EU Statement at Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to UNRWA

Commissioner General,

At the outset, I would like to emphasise the commitment of the European Union to supporting UNRWA in its humanitarian and development role as the main provider of services to Palestine refugees.

Allow me to express the deep appreciation of the European Union for UNRWA’s leadership, as well as for the tremendous efforts of UNRWA staff to serve Palestine refugees, despite increasingly challenging financial and political circumstances, which negatively impacts UNRWA operations and the well-being of Palestine refugees.

In this context, I would like to reiterate our concern over the unexpected scale of the funding gap this year, and its operational consequences – particularly in Gaza.   

Collectively, the EU and its Member States are the largest providers of international assistance to Palestine refugees. Our support for UNRWA is a clear recognition of its key role in responding to their needs and this support remains unaltered: The European Commission alone supported UNRWA, at the beginning of 2018, with a front-loaded payment of € 82 million to the operating budget.

Last week the Board of the EU Syria Trust Fund approved a new € 15 million programme to cater for the urgent needs of Palestine refugees from Syria in Lebanon and Jordan, in addition to a € 3 million top up to an ongoing programme. In addition, € 6 million from our humanitarian assistance are being allocated to the Palestine and Syria Emergency appeals.

These new contributions bring the European Commission's global contribution to € 106 million since early 2018 alone.

UNRWA’s financial situation remains a concern particularly but not exclusively due to reduced funding. 

The EU needs to stress, once more, the crucial importance for UNRWA to intensify its efforts to increase financial burden sharing and to push ahead with cost-saving measures and reforms, while refocusing UNRWA's activities on core-services for the most vulnerable refugees.

We also encourage UNRWA to explore all synergies in particular with other potential service providers, including hosts, the private sector and CSOs, to safeguard key services to Palestine refugees.

We praise the efforts pursued so far by UNRWA to reduce its structural deficit and implement key management reforms, and we encourage the Agency to sustain those efforts.

Lastly, let me express sincere gratitude to host governments for their commitment and generosity. UNRWA needs our help as donors, as much as it needs the political and structural support of host governments to implement changes to safeguard the Agency's programmes and create synergies with other competent entities to respond better to the growing needs of the Palestine refugee population.

For our part, we will continue to do our utmost to ensure that UNRWA and its dedicated staff continue to operate until a just, fair, agreed and realistic solution to the plight of Palestine refugees is finally reached.

Thank you.