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Ramallah – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was affected by the suspension of US funding, announced on Monday that it lacks the necessary funds to pay the salaries of its employees during the months of November and December.
The organization is committed to a change in US policy after Democrat Joe Payne won the presidency, due to the return of aid flows.
“The agency has never recovered from the funding cut imposed by President Donald Trump in 2018,” said agency spokeswoman Tamara Al-Rifai, noting that the annual support provided by the United States to the agency amounts to 365 million euros. dollars and represents about a third of its annual budget of 1.24 billion dollars.
This affects the lives of millions of Palestinian refugees who depend on the Agency’s services in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Al-Rifai explained that “the deficit was filled in 2019 with additional support from several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait,” noting that “the European Union and European countries also helped close the gap. , especially Germany “but realized that” financial support This year, “the spread of the new coronavirus” has slowed and “did not help” as major donors faced increasing financial pressure.
“The lack of funding affects 28,000 employees spread across Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza,” the agency’s Commissioner General Philip Lazzarini announced in a statement on Monday, adding that the agency “needs to obtain 70 million dollars to be able to pay full salaries for the months of November and December. ” “.
“What saddens me most and greatly is my knowledge that the salaries of health and environmental health workers who work on the front lines with courage and fortitude, and that the salaries of our teachers who work to ensure the continuity of the Student education during the health crisis are at risk, “he said.
UNRWA has come under constant criticism from Israel, arguing that its presence is no longer needed after decades of conflict that followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which caused the displacement of more than 760,000 Palestinian refugees.
After President Donald Trump took office, the US administration’s positions intersected with the Israeli position, leading to cutting US funding from the agency in late August 2018.
Regarding the possible impact of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election in terms of resuming funding, Al-Rifai said UNRWA is “very optimistic that the United States will resume its support.”
“We have worked closely with Biden’s campaign team and they understand UNRWA’s role in bringing stability to the region,” he said.
Biden’s campaign website said in 2020 that it would provide “humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people,” but did not directly mention UNRWA.
Founded in 1949, UNRWA is responsible for providing assistance, education and protection to Palestinian refugees, as well as health services for approximately 5.7 million Palestinian refugees.
