UNRWA Commissioner-General Calls for Sustainability of the Agency’s Services to Millions of Palestine Refugees at Advisory Commission Meeting – Press Release

The Advisory Commission (AdCom) on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) convened in Beirut on 20 and 21 June, amid immense concern over the alarming financial situation of the Agency. In the two-day session, chaired by Dr. Bassel El Hassan, Chairman of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), AdCom members actively engaged the UNRWA senior management on key issues related to the survival of the Agency and its services to Palestine Refugees. 

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called on participants to increase sustainable and predictable funding to the Agency, reiterating the real risk and probable impact of a suspension of services on Palestine Refugees. 

“The meeting of the AdCom this time should serve as an early warning of the looming disaster we will hit in September if we do not receive extra funding,” said Lazzarini. “Our budget is tight and cannot be further decreased if we are to deliver on our mandate,” he added, referring to the public-like services that UNRWA provides to Palestine Refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. 

“Without immediate additional funding, UNRWA will be unable to maintain operations beyond September, threatening the closure of over 700 schools and 140 health centres. Emergency services in all of our areas of operation will grind to a halt, leaving millions of Palestine Refugees, who are reliant on assistance from UNRWA, on the threshold of starvation. This is not the time to waver. The time has come to act,” he said. 

Dr. El Hassan emphasized the urgent challenges that require immediate attention in light of UNRWA’s severe financial crisis: “This crisis has significantly affected the present and future circumstances of Palestine refugees in host countries,” he said, adding, “There is a crucial need to convert political support into action, particularly in addressing the alarming stagnation of the Agency’s financial resources.”

Young Palestine Refugees engaged directly with AdCom members around the issues of youth and women empowerment, and mental health, bringing in their own voices to conversations about them. With examples of initiatives they created in the fields of community support, arts and cultural expression, they brought the reality of their daily lives in the camps closer to the AdCom members.  

“The human, political and security implications of the dead-end that we are heading towards are huge. Human suffering in the region would reach new heights. And the cost for the international community would be far beyond what it would cost to bridge UNRWA’s chronic underfunding. Our responsibility towards Palestine Refugees is to lead the transformation of UNRWA to make it a sustainable Agency that supports Palestine Refugee rights. My priority remains to responsibly accompany this transformation,” said Commissioner-General Lazzarini. 

• The UN General Assembly  Advisory Commission on UNRWA is tasked with advising and assisting the Commissioner-General of UNRWA in carrying out the Agency’s mandate. It meets twice a year, usually in June and November, to discuss issues of importance to UNRWA, striving to reach consensus and provide advice and assistance to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA.  It is composed of the Host countries of Palestine refugees and major UNRWA donors.  

• At the beginning of the year, UNRWA appealed for US$ 1.6 billion for its programmes, operations and emergency response across Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and Jordan. 

• UNRWA has been facing chronic underfunding for the last 10 years. The Agency started this year (2023) with debts of US$ 75 million carried over from 2022.  

• UNRWA urgently needs around US$ 200 million to continue delivering services this year, pay its staff and end the vicious cycle of debt.  

• To continue food assistance to nearly 1.2 million people in the Gaza Strip without interruption, the Agency urgently needs to secure US$ 75 million (with US$ 35 million needed by August). 

• In general, the Agency risks interruption of cash assistance to over 600,000 Palestine Refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon in the last quarter of the year, unless an additional US$ 30million are secured by October.  

• The West Bank is witnessing further deterioration in the protection of Palestine refugees due to unprecedentedly high levels of violence and renewed conflict. Funding UNRWA will help provide cash assistance to the most vulnerable, psychosocial support and counseling including to children impacted by conflict and urgent repairs to facilities and installations.  

• In Syria and Lebanon, the Agency still needs nearly US$ 6 million for its response to the February 2023 earthquakes, to help repair refugee houses and 11 UNRWA facilities and provide psychological and health care.