US provides additional $135.8M for Palestinian refugees

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has announced an additional US contribution of $135.8 million to support its operations.

“The signing of the US-UNRWA Framework and additional support demonstrates we once again have an ongoing partner in the United States that understands the need to provide critical assistance to some of the region’s most vulnerable refugees,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

Lazzarini said the additional contribution will help UNRWA to address its main health, relief and education programmes, its emergency appeals and humanitarian challenges in its fields of operations in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In April, the US administration announced a contribution of $150 million to UNRWA's life-saving programmes, and in May it also provided UNRWA with $33 million following the Israeli 11-day offensive on Gaza.

UNRWA provides its services to about 5.3 million Palestinian refugees.

Established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly, UNRWA mission is to help Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara