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The Acting Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Christian Saunders, today called for a minimum of US$ 1.4 billion to fund the Agency’s essential services and assistance, including life-saving humanitarian aid and priority projects, for 5.6 million registered Palestine refugees across the Middle East for the year 2020.

Rahma Mu’ammar is a ninth-grade student at the UNRWA al-Fukhari Preparatory Girls’ School in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip with a very special dream: she wants to establish a sports centre for women in the Gaza Strip.

Ranna Al Ramlawi is a 24-year old Palestine refugee from Gaza. Her father suffers from Parkinson's disease, leaving him unable to move or work. Ranna’s mother is a teacher at an UNRWA school in the besieged strip. One of nine children, Ranna was unable to complete a university education because of the tough financial straits her family was in. Despite these challenges Ranna managed to create a window of hope through art. Her fierce determination to overcome her challenges led her to turn her frustration and anger into expression through the creation of sand sculptures. “I always loved to draw...

In Lebanon, some 37,000 Palestine refugee students are being educated within 65 UNRWA schools and during the 2019 academic school year, six UNRWA schools were proud to receive the International School Award (ISA) accreditation at the International School Award Ceremony.

In 2019, we faced the most serious financial shortfall in the history of the agency. This already difficult situation was compounded by a crisis of confidence in the agency’s senior leadership following serious allegations of mismanagement.