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full screen Palestinians gather for food distribution in the Gaza Strip. Archive image. Photo: Hatem Ali/AP/TT
Sida increases humanitarian aid to Gaza. An extra SEK 69 million is expected to be paid out in the coming weeks.
At the same time, Sida can continue its support for terrorist accused Unrwa.
– UNRWA has a central role for the humanitarian response, says Jakob Wernerman at Sida.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic, says Wernerman, head of humanitarian aid at Sida. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands are in a famine-like state, according to UN estimates.
– It is very difficult for humanitarian organizations to work in Gaza, but there are totally life-changing activities going on there right now that are financed by Swedish aid funds, he says.
SEK 80 million
Sida has decided to pay SEK 10.2 million to the International Rescue Committee, IRC, for emergency medical care in Gaza. A decision will also be made shortly about another 69 million kroner to several humanitarian organizations in the area. Which ones the aid agency cannot go out with yet.
Jakob Wernerman assures that these funds will not go to dubious organizations – Sida makes proper checks.
– Generally speaking, we have established and long-standing collaborations with these organisations. They have a high reputation. There is no reason for us, and we have received no information, that there would be any such challenge to those organizations.
Unrwa’s support not paid
Recently, Sida decided to delay the payment of SEK 31 million to the UN agency Unrwa following suspicions that employees had a role in the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The funds would have been paid out in February.
Wernerman believes that there was a misunderstanding in the debate, Sida has not stopped the support to Unrwa nor redistributed the funds yet, but the 31 million can still be paid out. Sida is awaiting a UN report on the terror suspicions, which is expected within four weeks, and then the payment can become relevant.
– Unrwa is a long-standing partner of ours, if what has happened is a sign of a serious breach in control mechanisms, routines or not taking correct measures, then it is something we need to review.
At the same time, Unrwa is undoubtedly one of the largest and most central actors in Gaza and supports around 1.7 million people, says Jakob Wernerman.
– All our other humanitarian cooperation partners are clear that it is not possible in the short term to replace Unrwa’s humanitarian activities on the ground.
– It would be incredibly challenging for the humanitarian response if Unrwa was unable to work.
FACTS agency Unrwa
The UN agency UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, was founded after the war that broke out in connection with the creation of Israel in 1948, with the aim of helping the more than 750,000 Palestinians who were forced to flee.
Today, UNRWA helps around 5.9 million Palestinian refugees. Close to 90 percent of donations come from UN member countries. The USA, Germany, the EU, Sweden and Norway have given the greatest support.
Over half of Unrwa’s budget goes to school education. Around 15 percent goes to health promotion measures, according to figures from 2020.
The UN agency has around 30,000 employees, of which 13,000 are in Gaza. A majority are locally employed Palestinians.
In total, Sweden gave SEK 239 million in humanitarian aid to Palestine last year.
Source: Unrwa, The New York Times, Sida and others
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