Kuwait donates US$900,000 towards life-saving assistance for Palestine refugees in Syria

Kuwait has announced a donation of US$ 900,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in response to the Agency’s Syria Regional Crisis Appeal. This contribution represents the first pledge towards this appeal this year. Kuwait’s generous contribution will go towards life-saving assistance provided to the Palestine refugees remaining inside Syria.

The conflict in Syria continues to disrupt the lives of civilians, resulting in death and injuries, internal displacement, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and persistent humanitarian needs. Palestinians are among those worst affected by the conflict. Of the estimated 438,000 Palestine refugees remaining inside Syria, over 95 per cent (418,000) are in critical need of sustained humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic food and shelter needs. Almost 254,000 are internally displaced, and an estimated 56,600 are trapped in hard-to-reach or inaccessible locations.

“We are deeply grateful to Kuwait for this additional contribution in support of the 2018 Syria Regional Crisis Appeal at a time when a dramatic financial crisis threatens our ability to provide these life-saving services to Palestine refugees in and from Syria,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl. “I would also like to express our gratitude to Kuwait, on behalf of all Palestine refugees, for its advocacy, as recently shown in the UN Security Council, and for encouraging all donors to provide funding to the Agency. Kuwait’s humanitarian leadership is highly valued,” Krähenbühl added.

Kuwait has been a longstanding donor to UNRWA, contributing a total of US$ 55 million over the last five years in support of the Agency’s efforts to assist Palestine refugees in Syria.

In 2018, UNRWA requires US$ 409 million for its humanitarian response to the Syria regional crisis in order to provide aid, including cash assistance, food, water, shelter and medical assistance. Despite the immense security challenges, UNRWA also provides education to over 47,000 Palestine refugees, supplementing regular classes with psychosocial support and safety-awareness training. For those unable to each our classrooms, UNRWA has developed distance-learning materials.

Original source: UNRWA
Published on 5 February 2018