Qatar donates $50mn to UN Palestine refugee agency

By Mohamed Fahd

DOHA (AA) - Qatar on Thursday announced plans to donate $50 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which remains in the throes of a severe funding crisis.

Qatari representatives made the announcement at a Thursday meeting of UNRWA officials in Rome, according to the Qatar News Agency.

Attended by representatives from 90 countries, the meeting tackled the UNRWA’s chronic funding crisis, which was exacerbated in January when the U.S. withheld $65 million of aid to the agency.

Led by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry (as Egypt currently chairs UNRWA's advisory commission), Thursday’s meeting was also attended by Jordanian FM Ayman Safadi and Swedish FM Margot Wallstrom.

Established in 1949, UNRWA provides services to almost 6 million Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Last year, the U.S. contributed more than $350 million to the refugee agency.