PRESS RELEASE
East Jerusalem, 6 November 2008

Polish contribution to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA’s General Fund

Deputy Commissioner General Filippo Grandi expressed Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA’s gratitude on receiving a cheque for over $140,650 from Mr. Piotr Puchta, Representative of the Republic of Poland to the Palestinian Authority. This sum comprises the annual Polish contribution to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA and includes over $118,550 for the General Fund.

The General Fund provides essential services in the areas of education, health, relief and social services, microfinance and micro-enterprise to Palestine refugees. The $118,550 sum contributed by Poland could, for example, allow Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA to provide food supplies to more than ten thousand people for two months.

Mr. Grandi thanked the Polish government for their steady and growing support of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA, welcoming the significant increase in this year’s contribution which constituted a five fold increase from 2005.

The Polish government began annual contributions to the General Fund in 2002 with a donation of $20,000 and has continued to contribute annually to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA ever since. To date Poland has contributed a total of over $389,000 to the Agency.

 

About Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA

Some 4.6 million Palestine refugees in Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA’s five fields of operations – Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – are eligible for Agency services, including education, healthcare, social services, shelter, micro-credit loans and emergency aid. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA employs nearly 30,000 staff, the vast majority of whom are Palestine refugees. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA’s operations are financed almost entirely by voluntary contributions from donors. The Agency’s regular budget for 2008-2009 is $1.1 billion, which covers the recurrent costs of the Agency’s education, health and relief and social services activities. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµRWA’s headquarters are in Gaza City and Amman.