Estonia donating €80,000 to UN Palestine refugees agency
Estonia is to donate €80,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), towards the organization's core activities.
UNRWA is the sole provider of basic services to 5.9 million Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, plus the occupied Palestinian territory, the foreign ministry says, and is a key contributor to the region's social and political stability.
Rein Tammsaar, Estonia's Permanent Representative to the UN, said: " UNRWA activities provide a hope and a lifeline to Palestine refugees facing tough socio-economic circumstances; circumstances which have been exacerbated by several concurrent crises."
"Estonia has also supported UNRWA work via bilateral initiatives, eg. in education digitization."
UNRWA provides education to half-a-million children, plus health, sanitation, and social services, including food and cash-based assistance, the foreign ministry says.
UNRWA employs nearly 30,000 people, many of them reportedly Palestinian refugees themselves.
The donation will come from the ministry's humanitarian aid budget.
The EU together with its Member States, remains UNRWA's top donor, providing €400 million annually, or almost 40 percent of UNRWA's annual budget.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
