WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government has pledged 148 million dollars this year to the UN refugee agency to aid Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and neighboring countries, both said Wednesday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency said the amount includes 91 million dollars to UNRWA's fund for refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria as well as 57 million dollars to its 2008 West Bank and Gaza emergency appeal.
The statement on the UNRWA website follows a similar one on the US State Department's website.
"This support is essential for improving the daily lives of Palestine refugees who face hardship in the region," UNRWA's Commissioner-General Karen Abu Zayd said in a statement of gratitude to the US government.
The US contribution to the general fund will support UNRWA's "provision of basic and vocational education, primary health care and relief and social services to over 4.4 million registered Palestinian refugees" in the region.
The 57 million dollar contribution to the emergency appeal "will allow UNRWA to provide food assistance to 895,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, create approximately 190,000 temporary jobs and provide temporary shelter and shelter repair to refugees where needed," UNRWA said.
"Every year UNRWA educates approximately 490,000 children in more than 650 schools, hosts nine million patient visits in 127 health clinics and one hospital, and provides special hardship assistance to 250,000 of the most vulnerable refugees," it said.
"UNRWA's tolerance education program promotes human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance in every UNRWA school," it added.
"Since the inception of its microfinance program in 1991, UNRWA has awarded 126,000 loans to help Palestinian refugees become self-sufficient and to promote private sector growth," it said.
UNWRA said the United States is its single largest donor.
Nita Lowey, who chairs a leading Congressional subcommittee, asked Monday to hold 150 million dollars in aid for the Palestinians after questioning how they will use the money and whether they were committed to peace with Israel.
Lowey said she wanted answers from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department before ordering the release of the funds to president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.
The State Department has provided Lowey with a copy of the cash transfer assistance agreement, according to a statement read by Gonzalo Gallegos, the department's director of the office of press relations.
"We are working to address the remaining legislative requirements laid out for the cash transfer and expect to provide this information to Congress shortly," Gallegos told AFP Wednesday.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
