Amid Devastating Conflicts in Middle East, Officials Urge Stable Financing for Palestine Refugee Agency
A total of 20 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2017 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials urged stable financing for the Agency amid devastating conflicts and violence in the Middle East.
The voluntary contributions were made during a meeting of the Agency’s Ad Hoc Committee, established by the General Assembly as the primary forum for announcing financial support. UNRWA has been providing health, education, relief and social services, and emergency humanitarian assistance to some 5.3 million Palestinian refugees across its five fields of operation — Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — for 65 years.
Opening the meeting, Mwaba Patricia Kasese-Bota (Zambia), Vice-President of the General Assembly, underscored the continued need for UNRWA and the importance of its unimpeded operation. The Assembly highly valued the Agency’s role as a stabilizing factor for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, she emphasized, pointing out that UNRWA had been instrumental in providing services for their well-being, protection and human development.
Since its establishment, UNRWA had been sustained predominantly through host country cooperation and the voluntary contributions by Member States and intergovernmental organizations, she continued, noting that, over the past few years, it had been experiencing a financial crisis. In September, the Agency had reported a funding gap of $74 million, threatening its ability to maintain vital operations through the end of 2016. After the urgent call to close the gap, Member States had responded generously, and it was now down to $37 million.
In order to close the remaining 2016 gap, she called on donors to continue their sustained action, while commending UNRWA’s efforts to address the shortfalls through implementation of a variety of programmes and reforms including partnerships with international financial institutions and civil society. Looking forward to the Secretary-General’s report and recommendations in the first quarter of 2017, she expressed confidence that Member States would find a sustainable solution.
Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said that at a time of great uncertainty, devastating conflicts and violence, he was often asked why the world should care about Palestine refugees, who made up the largest refugee community in the world. Although some thought that the issue was overshadowed by other crises in the Middle East, no one could be more fatigued than Palestine refugees, he said, emphasizing that in Lebanon, they lived in overcrowded camps and faced diverse forms of exclusion. In the West Bank, the Bedouin community had been threatened with forcible transfer and the destruction of their traditional ways of life.
Why human rights did not apply to Palestine refugees required urgent answering, he continued, stressing the need for a political solution. The absence of political and personal horizons was creating conditions that did not reconcile with dignity and security of anyone in the region. “None of us would accept to live for two thirds of a century in a state of limbo created by the lack of political will to resolve one of the most critical conflicts of our time,” he said, emphasizing that the world could not afford to forget about Palestine refugees. Otherwise, it would be a major abrogation of the international community’s collective responsibility.
That indifference, he stated, would be a violation of global responsibilities to help those in distress and left furthest behind. “Could we credibly proclaim our attachment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 for all man and womankind while not upholding these goals for Palestine refugees?” he asked, noting that indifference could not be an option in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria.
In the light of extreme circumstances, he pledged that UNRWA would work decisively and energetically to uphold the rights of Palestine refugees, and to preserve young people’s access to education and job opportunities. He further pledged to engage with all stakeholders to improve the Agency’s response and performance, and preserve its strength. In addition, he committed to mobilize the best possible levels of diplomatic and financial support.
For many years, UNRWA had deployed limitless energy and creativity to secure the resources needed for its vital work, he said. However, addressing persistent funding shortfalls of the Agency’s core programs was debilitating and energy sapping. For the 2016 programme budget, it still lacked $37 million, he said, expressing hope that the gap would be bridged in the coming years. In fact, its budget would have to increase by 5 per cent, to $715 million, in order to preserve operations at their current level. The gap between projected income and expenditure in 2017 would be $115 million, and over $950 million was needed for the emergency appeals and projects such as shelter repair in Gaza and the reconstruction of Nahr el-Bared camp in Lebanon.
He said that UNRWA’s situation in 2016 would have been much worse had it not been for significant additional funding received from Member States. However, since the dramatic 2015 shortfall that almost had led to the postponement of the school year, there had been a growing consensus on the need for new funding modalities in order to secure stable financing.
“If we are to stabilize UNRWA, which plays such a pivotal role in providing services, dignity and protection to a highly vulnerable refugee population, a collective approach is going to be required with buy-in by all stakeholders,” he said, adding that its form remained to be determined. Amid high stakes, the world could not afford to abandon Palestine refugees.
Pledges
The following countries made confirmed pledges in the following amounts: the Republic of Korea ($220,000 for the general fund, $300,000 for a three-year project to support the Gaza Gateway and $4.3 million for 2017‑2018 for a vocational training project); Estonia (€80,000); Belgium (€18.75 million for 2015‑2017); Netherlands (€13 million); Malta (€45,000); New Zealand ($NZ 1 million for 2017 and $NZ 1 million for 2018); Turkey ($1.225 million to the general budget, and $275,000 for regular and emergency food appeals); Australia ($A 80 million for 2016‑2020); Kuwait ($2 million); Finland (€4.5 million); Germany (€9 million); India ($1.25 million); Hungary ($40,000); United Arab Emirates ($15 million for social programmes for 2016‑2017 and $1.8 million annually for the general fund); Czech Republic (CZK 3 million); Russian Federation ($2 million annually for 2017‑2021); and Brazil (4,000 tons of rice).
The following delegations indicated pledges pending approval: Luxembourg (€3.75 million and €750,000 for family health projects); Sweden ($52.214 million); Austria (€1.8 million); and Switzerland ($25.175 million).
Further support for UNWRA was expressed by the representatives of the European Union, United States, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and China, with no specific pledges announced.
Following those interventions, Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, expressed gratitude for the reaffirmations of support made by States and organizations today. She also thanked UNRWA’s Commissioner-General and its entire staff for their efforts implementing the Agency’s mandate, which were carried out under circumstances of intensifying vulnerability, particularly in Syria due to that conflict with its spillover into Lebanon and Jordan, and also in occupied Palestine. She went on to recognize the serious dangers faced by UNRWA staff, paying tribute to those who had fallen. At the same time, she reiterated regret that the Agency’s Palestinian national staff were not accorded the same protections and compensation to which United Nations staff working in hazard areas were entitled. Heartened by the seriousness of host and donor countries, she welcomed support expressed to address UNRWA’s recurrent funding shortfalls. In addition, she encouraged the Agency to continue its efforts to diversify and broaden its donor base and strengthen partnerships.
Mr. Krähenbühl then made a closing statement and thanked delegations for their pledges.