UN Secretary General António Guterres on Friday urged donor countries to generously support UNRWA and help bridge its current financial deficit.
This was voiced during a press conference by the spokesman for the UN Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric at the UNRWA permanent headquarters in New York.
Dujarric said that the financial deficit suffered by the UN Agency is very acute adding that Guterres urges all member states as well as the private sector to financially support UNRWA.
Quoting Guterres Dujarric affirmed that the services provided by UNRWA to Palestinian refugees are critical and contribute to the region’s stability.
UNRWA has been suffering from a severe financial crisis after the US decided on 23rd January 2018 to freeze $65 million of its aid to the Agency.
Dujarric added that the Secretary General is very grateful for the generous pledges made by some countries during the emergency conference held in Rome on 15th March saying that these contributions are an important first step but much work is still needed to solve the crisis completely.
UNRWA was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949 and was mandated to provide assistance and protection to 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 about 5.9 million according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
