Gaza: 1,000 UNRWA employees to lose their jobs

UNRWA staff in the Gaza Strip strike in protest against the organisation’s neglect of its employees and their rights on 14 November 2016 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Deputy Head of UNRWA’s Workers Union, Amal Batch, warned yesterday that up to 1,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs due to the financial crisis hitting the international organisation, Al-Resalah newspaper reported.

Batch said that the emergency programme, which includes food assistance, temporary work opportunities and others, is at stake due to the financial crisis.

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UNRWA has no budget for the third and fourth rounds of its programme, she said, noting that the organisation is suffering from a $246 million deficit. If funding is not allocated, she warned, the school year and other programmes would come to an end, this would have “catastrophic” consequences on the Palestinian cause.

UNRWA has already stopped a number of its programmes and reviewed its policy regarding the distribution of food assistance and other programmes, leading to major cuts which have seen 150,000 refugees in the occupied West Bank no longer receiving food aid.

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