WASHINGTON, January 7, 2012 (WAFA) – The United States announced an initial contribution of $55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for 2012, said a press release published by the agency on Wednesday.

The $55 million contribution will provide critical health, education, and humanitarian services to five million Palestinian refugees in the region, said the press release.

It added that $29 million of this contribution will support UNRWA’s core services in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza; $24 million will support UNRWA’s emergency programs in the West Bank and Gaza; and two million will support UNRWA’s ongoing relief assistance in Lebanon for those displaced during the 2007 conflict in Nahr al Bared refugee camp.

R.Q./M.S.