(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Two days after the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that its services will have to be cut within three months due to budgetary constraints Kuwait has pledged USD 15 million for the body to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria.
The funds will be added to Kuwait's annual USD two-million contribution to UNRWA, Kuwait's Ambassador to the UN, Mansour Al-Otaibi said Wednesday at the 'Sustaining Human Development and Protecting Rights of Palestine Refugees' summit.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi noted that the worsening conditions in the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus, which has housed Palestinian refugees since 1957. USD 15 million from Kuwait would be dedicated specifically to assist those who were forced to flee after the camp was subjected to bombing by the Assad regime, as well as attacks by terrorist groups, the ambassador said. Ambassador Al-Otaibi also praised UNRWA's special role amidst the daily difficulties of working under the Israeli siege in Gaza, and urged the international community to continue its funding.
Kuwait has already provided USD 130 million to UNRWA, Ambassador Al-Otaibi said, and even continued to fund it through the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
He emphasized Kuwait's commitment to Palestinian refugees, a peaceful solution to the Mideast conflict, and the Palestinian right of return according to UN Resolution 194. Wednesday's UN meeting commemorated the 65th anniversary of UNRWA's founding as a body dedicated to alleviating the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and refugee camps in the region.
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