The collapse of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) would be devastating for Palestinian refugees, as well as for the region, an international think-tank warned Friday.
Calling for multi-year funding commitments for the survival of UNRWA, Brussels-based International Crisis Group, in a report published today, said, “A significant reduction of UNRWA services, or the agency’s collapse, would deprive millions of Palestinian refugees of health services and education, as well as food aid.
“An upheaval in the Israeli-occupied territories, Jordan or Lebanon could follow, particularly if Palestinians perceive that cuts signal the loss of their refugee status,” it warned.
The Agency serving some three million Palestinian refugees is running out of money; again. This budget crisis appears especially concerning, reflecting both reduced funding for UN humanitarian operations generally and donor fatigue brought on by dwindling prospects for a lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, noted the report.
“What should be done? UNRWA needs multi-year funding commitments. A mix of traditional donors and new ones – including China and wealthy Gulf countries – should provide them. Given the potential for a destabilising crisis, donors should realise that cleaning up after an UNRWA breakdown would be far more costly than closing the financial gap,” the report read.
Created in 1949 to care for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA is facing a particular challenge. With a USD-1.6-billion annual budget, its perennial funding difficulties are exacerbated by both donor fatigue and a creeping sense that the settlement needed to end the Israeli-Palestinian crisis may never come, said the report.
“UNRWA’s unravelling would be devastating, both for millions of refugees, who would be suddenly deprived of jobs and services, and for their fragile host states. Sufficient, sustained and predictable multi-year funding from traditional and new donors with regional interests is the best way to avert this looming disaster,” it concluded.
Source: Kuwait News Agency