The United Arab Emirates does not plan to return funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which was suspended last year, until steps are taken to manage money more effectively, a UAE government official said.
The Gulf state, the current chairman of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) advisory committee, gave the group $ 50 million in 2019 and $ 20 million in 2018, but made no donations last year, although said the UAE charity official has donated $ 1 million.
Palestinians receive UNRWA food aid in Gaza
(Photo: EPA)
“We are in contact with UNRWA leadership on how we can improve aid effectiveness,” the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy told Reuters this week.
She said the decision to suspend funding was made when the oil-producing country reviewed its aid program at the end of 2019 and was unrelated to the UAE’s ties with Israel under its treaty. was broken by the US in September.
“COVID was a prominent moment and it made us push the reset button. We believe we have a moral responsibility but not under the same mechanism,” she said.
“We want to see how international organizations review the approach – we are looking for more efficiency, and a smarter way to use money. “
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the signing of the Treaty of Abraham at the White House in September. 2020
(Photo: EPA)
UNRWA, which helps some 5.7 million registered refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza, has been facing budget problems since 2018 when the United States, its largest donor, stopped it. annual support of more than $ 300 million.
U.S. President Joe Biden who took office last month is expected to get funding back, at least in part.
A UNRWA school in Gaza is closed due to a pandemic of coronavirus
(Photo: EPA)
The UAE, a former major donor to Yemen and a member of the Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in the country in 2015, did not contribute to the UN-designated 2020 donors conference that fell near their target, jeopardizing major cuts. to the largest humanitarian aid program in the world.
Hashimy said that in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, demand for donors was greater than ever and that the UAE was pushing ahead with support for organizations that use money efficiently, such as International Committee of the Red Cross.