Director of UNRWA operations in Gaza Matthias Schmale has said that the UN refugee agency is facing a budget deficit in 2020 totaling about one billion out of $1.4 billion.
In remarks to Anadolu News Agency Schmale described UNRWA’s current financial crisis as the worst ever warning that the refugee agency might have to make tough decisions at the end of April regarding its services if the shortfall in the budget was not covered.
He affirmed that UNRWA could make it only until April or May unless the donor countries fulfill their financial commitments.
In August of last year the US administration halted all financial support for UNRWA plunging the agency into a major funding crisis. The US has long been the largest single donor to the agency.
