{"id":145756,"date":"2018-06-25T13:29:24","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T13:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=145756"},"modified":"2020-07-22T00:51:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T04:51:14","slug":"20-donors-announce-contributions-at-pledging-conference-to-bridge-severe-funding-gap-for-unrwa","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/20-donors-announce-contributions-at-pledging-conference-to-bridge-severe-funding-gap-for-unrwa\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Donors Announce Contributions at Pledging Conference to Bridge Severe Funding Gap for UNRWA"},"content":{"rendered":"

AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA,<\/span>\u00a01ST MEETING (PM)
\n<\/span>GA\/12033-PAL\/2223<\/strong>
\n25 JUNE 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

fran\u00e7ais<\/a><\/p>\n

A total of 20 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2018 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials called for stable financing for the Agency amid devastating conflicts and violence in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The voluntary contributions were made during a meeting of the Agency\u2019s Ad Hoc Committee, established by the General Assembly as the primary forum for announcing financial support.\u00a0 UNRWA has been providing health, education, relief and social services, as well as emergency humanitarian assistance, to some 5.3\u00a0million Palestinian refugees across its five fields of operation \u2014 Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip \u2014 for 65 years.<\/p>\n

Pierre Kr\u00e4henb\u00fchl, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said that in January, the Agency\u2019s financial situation became catastrophic due to the sudden loss of $300\u00a0million in voluntary contributions.\u00a0 \u201cFacing the most severe funding crisis in our history, we had no time for pessimism or indecision,\u201d he said, emphasizing that the Agency had reacted swiftly, launching a multi-dimensional strategy in January to mobilize support, sustain programmes and prevent a major humanitarian crisis from sweeping through an unstable region.<\/p>\n

UNRWA also took robust internal measures, imposing severe cost controls and austerity measures and breaking new ground by launching a global campaign, among other steps, he said.\u00a0 As a result, more than $200\u00a0million was pledged in additional funding between March and May\u00a02018.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the Agency\u2019s current shortfall was in excess of $250\u00a0million, he said, stressing that the situation would be particularly critical for emergency operations in the West Bank and Gaza.\u00a0 At risk was food for more than a million refugees, psycho-social support in Gaza as well as education for more than 525,000 boys and girls.<\/p>\n

Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres stressed: \u00a0\u201cWe cannot afford to allow UNRWA\u2019s vital efforts to falter. \u00a0Failure to provide desperately needed resources comes with a price: \u00a0more hardship for communities, more desperation for the region; more instability for our world.\u201d\u00a0 Millions of refugees were looking to UNRWA to relieve their suffering and help them build a better future through immediate action. \u00a0The Agency\u2019s outstanding work had an immediate effect on the everyday lives of millions of Palestinian refugees, while providing a foundation for hope and dignity and serving as a critical conflict-prevention mechanism, he said.<\/p>\n

Miroslav Laj\u010d\u00e1k (Slovakia), President of the General Assembly, highlighted UNRWA\u2019s critical services to the Palestinian people, from health care to housing; from infrastructure to microfinance; from emergency relief to education.\u00a0 In that connection, he noted that 54\u00a0per\u00a0cent of the Agency\u2019s budget was spent on education, yet it could not continue to provide its vital services on a \u201cshoestring\u201d.\u00a0 UNRWA\u2019s funding gap would have a real impact on the ground, he said, underlining that the shortfall was too high and the future too uncertain.<\/p>\n

Pledges<\/u><\/p>\n

The following countries made confirmed pledges in the following amounts: Switzerland (CHF 19\u00a0million), Turkey ($1.5\u00a0million), Sweden ($250\u00a0million over four years), Austria (\u20ac400,000), India ($5\u00a0million), European Union (\u20ac106\u00a0million), Belgium (\u20ac22.75\u00a0million for 2018, with an additional \u20ac5\u00a0million for an UNRWA education programme), Mexico ($500,000), Kuwait ($8\u00a0million), Estonia (\u20ac200,000), Japan (beyond its annual contribution, pledged an additional $10\u00a0million in April and an additional $5\u00a0million for food assistance), Malta (\u20ac105,000 in 2018), Cyprus ($50,000), United Kingdom ($51\u00a0million), Ireland (\u20ac4.25\u00a0million plus an additional \u20ac1.5\u00a0million for humanitarian assistance), Australia ($A 80\u00a0million for 2016\u20112020), United Arab Emirates ($50\u00a0million for an UNRWA educational programme as well as $15\u00a0million for the upcoming school year), Indonesia ($200,000) Italy (\u20ac6.8\u00a0million, \u20ac5\u00a0million for projects in Lebanon) and the Holy See ($100,000).<\/p>\n

The following delegations indicated pledges pending approval: \u00a0Austria (\u20ac1\u00a0million to a UNRWA health programme) and Germany (unspecified contribution to the World Bank Trust Fund).<\/p>\n

The following delegations also drew attention to the contributions they had made during a pledging conference held in March 2018: \u00a0Qatar, Canada and Norway.<\/p>\n

Further support for UNWRA was expressed by the representatives of the Russian Federation, Brazil, Netherlands, Egypt, Jordan, France, Malaysia, Lebanon, China and Norway with no specific pledges announced.<\/p>\n

Following those interventions, the Deputy Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said that everyone was aware of what was at stake if UNRWA\u2019s funding shortfall was not met.\u00a0 She stressed that UNRWA continued to serve as a vital lifeline for millions of refugee families who continued to bear the grave consequences of historic injustice.\u00a0 The contributions made today reaffirmed the rights of the Palestinian people and the need to reach a just solution.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kr\u00e4henb\u00fchl then made a closing statement and thanked delegations for their pledges.<\/p>\n

A full list of contributions will be issued when it becomes available.<\/p>\n

For information media. Not an official record.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA,\u00a01ST MEETING (PM) GA\/12033-PAL\/2223 25 JUNE 2018 fran\u00e7ais A total of 20 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2018 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials called for stable financing for […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2433,1329],"document-source":[1365,1897,1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-145756","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-french-text","document-category-press-release","document-source-general-assembly","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/145756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/145756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=145756"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=145756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}