Statement in response to resumption of UK funding to UNWRA
Embrace the Middle East welcomes the resumption of UK funding to UNWRA.
UNWRA is responsible for around 60% of all aid and around 50% of food distribution in Gaza, as well as serving nearly six million Palestinian refugees who live within the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region, including in neighbouring Lebanon. It is a vital lifeline for many millions of civilians who find themselves enduring months of violence, fear and displacement.
We join with Bond and “hope that reinstating funding to UNRWA signals turning the corner, and urge the new UK Government to take proactive steps to address the catastrophe in Gaza, in light of potential genocide.”
However, funding alone and even the reforms within UNWRA will not meet the needs of our partners and the civilians trapped in what the Foreign Secretary has described as “hell on earth”. We continue to call on our Government to pursue a path of sustainable peace by:
· Leveraging all its powers to achieve an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
· Working to ensure the unconditional and immediate release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinians in arbitrary administrative detention.
· Working for unfettered and immediate humanitarian access to Gaza and maintaining support to UNWRA.
