Qatar Charity contributed US$ 1.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in support of the Agency's food assistance in Gaza. Some 90,300 food-insecure persons living in the blockaded Gaza Strip will be able to meet their most basic food requirements for three months (one quarter) in this round of aid distribution.
As the blockade enters its fifteenth year, unemployment levels continue to increase each year with every graduation cycle. This dire unemployment situation compounds an already fragile economy, deteriorated infrastructure, internal political divisions and repeated cycles of conflict, mostly recently the May 2021 hostilities, which left 192 Palestinian civilians dead and hundreds more injured. UNRWA services, including food assistance, provide a lifeline to Palestine refugees and help them lead healthier and more dignified lives.
"We believe that UNRWA food assistance to Palestine refugees provides them with food security and maintains their dignity. The dedicated support of Qatar Charity to UNRWA indicates high commitment to the humanitarian values and engagement in the international development. This support will not only help Palestine refugees meet their basic needs, but it also gives them hope in a better future where their needs and rights are safeguarded. Thanks to Qatar Charity for its support to UNRWA and the Palestine refugees who are suffering an extraordinarily gloomy situation," says Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza.
The State of Qatar has been a dedicated and reliable supporter and partner to UNRWA for over 70 years, through its government and through several Qatar-based organizations in the fields of development and relief, such as Qatar Charity, Qatar Fund for Development, Education Above all and Qatar Red Crescent. Since its establishment, the contributions provided by the State of Qatar to the Agency enabled UNRWA to continue to provide essential services to over 5 million Palestine refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency's programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.7 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
