AMMAN —
Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (
UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini Monday said that the
agency needs between $50 million and $80 million until the end of 2022,
stressing that UNRWA cannot fulfill its mandate in the coming years if the
current funding system continues, local media outlets reported.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking at a press conference, Lazzarini said that
“the agency needs $200 million to support digital transformation and replace
depleted assets”, and called on UN member states to lend assistance for the
agency to achieve sustainability.
Poverty rates among Palestinian refugees reached
unprecedented levels, having grown by about 90 percent in Syria, Lebanon and,
Gaza.
“In Lebanon, the situation of the
Palestinian refugees has reached the bottom; most of them live below the poverty line, and
their lives lack dignity... there is a complete dependence in these societies
on UNRWA,” said Lazzarini.
“The Amman meeting is an opportunity for a review of
ties between the agency and the community of hosts and donors, and to discuss
efforts to support UNRWA and arrive at a stable financial environment,” he
added.
“There is an increase in the needs of the refugee
community”, and “UNRWA is required to satisfy these growing needs through its
own resources,” said Lazzarini, who pointed out that “40 percent of children in
Gaza do not get breakfast”.
Lazzarini stressed that “in the absence of a just
solution to the Palestinian issue, UNRWA will remain indispensable and
irreplaceable”.
The head of the
UNRWA Advisory Committee, Basel Al-Hassan, expressed hope that the
international community will contribute regularly to support the Palestinian
refugees, adding that the recent meetings are important because they “are an
arena for discussion of all issues related to UNRWA”, and because they create a
space for the agency, host countries, and donors to communicate.
During a meeting of the agency’s Advisory Commission
in Amman on Monday, Lazzarini said he expects strong support from UN members,
in the absence of a just and lasting solution to the Palestinians, whose plight
has lasted for decades.
These will be 75 years of what was supposed to be a temporary UN agency, and 75 years of failure to find a political solution.
That support stems from the deep belief by most UN
member states that UNRWA is irreplaceable for the wellbeing and the fulfillment
of human rights of Palestinian refugees, he said. He added that most members
now realize that the UNRWA financial model, relying almost exclusively on
voluntary and unpredictable funding, has become inadequate to run
government-like services.
“Education, health and social protection services
require stable, predictable annual budgets that take into account the changing
environment, including conflicts, crises, rising costs and inflation globally,”
he said.
“At the Brussels conference co-hosted by Jordan and
Sweden last November, I sought to promote a mutual commitment, between the
agency and donors, a strategy for a modernized agency that operates with a
three-year budget in exchange for increased pluri-annual funding,” he added.
Lazzarini said that over the past 18 months, the
agency suggested to the member states at least three different avenues to bring
stable funding to UNRWA.
“After a record low level of Arab contributions in
2021, I welcome the Saudi contribution of $27 million last month. It is now my
hope that we will resume our solid and predictable partnerships with all Gulf
countries, including by reaching again the level of funding that UNRWA received
from the Arab countries between 2015 and 2018,” he added.
By the end of this year, Lazzarini said, UNRWA will
release its strategic plan covering the years 2023-2028.
Maintaining the status quo is no longer an option
for the agency; “failing to provide the agency with a sustainable funding base
cannot be an option”, Lazzarini said.
He appealed to members of the UNRWA Advisory
Commission to work with him on three tracks.
First and most urgent in the coming weeks, UNRWA
needs between $50 and $80 million to be able to end the year and keep the
schools and health centers and other basic services running. Failure to gather
that amount poses the risk of strikes, and consequently, suspension of
services.
Second, the agency requires a capital injection of
close to $200 million over three years to reach the objectives of its strategic
plan.
“This is needed to restore assets depleted by years
of austerity, to support our digital transformation, and to live up to our
environmental sustainability commitments,” he said.
Third, Lazzarini said, “it is urgent that we agree
on ways to endow the agency with a sustainable funding base.
Under the new mandate cycle, UNRWA will turn 75.
“These will be 75 years of what was supposed to be a
temporary UN agency, and 75 years of failure to find a political solution,” he
concluded.
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