After withstanding years of financial instability during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it will seek $800 million per year at the upcoming donor’s conference in Brussels in order to continue assisting Palestinians.
“I never know, as a Commissioner-General, weeks ahead if I would be able to pay the salaries of 28,000 staff,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, to Al Jazeera.
The Agency’s activities were threatened to shut down last November and December, after failing to secure an additional $100 million that it needed. According to Lazzarini, the Agency needs an estimate of $500,000 in 2022 to cover the humanitarian assistance it provides.
Consequently, this impacts around 540,000 children who currently benefit from 711 schools run by the UNRWA, in addition to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon who are sustained by the agency’s services and social welfare programs across the region.
“The financial situation is a real existential threat to the organization,” added Lazzarini. “And we should not underestimate this because it might force the organization to decrease its services.” He additionally stated that if the latter were to happen, “[The organization] risks collapsing very quickly.”
Contributing to around 30% of UNRWA’s annual budget, the United States has been the single largest donor to the agency. Nevertheless, all aid was nearly halted in 2018 after Trump rejected classifying Palestinians as refugees.
The Biden administration announced back in April that it would provide a total of $235 million to fund projects in the West Bank and Gaza as well as to support the UNRWA in upholding its mandate. However, due to the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of potential donors in the Middle East, all US funding has been stopped.
Lazzarini added that the constant political attacks aimed at the UNRWA are attempts to defund and delegitimize it. Thus, the agency must be shielded from any attacks to ensure that it can continue operating in an environment free from hate speech, hostility, and violence.
One of the aforementioned attacks came from an Israeli representative who claimed that the UNRWA’s work was unsustainable. He stressed that Hamas uses the Agency to pursue its aims, highlighting the existence of a tunnel found under one of the UNRWA’s schools and adding that “Israel” had been erased from the schools’ textbooks and overall curriculum.
The observer for the state staffers reassured everyone of the Agency’s dedication to the education and wellbeing of refugees and expressed her appreciation towards their continuous efforts amidst harsh conditions. She reiterated the unpredictability of funding and called for mobilizing resources from the United Nation's budget to sustain the UNRWA’s essential operations.
The uncertainty of the availability of funds has generated anxiety amongst Palestinians who consider the agency a “lifeline.” If the UNRWA’s financial capabilities are weakened, Palestinians believe that they would be abandoned by the international community.
Current U.S. President Joe Biden has made promises to restore aid to Palestinians. Nevertheless, his statements are yet to be translated into tangible efforts, and the fate of the UNRWA remains undetermined.