The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday he hopes donors will be as generous this year as they were last year after the United States cut all funding for the $1.2 billion program to help some 5 million Palestinians.
Pierre Krahenbuhl said at a news conference that 42 countries and institutions increased their funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency last year. He called that "unprecedented," adding that it was also "very remarkable" that every single pledge in 2018 was honored.
He praised the strong mobilization of funds from Europe, the Gulf countries, Asia, the Americas and beyond, adding that "we're very inspired by that result."
Krahenbuhl said the agency is pursuing the same appeal for $1.2 billion this year and hopes donors will pledge that amount at a conference Tuesday at U.N. headquarters.
UNRWA was established after the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948 to aid the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes.
Today, it provides education to 500,000 Palestinian students, health care at 144 centers that handle 8.5 million patient visits a year, and social services to some 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The agency is also a major employer in the Palestinian areas.
Krahenbuhl said UNRWA has covered its expenses for the first five months of 2019 "in a fairly stable way ... and that is positive."
But, he said, "in June, we started entering deficit figures."
At Tuesday's pledging conference, Krahenbuhl said, "If every single donor would preserve and maintain their level of contribution reached in 2018, we would be able to cover the financial needs of UNRWA."
