Passing through Beirut, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for 5.8 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, calls on the international community for more political and financial commitment. Monday, November 28, he must meet in Paris the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna.

You are alarmed by the “austerity” that has been hitting UNRWA for almost ten years, because of its serious financial crisis. What are the reasons ? What are the consequences ?

Since 2010-2012, our resources have begun to stagnate, while we provide primary health care for more than 2 million Palestinian refugees and education for more than 500,000 students in the Middle East. This corresponds to the outbreak of the “Arab Spring” and then to the crises which multiplied in the region, as well as to the moment when the Israeli-Palestinian peace process began to emerge from the priorities of the international community.

Today, when, due to a lack of resources, classes accommodate up to fifty pupils, this has consequences for the quality of teaching. In terms of health, the time spent in consultation has fallen sharply. It is a miracle that we have been able to keep our centers open again this year. But we are in a permanent tense flux. Frustration is mounting among the refugees. We live in the continual uncertainty of not being able to pay the salaries of our 30,000 employees. UNRWA has become associated with the financial crisis it is going through. We have to get out of the status quo, stop believing that the agency can manage this crisis: at some point, it will no longer be able to implement its mandate.

How to change the situation?

We deliver public services, but are financed like an NGO: this model no longer works. For the past two years, we have sought to rekindle the political interest of donors and to promote more sustainable funding. In September, in New York, member states agreed to gradually increase resources from the regular UN budget – we receive very little and depend on voluntary contributions. But this agreement is below our expectations: it does not change the situation.

We need a political will that will ensure that UNRWA has the means to carry out its mandate. In two years, we will mark the 75th anniversary of an agency that should have been temporary. This longevity marks the collective failure of the international community to promote a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its members must ask themselves: what is their involvement in the years to come for the rights of Palestinian refugees? More political and financial commitment is needed.

You have 59.62% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.