{"id":201509,"date":"2014-07-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=201509"},"modified":"2019-03-12T18:11:18","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:18","slug":"auto-insert-201509","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-201509\/","title":{"rendered":"The crisis in Syria has caused funding gaps that threaten Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA’s ability to respond – Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA'S SYRIA CRISIS RESPONSE:
\nA STRONG ABILITY TO DELIVER THREATENED BY Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDERFÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵDING<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

06 July 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA joins the warning made by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies in Geneva that severe funding gaps in the response to the Syria crisis present grave risks. In a briefing Thursday in Amman, the Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Affairs in Syria, Michael Kingsley-Nyinah, underscored the urgency of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA's funding needs, describing the Syria conflict as one that has "taken a life of its own, confounding analysts and pundits and contradicting easy assumptions." Referring to "a downward spiral in humanitarian conditions for civilians" as a feature of the Syria war, he called for higher levels of donor support to enable Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA to sustain its efforts to strengthen the resilience of Palestine refugees in Syria.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Over half a million Palestine refugees in Syria are particularly vulnerable due to escalating poverty, the recurrence of armed conflict inside refugee camps and communities, their inability to cross borders freely, and their dependence on humanitarian assistance from Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA's mid-year review of its 2014 Syria Regional Crisis Response, which can be read in full <\/span>here<\/u><\/a>, is marked by two conflicting developments. On one hand, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA’s operational capacity to deliver aid has improved significantly, to make reaching 100 per cent of beneficiaries possible in 2014. On the other, severe underfunding is increasingly threatening effective response.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA's emergency response has two priorities. The first is direct humanitarian relief through cash assistance, the most flexible, cost effective and dignified means to meet Palestine refugees’ most urgent needs in all three fields. The second is to adapt existing services to ensure the resilience of families and communities, whether it be through the use of home-learning materials for children who cannot reach Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA schools, or by the establishment of health points for displaced refugees.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is grateful for the generous support of its donors, however the appeal is only 22 per cent funded, less than half of last year's funding rate at mid-year. Most of planned expenditure to meet the most basic needs, is simply out of reach. Roger Davies, Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Operations in Jordan, and Ziyad Qamar, Head of Donor Relations in Lebanon, spoke of the struggle to supply assistance for food and shelter to Palestine Refugees from Syria in their fields.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

In Syria, if generous donations are not forthcoming in July, new cash distributions will not be possible. This will have severe and direct implications for refugees who depend on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA and will undermine trust in Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA and the international community.  The longer political solutions are not found, the more civilians depend on urgent and basic assistance to survive.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

BACKGROÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵD INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Financial support to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF), supporting Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently the deficit stands at US$ 69 million.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

For more information, please contact:<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Christopher Gunness<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Spokesperson<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Mobile: <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

+972 (0)54 240 2659<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Office: <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

+972 (0)2 589 0267<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

c.gunness@unrwa.org(link sends e-mail)<\/u><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Sami Mshasha<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Arabic Spokesperson<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Mobile: <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

+972 (0)54 216 8295<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Office: <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

+972 (0)2 589 0724<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

s.mshasha@unrwa.org<\/u><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA'S SYRIA CRISIS RESPONSE: A STRONG ABILITY TO DELIVER THREATENED BY Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDERFÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵDING 06 July 2014 Jerusalem Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA joins the warning made by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies in Geneva that severe funding gaps in the response to the Syria crisis present grave risks. In a briefing Thursday in Amman, the Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Affairs in Syria, Michael Kingsley-Nyinah, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[2241],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,1813,2153,1745],"entity":[5343,1985,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-201509","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-syria","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-middle-east-situation","document-subject-refugee-camps","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-palestine-plo-palestinian-authority","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201509","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\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=201509"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=201509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}