The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is facing an “existential” budget crisis and is appealing for urgent funding of $120 million to keep essential education, healthcare and other services running this year, its chief said on Friday.
“We keep struggling, running after cash,” Philippe Lazzarini said at the UN headquarters in New York.
“The financial situation is a real existential threat on the organisation, and we should not underestimate this because it might force the organisation to decrease services,” he said.
“We risk collapse very quickly.”
At stake is the agency’s ability to keep 550,000 children in school, provide health care for thousands and pay the salaries of its 28,000 staff in November and December, Mr Lazzarini said.
He also said it was seeking $800m at a donor conference scheduled for November in Brussels.
To fund UNRWA’s “three core activities” – education, health and social services – “we are seeking $800m a year,” Mr Lazzarini said before the gathering, organised by Jordan and Sweden.
“The main objective of the conference is to have a better predictability” and to “promote visibility”, he said.
The funding would allow the agency to keep open the 700 or so schools it managed, as well as health centres, and to provide social welfare to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
In addition to the $800m, Mr Lazzarini said there was also a need for funds for the humanitarian aid provided by UNRWA in Gaza and Syria.
This varies from one year to the next, depending on the crisis, but which the agency estimates will be about $500,000 in 2022.
He emphasised the importance of the US returning as a major donor to UNRWA this year after former president Donald Trump stopped all funding in 2018.
The Biden administration announced in April it would provide a total of $235m to projects in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as to the agency.
But Mr Lazzarini said the US funding had been offset by decreased funding from other donors as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
He pointed to the UK’s cut in its overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of GDP, and the decline in Arab support to UNRWA from $200m in 2018 to about $89m in 2019 and $37m in 2020.
He said UNRWA’s uncertain funding had caused anxiety among Palestinian refugees that the “lifeline” provided by the agency could be weakened, and a feeling of being abandoned by the international community.
Palestinian refugees, their children and grandchildren now number 5.7 million.
Mr Lazzarini said UNRWA only helps the 550,000 in school and 2.8 million who have health benefits.
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Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
