GAZA, January 31, 2018 (WAFA) – Spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Sami Meshasha, said a donor conference will be held in March this year to seek alternative mechanisms to uphold international aid to the agency.

Speaking to the Voice of Palestine, Meshasha said UNRWA is currently looking for alternative funding mechanisms to be able to grapple with the current financial impasse it has been facing, in the aftermath of US’ decision on January 16 to scale back its funding to the agency.

He said these mechanisms could include the World Bank, the Islamic Development Fund, as well as private companies and individual donations.

Meshasha added that there is still an opportunity to convince the US administration to resume its aid of the UNRWA, as a humanitarian agency that is concerned with human development and has nothing to do with any political differences.

The United States, the largest contributor to UNRWA, announced on January 16 that it will withhold $65 million out of $125 million it had planned to send to UNRWA this month. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.

M.N