UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is facing severe financial difficulties and operational restrictions that threaten its ability to continue providing essential services across the occupied Palestinian territory and the wider region.
Addressing the UN General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Tuesday, Guterres said the agency faces a funding shortfall of $100 million despite implementing extensive cost-cutting measures.
“Despite painful austerity measures and cost-cutting, a shortfall of US$100 million is preventing the agency from fulfilling its current obligations,” Guterres said.
He noted that UNRWA’s mandate, recently renewed by the General Assembly for another six months with broad support from member states, enables the agency to provide essential services to approximately 2.6 million people in need.
Guterres warned that the agency’s financial difficulties extend beyond humanitarian concerns, saying they also pose a risk to regional stability.
READ: UNRWA chief calls for urgent funding, reform as agency faces $100 million deficit
“The cash flow shortfall has serious repercussions for the entire region,” he said, describing UNRWA as “a vital pillar of stability in an era of instability.”
The UN chief stressed that millions of Palestinian refugees, particularly those in Gaza, are facing increasingly dire conditions and urged the international community to continue supporting the agency.
He described living conditions in the Gaza Strip as “appalling,” citing the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance, damaged sanitation systems, disease outbreaks, extreme heat and widespread displacement.
UNRWA has faced a prolonged financial crisis in recent years, worsened by the suspension or reduction of funding from several major donor countries.
The funding shortages have forced the agency to scale back services, implement austerity measures, reduce staffing costs and shorten school hours in some areas of operation.
Established by the UN General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA provides education, healthcare, food assistance, social services and emergency relief to approximately 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The agency relies almost entirely on voluntary contributions from UN member states to finance its operations.
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