 million.  The recent six-month appeal requested $78 million.  Of that, $20 million had been received and another $18 million had been promised.

In a more optimistic view, he said, there were still three months left for the donor community to provide adequate funding for the most recent appeal.  In addition, averaging all three appeals, the response was slightly higher than 60 per cent, which compared favourably with the response to other recent humanitarian appeals.  It was not however, a result that could adequately contribute to the stability of the region.  Lack of working capital in the regular budget meant food could not be purchased without the emergency contributions in hand.

A correspondent asked if Arab States, such as Saudi Arabia, had contributed to the emergency fund.  So far, Mr. Hansen replied, the Arab Gulf States were providing 1.8 per cent of the regular budget of UNWRA.  He had made recent appeals for greater support from such countries, but their contribution to the regular budget was already proportionately more than those asked of other States, given their combined gross national products, which was less than that of Belgium.  "All of the Arab Gulf States are not swimming in money as we assume."

Arab States had recently adopted a resolution to provide 7.9 per cent of UNWRA's budget.  That increase would go a long way towards covering the agency's budget gap, though there was a long leap from good intentions to funds in hand.  The Secretary-General of the Arab League had been actively advocating for the commitment to be met.

To a final question about donors, Mr. Hansen said that the Netherlands had contributed heavily to the early surge in appeals, giving $13 million in response to the first appeal, with an additional $4 million to cover recent budget gaps.  The United States and the European Union had also been generous, along with the other countries that usually respond to United Nations appeals.

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