BRUSSELS—European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called financing UNWRA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, ‘’an investment in the two-state solution,’’ as the European Commission proposed this week an additional EU support of 40 million euros for the organisation.
The Commission said the additional funding is meant ‘’to allow the agency to keep providing access to education for 500,000 Palestine refugee children, primary health care for more than 3.5 million patients and assistance to over 250,000 vulnerable Palestine refugees.’’
The European Union and Member States are already providing half of the budget of UNRWA and their overall contribution has reached approximately €1.2 billion in the past three years.
During a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Federica Mogherini stated :’’We reaffirm the EU’s political and financial support to UNRWA, with an overall contribution from the EU and its Member States of €1.2 billion for the past three years. UNRWA is essential for the perspective of a two-state solution. Supporting the agency means supporting peace and security in the Middle East. And this is in our strategic interest.”
Earlier this month, the United States announced it was ending all funding to UNWRA, describing the body as “irredeemably flawed”. The US said it wanted UNRWA to reform and believed other countries should increase the amounts they contributed to the agency.
The United States has long been the biggest single donor to the UN body, donating more than $350 million to the agency in 2017.