In the times when United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has repeatedly expressing serious concerns over possible halting of its educational and healthcare operations for Palestinian refugees due to severe shortage of funds, Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) under directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has announced $150m in emergency aid to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In the last week of September 2018, UNRWA that supports Palestinian refugees had said schools and health centres were at risk if the agency was unable to plug a $185m funding gap needed to keep operating until the end of the year. “Currently we have money in the bank ... will last I presume somewhere into ... mid October,” said Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in New York, where world leaders were attending the annual UN General Assembly.
“But it’s clear that we still need approximately $185m to be able to ensure that all of our services, education system, health care, relief and social services and our emergency work in Syria and Gaza in particular can continue until the end of the year,” Krahenbuhl had said.
QFFD announced on Wednesday that in compliance with the directives of H H the Amir, QFFD would work urgently to activate $150m package of assistance through the United Nations Development Program and the concerned international bodies.
This support comes within the context of alleviating the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people, who lost many of their children, youth and women either in confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces or because of poor living conditions and poor health care. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has also expressed his deep appreciation for the State of Qatar’s contribution to provide fuel to the Gaza Strip to generate electricity in order to help reduce human suffering and respond to public health needs.
“The Secretary-General expresses his deep appreciation to the Government of Qatar for its $60m contribution, which made this delivery of the fuel possible and provide a welcomed supply of electricity in the Strip for the coming months,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement in New York few days ago.
Separately, Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr Mohamed bin Abdulwahed Al Hammadi said on Thursday that the aid provided by the State of Qatar to the Palestine from 2010-2017 was QR3.872bn, in addition to non-governmental support from 2010-2016 that reached QR2.345bn. The Minister said that those large sums were directed towards humanitarian, developmental, healthcare, social services, wages, as well as the financing of public agencies. He was speaking at the 13th Session of the General Conference of ISESCO in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
