The UN agency for Palestine refugees has been forced to use every last dollar and juggle its finances to continue vital work in Gaza after 18 donor countries suspended funding over allegations of links to Hamas.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing a deficit of $450 million from a budget of $880 million as it faces the biggest humanitarian crisis in the organization’s 75-year history.
Last week, Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s head, said UNRWA had reached a “tipping point”. It now says it has been forced to halt aid deliveries to northern Gaza – where it is currently “impossible to carry out proper humanitarian operations” – amid growing reports of hunger among people in the area.
UNRWA runs schools, health care, social services and water and sanitation services while providing food aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. In Gaza, more than 150 UNRWA workers providing desperately needed humanitarian support have been killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.
In January, Israel released a dossier alleging that 12 of the 30,000 people employed by UNRWA had taken part in the October 7 Hamas attack, when about 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 240 were taken hostage.
The US, UK, EU, Germany and 15 other countries announced they had suspended funding pending the outcome of a high-level inquiry ordered by Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general. The investigation is expected to be completed in early March.
Precarious financial situation
The agency’s financial situation was precarious and complicated, said Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external affairs. It had persuaded some countries that have not suspended funding to provide advance donations and delayed paying some bills to pay staff salaries in February and March.
“For an organization with the scope of UNRWA, this is crazy,” Alrifai told the Observer. “It’s crazy that we’ve survived this long without a financial safety net – most organizations of our size have financial reserves. We have to stretch every dollar.”
Most donor countries commit funds only one year ahead, although a few offer multi-year agreements. The United Nations only covered the salaries of the international staff. UNRWA needs to raise funds for local staff salaries and operational costs, Alrifai added.
“Every year, we close with a minus because we never get what we asked for. This affects the quality of what we provide.”
The war in Gaza has been a major drain on resources, he said: “We are facing an unprecedented demand for services. The impact of the donor freeze is not only on our ability to respond to a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, but on all our operations across the region.
“All the UNRWA schools in Gaza are being used as shelters for the displaced, so children are not going to school and this is a big concern. If we don’t get the funding back, it won’t be possible to get all these children back to school in Gaza.
“We are extremely concerned about the immediate impact of the funding freeze on our ability to feed people or run shelters or run health services.”
Ireland, which has not joined the funding freeze, pledged an extra €20 million to UNRWA this month to help tackle the agency’s financial crisis. Seán Fleming, minister for international development, said: “Ireland has made it clear that there must be a dramatic increase in the level of humanitarian aid reaching people in Gaza. Ireland steps up €20 million to UNRWA to address urgent needs of Palestinian refugees.”
The US is the organization’s biggest donor with a contribution of $343 million in 2022. Germany gave $202 million, the EU $114 million and the UK $21 million. Washington has made known its intention to maintain the funding freeze, while UNRWA believes other countries may be open to ending the freeze depending on the outcome of the investigation and an internal UNRWA review of measures to ensure its neutrality personnel.
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