Japan donates $38m to UNRWA

The Japanese government yesterday donated $38.21 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the Anadolu Agency reported.

In a statement, UNRWA said that the donation was made through a mutual agreement signed yesterday with the representative of the Japanese government in Ramallah.

According to UNRWA, this is Japan’s largest donation, noting that $15 million was allocated to the education and health sectors, as well as to the emergency humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip.

An additional $20.87 million was allocated to the expansion of the healthcare and education services in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon.

The remaining $2.34 million was allocated to establish sewage networks in the West Bank refugee camp of Aqabat Jaber, UNRWA explained.

Deputy Commissioner-General Sandra Mitchell said: “This donation responds to the educational and health needs of the Palestinian refugees in the region, mainly in Gaza.”

According to UNRWA statistics, about 1.3 million Palestinian refugees live in Gaza, 914,000 in the West Bank, 447,000 in Lebanon, 2.1 million in Jordan and 500,000 in Syria.

UNRWA says that the donations do not match the increasing needs for the refugees, whose numbers are increasing.