Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the UN Relief and Work Agency of the potential effect of financial shortfalls in (a) 2015-16 and (b) future on the provision of aid to the Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The Secretary of State for International Development met UNRWA’s Commissioner General, Pierre Krahenbuhl, in December 2015 to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to UNRWA. Their discussion also focused on the important reforms UNRWA has been undertaking to address their chronic deficit and the need for UNRWA to diversify their donor base. The UK remains the third largest donor to UNRWA’s core budget and emergency appeals, in recognition of the important work that UNRWA does and that Palestinian refugees are a particularly vulnerable group across the region.