AMMAN, January 23, 2011 (WAFA) - Japan’s ambassador to Jordan, Tetsuo Shioguchi, and UNRWA Commissioner General, Filippo Grandi announced today that Japan  donated US$10 million to UNRWA to support the provision of its education, health and social services to refugees in the occupied Palestinian Territory.

Japan’s donation will help fund the agency’s 335 schools in the occupied Palestinian Territory, where UNRWA provides nine years of free education to registered refugee children. Education is the largest UNRWA programme, accounting for more than half of the agency’s budget.

The money will also fund maternal and child health services, including the agency’s school health programme, along with social services programmes for women, children and youth. US$ 6.8 million will support projects in Gaza, with the remaining US$3.2 million allocated to the West Bank.

Grandi thanked the Japanese government and said: “This generous contribution allows us to continue to educate almost 270,000 refugee children in our schools in Gaza and the West Bank, and provide health and social services to this particularly vulnerable population. We thank the government and people of Japan for this crucial support for refugees in the occupied Palestinian Territory, who are living under extremely difficult conditions.”

Shioguchi said: “Japan is very concerned about the impact of UNRWA’s serious financial crisis and hopes this grant will contribute to alleviating the hardship of Palestine refugees. Japan will continue to support education and primary health care because we have the strong belief that the Palestinian children hold the future of Palestine in their hands.”

Japan has been a consistent supporter of UNRWA. Japan’s assistance to the Palestinian refugees through UNRWA, which began in 1953, has amounted to more than US$600 million.

M.N.