India gives USD 2.5mn to UN agency for welfare of Palestinian refugees

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India on Monday presented the second tranche of aid of USD 2.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for the financial year 2022-2023.

In a statement, India’s Representative Office in Ramallah said this will support the agency’s core programs and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services.

“The Government of India presented USD 2.5 million (second tranche of a total contribution of USD 5 million for the Financial Year 2022-2023) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in support of the Agency’s core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services,” Representative Office of India Ramallah said in a statement.

“The financial contribution was presented to Ms Xuran Wu, Associate Donor Relations and Projects Officer, Department of External Relations, UNRWA at the Representative Office of India in Ramallah, Palestine,” the statement added.

Earlier, UNRWA informed that Palestine refugees in Lebanon have hit rock bottom, reaching a point of no return.

Poverty, unemployment and despair are in high doses across the country, severely hitting the Lebanese people, Syrian and Palestine refugees.

This comes amid one of the worst economic crises in recent history, compounded by the Beirut blast in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, poor governance and an almost total collapse in basic services.

Palestine refugees, living in overcrowded camps, are historically one of the poorest people in the country. They are at the end of the rope.

According to the latest UNRWA Crisis Monitoring Report on the Socio-Economic Situation of Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, 93 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Lebanon live in poverty.

While UNRWA has been helping, providing cash assistance and other basic services, our assistance is a drop in an ocean of despair. (ANI)