RAMALLAH, Sep 25 (UNI) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) announced on Monday that its fiscal deficit has declined thanks to new donations.
Sami Mshasha, a UNRWA spokesman, told the official Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine Radio that UNRWA has reduced its deficit from 217 million U.S. dollars to 186 million dollars by "mobilizing new contributions from traditional countries and partners."
International and Arab donors are scheduled to convene soon in New York at the side line of the UN General Assembly to discuss the UNRWA financial crisis, according to Mshasha.
He said the financial crisis, which affects the services of the UN refugee agency, has negative impact on the Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian refugees "want a multi-year financial stability in order to have regular services," Mshasha stressed.
The United States supported UNRWA with 360 million dollars annually in the past, but this year it cut the amount to 60 million dollars, and decided to stop funding from next year.
The UN refugee agency, established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949, provides services to about 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Its services include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure and camp improvement.
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