RAMALLAH, September 1, 2010 (WAFA)- The government of Japan has announced a donation of $6.88 million (600 million Japanese yen) towards food aid as part of UNRWA’s social safety net program for 2010 and 2011, a press release by UNRWA said.
The program, aimed at alleviating poverty among Palestine refugees, provides food aid and cash subsidies to more than a quarter of a million impoverished people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The Japanese contribution will help UNRWA provide vulnerable refugees with food including wheat flour and pulses. Families benefiting from the social safety net receive food packages every three months, including sugar, rice, oil and milk powder, it added.
UNRWA Commissioner-General, Filippo Grandi, welcomed the Japanese contribution, saying:
“This generous contribution is an example of the support of the government and people of Japan to the well-being of some of the most vulnerable Palestine refugees in the Middle East. This donation furthers more than 50 years of cooperation between UNRWA and the government of Japan, as we work to meet the humanitarian needs of the refugees and support their human development. It highlights Japan’s commitment to UNRWA, which I saw for myself in a recent visit to the country to explore ways to strengthen our partnership with the Japanese government.”
Grandi also referred to the Agency’s current deficit of US$84 million for its basic education, healthcare and social services programs, saying: “I hope that other donors, including those in the region, will contribute to UNRWA’s General Fund and will help bridge the Agency’s huge deficit.”
The agreement was signed today at the UNRWA women’s program centre in Amman New Camp, Jordan, by Mr. Grandi and the Japanese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Koichi Takemasa, according to the press release.
UNRWA provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 4.7 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, pending a solution to their plight. The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, social safety-net, camp infrastructure and improvement, community support, microfinance and emergency response, including in times of armed conflict.
UNRWA is mostly funded by voluntary contributions from States. The Agency’s core budget for 2010-2011 stands at $1.23 billion. In 2009, emergency appeals for the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon amounted to $827.4 million.
Japan has been providing food aid to UNRWA since 1970, and is among a number of donors that today regularly contribute to UNRWA’s social safety net program. Japan’s assistance to the Palestine refugees through UNRWA, which began in 1953, has amounted to almost $600 million, including this year’s food aid contribution.
