UNRWA announced yesterday that it will not seek to employee any new workers and will not renew contracts of those whose terms have expired as a result of the ongoing financial crisis in the organisation.

Spokesman Adnan Abu-Hasnah said: “There will be no renewal of employment contracts and those whose contracts come to an end will be asked to leave.”

Speaking to Quds Press, he said that the financial crisis UNRWA is facing has affected all services as “there is no funding for new programmes”.

Last month, the UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl launched a campaign named “Dignity is Priceless” to collect funds from donor countries around the world, but it was met with a weak response.

The campaign was launched after the US announced that it had slashed $65 million of its $120 million annual payment for the international organisation.

UNRWA provides relief and humanitarian support for more than five million Palestinian refugees living in the Palestinian territories (the West Bank and Gaza Strip) and refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The Agency was established in 1949 following the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1948, one of whose tragic consequences was the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their towns and villages.

Source: Quds Press International News Agency
Translated by: Middle East Monitor
In collaboration with the Palestinian Media Forum