{"id":158072,"date":"2018-07-29T18:24:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T18:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=158072"},"modified":"2018-08-13T12:22:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T16:22:21","slug":"unrwa-deplores-threats-against-its-management-and-staff-statement","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/unrwa-deplores-threats-against-its-management-and-staff-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Deplores Threats Against its Management and Staff – Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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29 July 2018<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Over the past week, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has faced strong reactions in Gaza related to measures it had to take following severe reductions in funding by the United States, its single-largest donor. These financial cuts affected emergency operations and impacted a number of staff positions in both Gaza and West Bank.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has stood firm in its defense of rights and dignity of Palestine refugees and has shown unparalleled energy and creativity in its attempt to overcome the critical risks to its ability to provide continued services to Palestine refugees. The Agency fully understands and recognizes that the adjustments made to its emergency services in the Gaza Strip are painful for the affected staff members and their extended families, particularly in the context of extreme hardship and anxiety in the Strip.<\/p>\n

While it is legitimate for staff members to express their frustration and discontent, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA firmly and unreservedly deplores and rejects a series of actions taken by some of the protesting staff. We denounce the actions to prevent senior management from accessing the compound. At this stage, the premises remain unsafe for access and use; the conduct of the protesters within the premises is beyond our control.<\/p>\n

In particular, we strongly condemn the burning of effigies of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA leadership, the expression of threats, the circulating of offensive images of staff and the staging of unauthorized events in Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA installations. These actions are shameful and nothing can justify them.<\/p>\n

On 23 July, an improvised explosive device was detonated inside the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA compound in Gaza during a protest action. Lives were put at serious risk and some property was damaged. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA condemns this criminal act and an investigation is underway.<\/p>\n

The normal functioning of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA operations must be reestablished in Gaza. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA serves over 1 million Palestine refugees in Gaza and we cannot accept that our humanitarian activities be disrupted by irresponsible actions. Protests must be properly managed and dignified. Full security for management and staff must be guaranteed. Our priority is to serve the Refugee community and the human dimension of our work must be safeguarded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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BACKGROÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵD INFORMATION<\/h2>\n
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Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency\u2019s programme budget. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For more information, please contact:<\/h2>\n
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Sami Mshasha<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Chief of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mobile:<\/div>\n
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+972 (0)54 216 8295<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Office:<\/div>\n
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+972 (0)258 90724<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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s.mshasha@unrwa.org<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29 July 2018 Over the past week, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has faced strong reactions in Gaza related to measures it had to take following severe reductions in funding by the United States, its single-largest donor. These financial cuts affected emergency operations and impacted a number of staff positions in both Gaza and West Bank. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has stood […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329,1338],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2005,1857,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-158072","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-category-statement","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/158072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/158072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=158072"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=158072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}