The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched today an emergency appeal of just over USD 300 million to support some of the most disadvantaged Palestinians in the Middle East; those living in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The largest component of the Agency's Emergency Appeal for 2013 is USD 78 million to provide food assistance to nearly 75,000 impoverished beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip, now in its sixth year of blockade. The appeal also supports temporary job creation and cash assistance programmes.
UNRWA’s directors in Gaza and the West Bank both spoke of the urgency of the Appeal. “For many of our beneficiaries, UNRWA is the first port of call for assistance, so this aid is urgently needed,” said Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza Robert Turner.
UNRWA’s Emergency Appeal will also fund community mental health programmes, emergency health interventions, and water and sanitation initiatives in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Agency’s 2012 Emergency Appeal was only half-funded by the donor community. This has a debilitating effect on increasingly desperate communities. The Agency is nonetheless grateful to those donors who did fund last year’s Appeal. UNRWA’s emergency work is having a positive impact on the lives of some 700,000 Palestine refugees.
Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF), supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently, the deficit stands at USD 66 million.