U.S. `implored' Canada to keep funding UNRWA, minister says
OTTAWA • The United States ambassador to the United Nations implored Canada last month to keep funding the UN relief agency for Palestinians, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says.
In January, Canada was one of 16 countries to put a freeze on funding for the organization following allegations from Israel that a dozen of its workers participated in Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli soil.
But earlier this month, Hussen announced Ottawa would proceed with a scheduled payment to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East after Canada accessed an interim report on the allegations.
The decision came about two weeks after Hussen met with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American envoy to the UN.
She urged Ottawa “to not disengage from UNRWA,” as the organization is known, Hussen said.
“She implored us to continue to engage UNRWA and to provide UNRWA with the support that it needs, in recognition of the lifeline that UNRWA provides to Palestinians,” the minister said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
The U.S. has been UNRWA's largest financial backer for years, sending US$343 million in 2022. It pulled its funding on Jan. 26 following the allegations.
Hussen said Canada made the decision to go ahead with a $25-million payment to the agency that's due in April because of reforms and increased accountability within the agency.
He also said the decision came because the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is growing more dire by the day, and aid is urgently needed.
UNRWA is the “backbone” of aid in the territory, said Hussen.
The European Union, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Iceland have also restored at least some of their funding to UNRWA, but several of its biggest donors, including the U.S., have yet to do so.
Last week, the U.S. extended its pause on funding for UNRWA for at least a year after Congress approved a spending package that averted a government shutdown. The measure to slash aid was championed by Republicans.