UNRWA pins hope on Jordan-Sweden hosted donor conference Tuesday

AMMAN — Jordan and Sweden will convene an international ministerial conference on UNRWA in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. At the conference, the agency will present its strategic vision for 2023-2028 and mobilise international support for Palestinian refugees in Jordan, according to a UNRWA statement. 

“We value, very much, the support of Jordan as a major host country,” Director of UNRWA Affairs in Jordan Marta Lorenzo told The Jordan Times. 

Jordan is hosting 40 per cent of Palestinian refugees in the region, she said.

“So for us, it is very important that Jordan is behind this initiative,” Lorenzo noted.

She stressed that the conference comes at a “critical moment” for the agency, pointing out the difficulty over the past few years to ensure adequate levels of funding.

“We are seeing a more uncertain environment,” said Lorenzo.

“We have seen political uncertainty, but also issues that aren’t political that have had an impact on the living conditions of people. We have to be able to respond to sudden shocks,” she added.

The UNRWA official highlighted the agency’s increased reliance on emergency appeals, largely due to these “sudden shocks”, including the pandemic and the Syrian crisis.

UNRWA provided cash assistance to around 59,000 extremely vulnerable Palestinian refugees in Jordan during the pandemic-induced lockdowns — only possible with the emergency appeal funding. 

However, Lorenzo said, the emergency appeals are difficult “because you have to rely on donors at the last minute”.

The conference aims to establish a more consistent and predictable funding stream to better prepare for a volatile future, the official said. 

UNRWA also provides services for over 18,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria’s war-torn regions, 75 per cent of whom are women and children. The Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria are some of the most vulnerable, noted Lorenzo. 

These Palestinian refugees from Syria fall under UNRWA’s, not UNHCR’s, mandate, she added. 

While UNRWA’s programmes have not stopped, due to recent budget constraints they have had to “do same things, with less people, less staff,” noted Lorenzo.

“We struggled to pay salaries at the end of the year,” she added.

With steady funding, UNRWA Jordan hopes to “modernise” educational programmes in the 169 UNRWA-run schools, vocational training programmes for over 3,081 students enrolled in UNRWA centres, and ensure the most up-to-date methods for solid waste removal, according to Lorenzo.

“We provide very important basic services to the community” she said. 

“In the absence of a political solution, UNRWA is essential and needs to continue its services.”