The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced emergency austerity measures, including reducing working and school days in all five of its regions. The agency clarified that this step comes amid a suffocating financial crisis that threatens its ability to fulfill its commitments towards millions of refugees, which prompted it to adjust the schedule of its educational institutions.
Under the new decisions, school hours in the occupied West Bank and other areas will be reduced to only four days a week instead of five. This step aims to cut operational expenses while trying to maintain the minimum level of the educational process and ensure it does not completely stop in the coming period.
The package of measures also included a reduction in staff working hours in various sectors, including teaching staff, by up to 20 percent. Responsible sources confirmed that this decision applies in the five operational regions, which include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, to ensure the distribution of remaining financial burdens across all sectors.
The international agency indicated that these measures will remain in effect until the end of the current year as a minimum, describing them as temporary measures imposed by current circumstances. Through this austerity, UNRWA seeks to ensure the continuity of essential relief and health services that are indispensable amid the deteriorating living conditions of refugees.
Jonathan Fowler, the agency's communications director, had warned earlier this month that increasing political and economic pressures had already led to a 20 percent decline in the quality and volume of services. Fowler explained that the accumulated financial deficit now threatens the institutional entity of the agency and its ability to implement the UN mandate granted to it decades ago.
The roots of the current crisis go back to the incitement campaign launched by the Israeli occupation against the agency and its staff following the events of October 7, 2023, which prompted donor countries to suspend their funding. Despite some countries resuming their support, the funding gap remains very wide, directly affecting salaries and logistical services in the camps.
It is worth noting that UNRWA, established in 1949, operates approximately 96 schools in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem alone, where more than 47,000 students receive their basic education. The agency is considered the only lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees who depend on it for food, healthcare, and education in the absence of political solutions to their issue.
These measures are temporary and time-bound until the end of the current year to ensure the continuity of essential services.
شارك برأيك
UNRWA decides to reduce school and staff working hours in its five regions due to funding crisis