In the last decade the number of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza has increased by one million, according to a survey conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in advance of World Refugee Day. Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations now number 5.6 million people, an increase from 5.3 million the year before.
on June 22, 2016The situation continues to be dire for Palestinians: 95% of Palestine refugees in Syria are dependent on humanitarian aid and 65% of young Gazans are unemployed. Pierre Krähenbühl, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), discussed their plight with Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees on 13 June, calling on the international community to work towards a credible political solution for the problems of the Middle East.
on June 17, 2016The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees expressed hope Tuesday that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait will come up with $80 million to ensure that 500,000 boys and girls who are refugees can start the next school year on time in August. Last year, a $101 million shortfall in the budget of the agency, known as UNRWA, almost led to a delay in starting school.
on May 4, 2016“UNRWA is shocked by the upsurge in violence that has affected Palestinian and Israeli civilians and the pattern of deadly force against Palestinians,” says commissioner-general. “Palestinian refugees today feel more left behind” than ever, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said on Tuesday.
on November 10, 2015One year after the August 26, 2014 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Abu Fathi Abu Jammous, his eight-month pregnant wife, and four children are living in a sweltering prefabricated caravan. Abu Fathi's house was totally destroyed in the brutal attack on Khuzaa in the southern Gaza Strip, and he was forced to move his family into an UNRWA school.
on August 27, 2015The United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees says the infant mortality rate in besieged Gaza Strip has dramatically risen for the first time in more than half a century. “The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.
on August 10, 2015The infant mortality rate in Gaza has risen for the first time in more than half a century, a new study by the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees says. “The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008. At the last count, in 2013, it had risen to 22.4 per 1,000 live births,” a statement from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.
on August 9, 2015Not long ago, I had a conversation with an official I know from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The official told me about a conversation he had with a senior Israel Defense Forces officer. In that conversation, my UN colleague asked the IDF official to describe Israel’s policy toward Gaza.
on August 6, 2015With a funding shortfall of $101m, UNRWA, the UN agency that has been looking after Palestinian refugees in the Middle East for 65 years has said it may be forced to delay the new academic year at the schools it runs in refugee camps across the region. UNRWA schools are considered one of its most successful projects.
on August 5, 2015