25 April 2018

The Commissioner-General of ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Pierre Kr?henb¨¹hl, at the Brussels Conference on Syria talking about the embattled Palestine refugee communities across Syria in places like the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, where there have been bombings and a dramatic upsurge in violence. ()

?BACKGRO±¬ÁÏÍøD INFORMATION

±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA Programme Budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency¡¯s Programme Budget. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.

±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.