Lazzarini: UNRWA needs US$50-80 mil to continue providing services to Palestinian refugees

Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, revealed that poverty rates among Palestinian refugees, especially in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza Strip, have reached record levels of about 90%. Lazzarini told a press conference, held on Monday in Jordanian capital Amman, that “UNRWA needs between 50-80 million dollars for the remaining of 2022,” noting that the agency will not be able to continue its work in the coming years if the lack of funding continues.

Lazzarini added that “the agency needs $200 million to support digital transformation and depleted assets,” calling on member states to continue supporting them permanently, and that the agency cannot continue to provide the same quality of education and healthcare services.

He told the press conference that “the war in Ukraine affected food prices and purchasing power in the region,” adding that “donors, in turn, struggle with the multiple crises in the world, and tend to support emerging crises.”