UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness said that the current deficit was unusually high compared to previous years.
“It’s got worse significantly, for several reasons,” Gunness told the Media Line. “First, because the number of refugees we serve goes up every year. The status of all refugees, also those served by the UNHCR, is conferred through the generations, pending a durable solution, so the number of refugees will continue to rise.”
“Other reasons have to do with the global financial crisis,” he continued.
“The emergency case load also goes up because of things like the Gaza war,” Gunness added, referring to Israel’s 22-day military operation in the Gaza Strip in January 2009.
“The attack on Gaza means we needed $350 million just for the early recovery plan, so wew inevitably have a bigger bill that needs to be footed.”
UNRWA’s annual core budget is 428 million euro, or $546 million, but this year it is running short by 130 million euro, Grandi said, adding that 70 million euro out of that deficit is “absolutely necessary.”
If it doesn’t get this money, he said, UNRWA will be forced to close schools, putting about half a million children on the streets.
“If we don’t get those 70 million [euro] we cannot function,” he said, stressing the hardships of the refugee population in the Gaza Strip. “We have money only until September.”
This was the commissioner’s first official trip to Brussels since he was appointed head of the organization in January.
He met with EU officials and Arab ambassadors to Brussels to drum up support and raise funding.
Grandi rejected accusations that Arab countries were “bad donors.”
“It’s not true. They are very good donors. They give us important funding,” he said.
“They usually do not give funding for our core budget. They fund special projects.”
“For example, for Nahr Al-Barid (Palestinian refugee camp) in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia gave us $25 million. During the Gaza war, Kuwait gave us $34 million,” Grandi said at a news conference in Brussels.
“These are important contributions, but they are for a limited period and for special projects. What we are now telling Arab donors is that please share at least part of the burden of the core funding because without your help we cannot be able to fill in these big gaps,” he said.
