Since last October, the UN agency has raised nearly $150 million from UNRWA Spain, UNRWA United States, charities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporations and individuals.
Some even doubled or tripled their donations, said Karim Amer, the agency’s director of partnerships, who spoke with United Nations News before International Day of Charityheld annually on September 5.
“Your donations matter, no matter how big or small,” said Amer. “Your support is impacting tens of thousands of families who are experiencing loss, displacement, injury, ongoing anxiety and fear.”
For the cash-strapped agency, the support is crucial. UNRWA lost $450 million when 16 donor countries suspended funding following the Israeli government’s January accusation that a dozen staff members had participated in Hamas-led attacks on October 7 in southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war.
The United Nations immediately initiated an investigation. complete in August. It concluded that the evidence, if verified or confirmed, could indicate that nine staff members may have been involved. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has decision terminate their contract in the best interests of the agency.
All sponsors, except the United States, have since continue to sponsor.
Invaluable support
Authorized by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA provides services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
By the time the war began in Gaza, UNRWA had provided education to more than half a million boys and girls across the region and primary health care to more than 2 million people.
The majority of private donations are used to bring desperately needed food, water, medicine and shelter to struggling Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip.
The war over the past 10 months has reportedly killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, including 213 UNRWA team members. It has caused famine and catastrophic devastation. Much of the health, water and shelter infrastructure has been destroyed or rendered non-functional.
UNRWA continues to provide assistance to people in Gaza.
Support empowers employees to keep going
UNRWA is currently coordinating a polio vaccination campaign with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) because the disease was diagnosed in a 10-month-old boy in Gaza even though the disease was eradicated there 25 years ago.
Public response is important for UNRWA staff on the ground who are working to assist refugees while they themselves are affected and displaced.
“The public support and solidarity has empowered our colleagues in Gaza to continue working and providing aid,” said Mr. Amer.
Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip has been severely damaged by continued bombing.
First-time donors want to help
Money is pouring in from first-time donors in the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany, the Philippines, India, parts of Africa and elsewhere, he said.
Schools, student groups, consulting firms, employee funds and restaurants are all keen to get involved, he added.
Many individuals in Scandinavia, other parts of Europe and North America are keen to establish “Friends of UNRWA” committees focused on advocacy and fundraising for the agency.
Protesters demonstrate outside the campus of Columbia University in New York City in April 2024. (file)
Streaming for Palestine
Music artists are releasing songs in support of Palestine and donating all streaming proceeds to UNRWA. Mexican singer Marianina released From Palestine to Mexico in April. Canadian violinist Jessica Moss debuted For UNRWA at a concert in Berlin in February.
Four-time Grammy Award-winning American rapper Macklemore will donate all proceeds from streaming his chart-topping hit to UNRWA Hind Hall, went viral on social media after its release in early May.
“We received our first royalty transfer today, in the amount of $47,000,” said Jason Terry, UNRWA USA’s director of strategic programs. United Nations News last weekend. “We also received a personal donation from Macklemore earlier this year of $100,000.”
American rapper Macklemore has personally donated $100,000 to UNRWA.
‘We all deserve freedom’
The song calls attention to worldwide protests to end the war in Gaza.
“We are grateful to Macklemore for his generous support and commitment to serving the people of Gaza in the months and years ahead,” said Terry. “His gifts have helped us keep families fed and children healthy.”
The first image in this shocking video opens with footage of Columbia University in New York, where students set up tents to protest the war, sparking similar protests at universities across the US and the world.
Before the school disbanded the refugee camp, Columbia students raised the flag over Hamilton Hall, renaming the school’s iconic building “Hind’s Hall” in honor of the six-year-old boy. Rajab is behindpeople were killed in Gaza.
Macklemore performed Hind Hall on his current tour.
“I stand here today and will continue to move forward for the rest of my life in solidarity with the Palestinian people, with an open heart believing that our shared freedom is important, that we all deserve to be free in this life,” the artist told an audience in Wellington, New Zealand, a day after he released the song.
Unity among Muslim communities
Muslims around the world have also been generous, doing whatever they can to help. In 2023, donors poured $4.7 million into UNRWA’s Zakat program, in which people donate a portion of their wealth, as prescribed by Islam, to provide cash or food baskets to the poorest and most vulnerable Palestinian refugees.
Many of the private donations sent to the UN agency come from national or local NGOs. Germany-based Hasene International has donated more than $5 million since the war began in October, including $2.7 million at the end of Julyto provide food, water and medicine for children, and money for their families.
Through the Rahmatan lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF), the people of Singapore donated $6.2 million. With the help of UNRWA’s dedicated staff, solid infrastructure and extensive facilities, the first tranche of aid helped provide food to 123,000 internally displaced people in Gaza.
“RLAF is fortunate to work with good partners like UNRWA to ensure assistance is provided to innocent victims of war,” said Muhammad Faizal bin Othman, Executive Director of the fund.
After learning that the collection campaign at her local mosque had ended, an elderly woman took a bus and several trains from her home to the RLAF office in northern Singapore. She left behind about $46, all in coins, donated by her family.
“Our staff were really touched by her gesture,” said Mr. Faizal.
Earlier this year, some Gaza youths spray-painted messages of gratitude on their makeshift tents, thanking Columbia University students for their support. (file)
Lifeline of Hope
Through its emergency appeal from April to December, UNRWA is seeking $1.21 billion to address the most urgent humanitarian needs of 1.7 million of the most vulnerable refugees and non-refugees in Gaza as well as more than 200,000 individuals in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
In a stunning show of solidarity and support, 118 governments, including 15 Security Council members, adopted the initiative on common commitments to UNRWA at commitment conference for the agency on July 12.
In their statement, the governments stressed the indispensable role of UNRWA as a pillar of regional stability, and a lifeline of hope and opportunity for millions of Palestinians across the region. They also acknowledged the serious humanitarian, political and security risks that would arise from any disruption or suspension of UNRWA’s vital work.
“It comes at such a crucial time UNRWA is suffering unprecedented attacks and systematic efforts to dismantle it,” said agency director general Philippe Lazzarini.
“There is no alternative to UNRWA.”
The mass vaccination campaign got off to a “very good start” on Sunday in central Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). UNRWA health centres are playing a key role in the campaign.
