Syria Today | Syria to help UNRWA lobby international donors for extra funding

Syria to help UNRWA lobby international donors for extra funding

UNRWA Commissioner-General Filipo Grandi announced that the Syrian government had committed itself to helping the agency lobby regional and international donors for funding during a three-day visit to Damascus from February 20 to 23.

Grandi’s comments followed meetings with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, First Lady Asma al-Assad, Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Otri and other Syrian officials in Damascus.

“I had an excellent meeting with President Assad,” Grandi told reporters during a press briefing in Damascus. “It was frank, open and very concrete. Together we reviewed the activities of UNRWA in Syria and the region, as well as the overall situation.”

Grandi said he had obtained a “commitment” from Syrian authorities to help UNRWA, which is currently facing a funding shortfall, to persuade donors to give more money.

“I spoke to them [Syrian officials] about the shortfall in funding and obtained their commitment to help UNRWA make its case for additional funding from all donors, including donors in the region,” he said.

UNRWA’s predicted budget for 2010 is SYP 2.3bn (USD 50m) less than expected. The shortfall comes despite several appeals launched by the agency last year asking for more money to help it continue providing services to some 4.7 million Palestinians across the region.

“In a situation that is stable and where UNRWA has space to operate, UNRWA can be a very innovative agency working with people for a better future for them, not only be perceived as an old fashioned agency doing charity work,” Grandi said. He added that the financial challenges, as well as difficulties in the occupied Palestinian territories, were limiting the agency’s capacity to maintain better services.