UNRWA says it’s grateful to Saudi Arabia for $50m aid
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees thanked Saudi Arabia for its $50 million (Dh183.5m) contribution to offset aid cuts by US President Donald Trump’s administration, a day after Britain doubled its funding.
In Riyadh yesterday, the director of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, Abdullah Al Rabeea, reaffirmed the Saudi aid pledge announced in April. The agency said contributions from the Gulf and European states had slashed its deficit.
“We remain grateful to Saudi Arabia and all donors who have helped reduce our deficit, which was nearly half a billion US dollars following the defund by the Trump administration, and which now stands at $21m [Dh77.1m],” UN agency spokesman Chris Gunness told The National.
“The response of our donors to the unprecedented financial and political crisis precipitated by the US decision sends a very strong signal that the international community will not tolerate unilateral attacks on the multilateral system of which UNRWA is a proud and long-standing member.”
The UK announced that it has more than doubled its annual assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees for the year, as the agency tries to continue essential services into 2019.
Britain’s ambassador to Jordan, Edward Oakden, revealed that the UK provided $85m to the agency this year, more than twice its commitment for 2017.
Mr Oakden and the agency announced the increase when unveiling the latest tranche of British funds, £5m (Dh23.43m) of which will be spent on 18,000 Palestinian refugees who fled from Syria to Jordan.
Palestinian refugees in Jordan are completely reliant on the agency for cash assistance for housing, food, medical assistance and education, and have been hit hard by funding struggles.
Unlike Syrian refugees who have access to permanent residences and work permits in Jordan, Syrian Palestinians are unable to work legally or access other UN assistance. More than 90 per cent of these refugees are women and children.
“The reality is that the withdrawal of US funding means that others will have to step up to replace that,” Mr Oakden told The National. “This is going to need a lot of work, but it is not impossible.”
Britain’s top diplomat in Jordan said that there remains a “political will” in London and across Europe to continue their outsize support of the agency amid the ongoing absence of US funds going into 2019 and beyond.
With more funds from the UK, Germany, China and India, and $50m each from the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UNRWA raised what many described as a miraculous $400m this year.