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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Abu Hasana: UNRWA budget to hit zero by new year |
| 2009-12-02 |
| [Ma'an] The UNRWA budget will reach zero by the New Year and threaten the regular payment of salaries for UNRWA workers as well as the level of services for refugees, the organization's media consultant Adnan Abu Hasana said Tuesday from Gaza. Large international donors are not paying what they used to, the number of individuals depending on UNRWA services are increasing, and several Arab states have failed to follow-through on aid pledges, the spokesman said. The shortfall comes despite tireless work by the general commissioner of UNRWA, Abu Hasana said, and is principally the result of some of the "big powers" failing to continue their support of UN and humanitarian projects. Contributing reasons for the shortfall, Abu Hasana said, is the growing number of refugees that do not fit under the original mandate of UNRWA. Palestinians evicted from their homes and those displaced by the most recent war on Gaza are not eligible for UNRWA aid, but face dire living conditions. Additionally, Abu Hasana said, Arab countries have no fulfilled their commitments to the League of Arab States, which pledged to pay 8% of UNRWA's budget. The official added that last year the Arab League was only able to transfer payments amounting to 1% of the UNRWA budget. The largest donors for UNRWA and its services are: the United States, the European Commission, Britain, Sweden, Japan, Canada, and the Gulf Arab states. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 No, it just means that they will have to look elsewhere for jizya. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-12-02 17:53 |
| #1 Does it means that, for the first time since they were invented, Palestinians will have to work for a living? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-12-02 03:59 |