RAMALLAH, September 8, 2018 (WAFA) – As the latest statistics showed that illiteracy rate in Palestine was among the lowest in the world and stood at 3.3% in 2017, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged on Saturday support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to help it continue with its education programs for tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The Prime Minister urged the world in a post on his Facebook page on the occasion the International Literacy Day, which coincides on September 8 of every year, to support UNRWA in its efforts to provide vital services, foremost of which is education, to children of Palestinian refugees.
The United States, the largest contributor to UNRWA with over $360 million a year, said recently that it was going to stop all funding to the humanitarian organization in a step aimed at pressuring the Palestinians to accept its terms for peace negotiations with Israel.
With 54% of its annual budget allocated to education, UNRWA may find itself unable to continue to provide this service, among many other vital ones such as health, as a result of the US cuts.
“The world should stand up to American extortion and threats and come up with a collective and intensive action plan to ensure the sustainability of UNRWA’s work in providing services to Palestine refugees at home and in the diaspora, particularly in education,” he wrote.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said on Thursday that the illiteracy rate in the UNRWA-run schools in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip refugee camps was the same as the national rate and stood at 3.3%.
“We are proud that the illiteracy rate in Palestine in 2017 is among the lowest in the world,” he said, explaining that his government has implemented many adult education programs and opened classrooms to combat illiteracy among the adult population.
“We have launched the National Strategy for Adult Education, which is considered the first of its kind in the Arab world, in order to lower illiteracy and achieve the two goals of education for all and education for life,” said the premier on his Facebook post.
He said these efforts will continue as part of the government’s sustainable development goal.
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