Dozens of Palestinian women on Thursday staged a protest at UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza city against the Agency’s decision to suspend its “permanent employment program”.
Somaia Saqallah chairman of Women Programs Center which is funded by UNRWA in al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza said that this program has been implemented by UNRWA for 12 years and its suspension would negatively affect entire families.
Saqalla told Anadolu agency that the program serves about 500 people which means that 500 Gazan families are about to lose their source of income.
She continued to say that the financial crisis suffered by UNRWA is not a sufficient justification to cut back the services provided to Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA has been suffering from an acute financial deficit following the US decision on 23rd January to cut $65 million of its $125-million aid to the UN Agency.
UNRWA was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949 and mandated to serve Palestinian refugees in Jordan Syria Lebanon West Bank and Gaza Strip until a just solution is found to their issue.
By the end of 2014 the number of Palestinian refugees in the five areas of operation reached 5.9 million according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
