Belgium signs new EUR 27.5M agreement with UNRWA – UNRWA Press Release

19 April 2024

EAST JERUSALEM,

Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez has signed a new multi-year funding agreement with UNRWA, totaling EUR 27.5 million over the next three years.

“UNRWA is currently the only aid agency in Gaza that has enough staff and infrastructure on the ground to get humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. If the agency runs out of funds, the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people will be at stake,” Minister Gennez said.

Belgium’s new multi-year agreement will cover the 2024-2026, including a EUR 13.5 million contribution for 2024, and EUR 7 million for each remaining year. Critically, the entire EUR 27.5 million is fully flexible, enabling UNRWA to choose how to spend it. This will help the Agency rapidly and comprehensively to address the most critical needs across its programme budget, emergency appeals, and projects in all five fields of operation — not only in Gaza, but also the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

“We sincerely thank the Government of Belgium for yet another meaningful milestone in our long-standing cooperation, and invaluable political support Belgium has provided to UNRWA and Palestine Refugees throughout this horrendous conflict,” said UNRWA’s Director of Partnerships Karim Amer.

“We welcome Belgium’s prompt disbursement of our new agreement’s 2024 contribution. The true value of fully flexible funds cannot be overstated, as the Agency continues to work tirelessly to respond to the most urgent needs of Palestine Refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory and beyond.”

ENDs —

Notes to Editors

• Belgium has long been a strong supporter of UNRWA and remained in the Agency’s top 20 donors as of 2023. It first introduced a fully flexible additional contribution of EUR 2 million in 2023, following the start of the war in Gaza.
• Belgium’s most recent multi-year agreement provided programme budget contributions of EUR 7 million per year for 2021-2023.
• Belgium has remained a member of the UNRWA Advisory Commission since 1953, four years after UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly.

Background Information:

UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.

UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.

UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.

**Your support is crucial to help us provide emergency aid ** to displaced families in Gaza