The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it's holding a special fund-raising conference next month in Rome to make up for a cut in funding by the Trump administration.
In January, the Trump` administration suspended $65 million in aid funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, demanding its operations undergo a "fundamental re-examination."
The U.S. provides roughly one-third of UNRWA's budget, and the agency has warned that it now faces the "most dramatic financial crisis" in its nearly 70-year history. The agency provides healthcare, education and social services to 5 million Palestinians across the Middle East.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said on Wednesday that Sweden, Jordan and Egypt will host the pledging conference in Rome on March 15.
Gunness said that "the purpose of the conference is to actively support a collective response by the international community to protect the rights and dignity of Palestine refugees."
It is the first-high level conference in response to U.S. funding cuts by UNRWA, which provides services to some 5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants across the Middle East.
