The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the international institution tasked with supporting Palestinians, has appealed for donor countries to maintain donations at their current level in the coming year.
UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl said an unprecedented 42 countries and institutions increased their funding in 2018 to make up for massive cuts by the Trump administration.
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"If every single donor would preserve and maintain their level of contribution reached in 2018, we would be able to cover the financial needs of UNRWA," Krähenbühl said.
He presented a balanced budget for the first half of 2019, although he warned that UNRWA was reporting a deficit for June.
A lack of funding would cripple the agency's provision of services, especially in the fields of health and education, and a UN official has warned that schools might not be able to open in August if coffers were not replenished.
A pledging conference is scheduled to take place at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, which falls at the same time as the Bahrain "Peace to Prosperity" summit at which the Trump administration is scheduled to roll out its vision for a more prosperous Palestinian society.
Speaking Friday at a conference on the politicization of humanitarian action on Friday at the International Peace Institute in New York, Krähenbühl said Palestinians wanted to be seen as actors, "not as a burden" – but that status was closely tied to a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Palestinians should be allowed to contribute to the development of their own country, a Palestinian state," he said.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
