Saudi Arabia pledges more than $110m for UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Wednesday that it has signed several agreements with Saudi Arabia in Amman, Quds Press has reported. The deals are worth $111.5 million for UNRWA projects, including $10 million especially for Palestinian refugees affected by the current conflict in Syria, whether they are still in the country or in Lebanon or Jordan.

UNRWA explained that $15 million has been allocated for the reconstruction of the Palestinian Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon; the camp was destroyed by the Lebanese army in 2007. Reconstruction has been painfully slow due to the lack of adequate funding.

The UN agency added that $74 million will help to reconstruct recently damaged homes, education institutions and health provision in Gaza, with a further $12.5 million going towards the rehabilitation of a number of schools and houses in the occupied West Bank.

These donations, said UNRWA, raises the amount given by Saudi Arabia to the agency to around $500 million since 1994. It is now the third biggest donor to UNRWA for the second year running.