Canada announced on Monday, December 21, aid of around 90 million Canadian dollars (57 million euros) over three years to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), whose work on the ground is undermined since the end of funding from the United States in 2018.
This help “Will help meet the growing needs of vulnerable Palestinian refugees in the five intervention zones” agency, that is to say the territories of the West Bank and Gaza, occupied by Israel since 1967, as well as in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, details a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Health and education
The funding will enable more than half a million Palestinian refugee girls and boys to receive quality basic education and help run more than 140 basic health care clinics, in addition to providing shelter and food for the poorest, says the ministry. “The needs of Palestinian refugees are undeniable, especially in this time of pandemic: refugees face high rates of poverty, food insecurity and unemployment”said Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister for International Development.
The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau resumed in 2016 its aid to this United Nations (UN) agency, abolished four years earlier by the previous conservative government of Stephen Harper, very close to Israel.
From 2016 to 2019, Canada invested $ 110 million (€ 70 million) in support of the agency. In addition, Canada provided him with $ 1.5 million in aid in April to help prepare his response to the pandemic in the region.