Belgium donates €18.75 million to UN for Palestinian refugees

Belgium has contributed €18.75 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is responsible for assistance to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The contribution covers the period 2015-2017 and will support UNRWA’s efforts to provide essential health care, education and relief and social services, writes De Standaard.

It is Belgium’s first multi-year contribution to the UN agency. UNRWA’s Pierre Krähenbühl said, “We are deeply grateful to Belgium, a longstanding partner of UNRWA, for the contribution. In an extremely challenging environment, it will allow us to continue providing core human development and emergency relief to vulnerable Palestine refugees.”

Development minister Alexander De Croo added that Belgium makes part of its humanitarian aid budget available to international organizations such as UNRWA in the form of core contributions in order to give organizations “a degree of predictability in their access to funds and the flexibility to immediately respond to humanitarian crises and emergencies.”