UNRWA seeks $1.6bln, warns it is in 'a danger zone'

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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees appealed Tuesday for $1.6 billion for its work in 2023 and called for Arab countries especially to show more solidarity.

UNRWA -- which provides services to nearly six million Palestinians registered in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria -- warned that "compounding challenges" had placed it under "immense strain".

The agency, which counts nearly 30,000 staff -- most of them Palestinian refugees -- runs more than 700 schools that offer education to half a million children and provides health, sanitation, and social services, including food and cash assistance.

Out of the $1.6 billion requested, UNRWA indicated that $848 million was needed for such core services, adding that another $781.6 million was needed for emergency operations.

UNRWA warned that the needs have been skyrocketing as global crises, inflation, and disruptions in global supply chains have contributed to surging poverty and unemployment levels among Palestinians.

Resources over last 10 years stagnated

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini requested the appeal at a meeting with donors in Geneva, explaining that what the agency was asking for was really the minimum required.

"We can ask the double, but... the resources over the last 10 years have stagnated," Lazzarini told AFP, revealing that "there is a kind of glass ceiling, which shows that there hasn't been a readiness to go beyond this."

He pointed to general donor fatigue at a time when multiple global crises are competing for attention and funds, explaining that "it is not very popular, politically, in donor countries to substantially increase support to UNRWA."

UNRWA has long faced chronic budget shortfalls, which worsened dramatically in 2018 when then-US President Donald Trump cut support to the agency and his administration deemed the agency "irredeemably flawed".

US President Joe Biden's administration has fully restored support, providing $340 million in 2022, making it the agency's largest donor. But UNRWA is still struggling. 

Large deficit of above $70 million

According to Lazzarini, the agency raised in 2022 less than $1.2 billion of the $1.6 billion it had appealed for.

"It is true that in 2022, we succeeded to keep all our services running for the Palestinian refugees," he said, noting that this "came at a cost, at a very high cost."

The agency chief highlighted that "for the fourth consecutive year, we are ending with a large deficit of above $70 million."

Lazzarini called especially on Arab countries to translate the solidarity they often express with the Palestinians "into tangible and substantial resources to UNRWA."

The UNRWA chief highlighted that in 2018, Arab countries represented 25% of the agency's budget, but their share had since shrunk to 3% in 2021 and 4% last year.

He underlined that UNRWA desperately needed "a more sustainable model of funding," adding that "we cannot and should not be always scrambling to bring in funds to cover our contribution to human rights and stability."

Lazzarini warned that UNRWA was in "a danger zone" and risked reaching "a tipping point" that "would most likely lead to the suspension of activities, which in such a volatile region ... is certainly not the best recipe."