GENEVA: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that Russia, Kuwait and nine European nations have agreed to speed up their contributions to lend a hand fill a shortfall left via the Trump management's resolution to very much scale back the most important US investment.
Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl of the UN Relief and Works Agency also said it has received no specifics about reforms sought via the United States, suggesting politics- significantly surrounding the USA resolution to acknowledge Jerusalem as the Israeli capital- had been at play.
UNRWA, which serves some five million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, had a budget of over $1 billion closing year. This coated long-running techniques, together with education, as well as emergency funds for crises such as the conflict in Syria.
The US has been the largest donor, giving one-third of the overall budget. The Trump management withheld part of the primary installment of bills this year, not easy reforms as a condition for future assist.
The Trump management has committed $60 million this year- some distance in need of the $360 million that the USA supplied closing year- and Krahenbuhl said he has no signal that other US investment might be on the manner.
"Evidently, that is a very severe and dramatic change in the parameters of funding from the United States," which he referred to as a 'stable, predictable and most-generous contributor to UNRWA over decades.'
"It is clear that we have a very big task on our hand to fill that gap," Krahenbuhl advised newshounds in Geneva.
UNRWA spoke back via calling on donors to speed up their investment, and Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Ireland have taken steps to do so, he said. Others had been taking into account an identical action.
"Advancing contributions is extremely important to help us address the first few months," he said. "Of course, a shortfall of 300 million can only be addressed with obtaining additional income from other sources over the year."
The feedback Tuesday got here as UNRWA said it is looking for $800 million for emergency operations in Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip this year. UNRWA sought $400 million each for Syria and the Palestinian territories. In an attraction closing week, the agency sought an additional $500 million.
"We signed our new framework agreement with the US in the beginning of December in which every aspect of our relationship from funding to reform discussions was covered and agreed," Krahenbuhl advised The Associated Press. "They did not explain the current decision by reform-related elements."
He said he believed the investment minimize used to be linked to the Trump management's resolution to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital and a subsequent vote via the UN General Assembly to denounce the decision.
"It is very clear that the decision by the United States was not related to our performance," he said. "This has to be part of the debate that took place around Jerusalem."
Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl of the UN Relief and Works Agency also said it has received no specifics about reforms sought via the United States, suggesting politics- significantly surrounding the USA resolution to acknowledge Jerusalem as the Israeli capital- had been at play.
UNRWA, which serves some five million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, had a budget of over $1 billion closing year. This coated long-running techniques, together with education, as well as emergency funds for crises such as the conflict in Syria.
The US has been the largest donor, giving one-third of the overall budget. The Trump management withheld part of the primary installment of bills this year, not easy reforms as a condition for future assist.
The Trump management has committed $60 million this year- some distance in need of the $360 million that the USA supplied closing year- and Krahenbuhl said he has no signal that other US investment might be on the manner.
"Evidently, that is a very severe and dramatic change in the parameters of funding from the United States," which he referred to as a 'stable, predictable and most-generous contributor to UNRWA over decades.'
"It is clear that we have a very big task on our hand to fill that gap," Krahenbuhl advised newshounds in Geneva.
UNRWA spoke back via calling on donors to speed up their investment, and Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Ireland have taken steps to do so, he said. Others had been taking into account an identical action.
"Advancing contributions is extremely important to help us address the first few months," he said. "Of course, a shortfall of 300 million can only be addressed with obtaining additional income from other sources over the year."
The feedback Tuesday got here as UNRWA said it is looking for $800 million for emergency operations in Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip this year. UNRWA sought $400 million each for Syria and the Palestinian territories. In an attraction closing week, the agency sought an additional $500 million.
"We signed our new framework agreement with the US in the beginning of December in which every aspect of our relationship from funding to reform discussions was covered and agreed," Krahenbuhl advised The Associated Press. "They did not explain the current decision by reform-related elements."
He said he believed the investment minimize used to be linked to the Trump management's resolution to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital and a subsequent vote via the UN General Assembly to denounce the decision.
"It is very clear that the decision by the United States was not related to our performance," he said. "This has to be part of the debate that took place around Jerusalem."
11 countries speed up funding for Palestinians after US cuts
![11 countries speed up funding for Palestinians after US cuts]()
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January 31, 2018
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