Canada gives $50-million to UN Palestinian refugee agency that U.S. calls flawed
Saturday October 13, 2018
MIKE BLANCHFIELD
A Palestinian women walks with her children near an entrance of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency health center in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, Oct.10, 2018. AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS
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Canada is earmarking $40-million toward the basic education, health and livelihood needs of millions of Palestinian refugees, especially women and children. Another $10-million is aimed at helping 460,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria and Lebanon.
The new Canadian funds come two weeks after the European Union pledged an extra US$46-million to UNRWA to support its health and education services.
International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Canada’s new contribution would improve lives and "protect the human dignity” of millions of Palestinian refugees.
"This new funding to UNRWA is urgently needed, and it will bring some predictability to the agency as the needs on the ground are increasing,” she said in a statement.
Israel, meanwhile, has praised the U.S. decision to cut UNRWA funding, which the Trump administration said was an "irredeemably flawed” organization when it announced its decision at the end of August.
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and his administration’s leading Mideast adviser, said in an internal e-mail published by Foreign Policy magazine that the agency "perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn’t help peace.”
Mr. Kushner also reportedly called for a "sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA” in the e-mail.
Last month, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that the agency does work that is critical to the well-being of his people, but the United States simply wants to "obliterate it altogether.”
Canada gives $50-million to UN Palestinian refugee agency that U.S. calls flawed
Canada is contributing $50-million to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency – after the United States decided to stop funding what it called an "irredeemably flawed" organization. The new Canadian funds announced Friday wil