Action Group – Syria
Officials from the Palestinian Embassy in Damascus and UNRWA discussed on Tuesday the challenges facing the agency in light of the escalating financial crisis and ways to ensure the continuity of its essential services to Palestinian refugees in Syria.
This came during a meeting between the Palestinian Ambassador to Damascus, Dr. Samir Rifai, and the Director of UNRWA Operations in Syria, Amanya Michael Ebye, at the embassy headquarters. The meeting focused on the funding challenges threatening the agency’s continuity and the efforts required to secure sustainable support that enables it to continue its humanitarian work in the region.
Ebye expressed his concern about the possibility of reducing or halting some of the agency’s services if funding shortages continue, noting that the situation requires urgent action from donor countries and international partners to avoid the collapse of the support system provided to more than half a million Palestinian refugees in Syria alone.
For his part, Ambassador Rifai stressed the importance of preserving UNRWA’s role, not only as a major provider of health, education, and relief services, but also as a political and legal stabilizing factor linked to the Palestinian refugee issue and their right of return.
The meeting was attended by Ms. Basma Qasmieh from UNRWA and First Secretary Hala Al-Aklouk from the Palestinian Embassy in Damascus.
It is worth noting that UNRWA faces a chronic funding crisis that has worsened in recent years, leading to the reduction of several of its programs and services in its five areas of operation, including Syria, which is suffering from the repercussions of a bloody conflict that has directly impacted the lives of Palestinian refugees there.