India on Monday handed over a $2.5 million check, the second tranche of its pledged $5 million annual aid, to a UN agency that will go directly to the schools, health centers and other basic services managed by the organization to help Palestinians. to support refugees.
India has given $22.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2018. UNRWA is a UN agency that supports the reception and human development of Palestinian refugees.
“The Government of India has donated USD 2.5 million (second tranche of a total contribution of USD 5 million for the fiscal year 2022-2023) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to support the Agency’s core programs and services, including education, health, emergency and social services,” the Representative Office of India (ROI) in Ramallah said in a statement.
“The financial contribution was handed over to Ms. Xuran Wu, Associate Donor Relations and Projects Officer, Department of External Relations, UNRWA at India’s Representative Office in Ramallah, Palestine,” it added.
During an extraordinary virtual ministerial pledge conference for UNRWA on June 23, 2020, Foreign Minister V Muraleedharan announced that India will contribute $10 million to UNRWA over the next two years.
UNRWA is facing an increasing demand for services due to an increase in the number of registered Palestinian refugees, the degree of their vulnerability and their increasing poverty.
It is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide aid and protection to approximately 5.6 million Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in its five areas of activity.
Its mission is to help Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip to reach their full human development potential, while waiting for a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA services include education, health care, emergency and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance among Palestinian refugees.
During the Prime Minister’s first-ever visit to Palestine by Narendra Modi in February 2018, India increased its annual financial contribution to UNRWA’s core budget from $1.25 million to $5 million.
India has also strongly urged other traditional donors to UNRWA to consider increasing their contributions, and non-donor member states to consider contributing to the agency in solidarity with the Palestinian refugees.
Read all Latest education news here