By : staff writer
Jordan Daily – Jordan, under the leadership of King Abdullah II, has played a significant role in mobilizing funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to Rafiq Kharfan, the Director-General of the Department of Palestinian Affairs(DPA).
In a recent interview on “Al-Mamlaka” TV, Kharfan highlighted that the King emphasized the importance of UNRWA and securing necessary funding during his recent tours. He added that since the funding cut-off for the agency in 2018, Jordan’s diplomacy has made strenuous efforts to mobilize funding for the agency, ending the same year with a “very slight deficit of about 10 million dollars.”
Kharfan pointed out that UNRWA spends approximately $145 million annually in Jordan, a figure he says is “disproportionate to the number of refugees.” The number of refugees in Jordan constitutes 42% of the total refugees in the five areas where UNRWA operates, while UNRWA’s budget in Jordan is about 18%.
He noted that Jordan bears significant burdens as a result of Palestinian refugees. Furthermore, he mentioned that the current year’s budget for UNRWA is approximately 880 million dollars, and the available funding for the agency is sufficient only until the end of June.
