| Author (Person) | Baconi, Tareq |
|---|---|
| Publisher | European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) |
| Series Title | Commentary |
| Series Details | 14.03.18 |
| Publication Date | 14/03/2018 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog, News |
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Background information The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) organised a ministerial conference Preserving Dignity and Sharing Responsibility: Mobilizing Collective Action for UNRWA in Rome on the 15 March 2018. The conference saw additional pledges to UNRWA of approximately US$ 100 million by numerous donors as part of an international effort to address the Agency’s funding shortfall, and to sustain its 'vital' services in an unstable region. The shortfall had been made worse by the US decision to to cut American aid to the organisation. UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank 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. 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. In this commentary the author wrote that humanitarian aid cannot relieve suffering that stems from ongoing political choices from Europe and others towards Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In particular, European willingness to fight for Palestinian jurisdiction over their natural resources (in accordance with international law), and especially gas resources in Gaza Marine, would be a powerful litmus test of EU commitment to Palestinian sovereign rights more generally. It would serve to demonstrate that Europeans were truly invested in putting their substantial weight towards altering the reality on the ground in a sustainable manner, one that was in line with international law, rather than acting to subsidise Israeli violations of these same laws. |
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| Source Link | http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_beyond_humanitarian_quick_fixes_for_gaza |
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| Countries / Regions | Eastern Europe, Middle East |
