Daily Alert Archives

Impact of the UNRWA Funding Cutoff

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) James Lindsay - Washington's announcement that it was ceasing all contributions to UNRWA, the primary aid organization for Palestinian refugees, should not have a dire impact on the Palestinians. Only a small percentage of UNRWA-registered refugees receive food rations and it has sufficient resources to take care of those services even without U.S. funds. Only about 4% of UNRWA's budget is devoted to "infrastructure and camp improvement." Again, the agency has sufficient resources to cover this. UNRWA's biggest expenses lie in education (54% of the budget) and healthcare (17%). UNRWA could reduce the costs of these programs by making them means-tested, such as charging a small fee for visiting a UNRWA clinic. 16% of the budget falls under "Support Services," including promoting "the rights of Palestine refugees under international law, through the monitoring and reporting of violations and by engaging in private and public advocacy," principally with regard to alleged Israeli actions. The task of representing Palestinians against Israel should not be the responsibility of a humanitarian organization. In short, UNRWA has enough funds to finance its core functions without U.S. assistance. Jordan may see some positives in the situation - especially if Washington used the funds it withholds from UNRWA to quietly boost assistance to Jordan. The king has long sought to unify his population, so he may favor replacing UNRWA's Palestinian-focused services with Jordanian government services. The writer served as UNRWA's chief lawyer and general counsel between 2002 and 2007.
2018-09-07 00:00:00
Full Article