AMMAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on Tuesday urged donor countries to renew their support to the agency.
The agency's Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl made the remarks at the conclusion of the two-day meetings of the agency's Advisory Commission in Jordan, where he underlined the need to bridge the deficit to enable the agency to provide its services.
The agency was left with a deficit of 446 million U.S. dollars last year after the United States decided to reduce its funding from 350 million dollars to 60 million dollars. However, 42 countries banded together to fill the gap in 2018, he said, according to a statement by UNRWA.
The agency needs around 1.2 billion dollars to be able to provide services this year. The UN agency suffered after the United States decided to cut its funding last year and then competently halted its support to the agency.
Last year, the U.S. State Department said that the United States will not provide assistance finding any more for UNRWA.
