His service UN responsible for providing assistance to Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) collected yesterday Friday a little more than 100 million dollars during a donor conference, a “insufficient» amount to continue its activities after September 1.

About 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWAwhich was established in 1949. In addition to schools and clinics the agency also provides food aid to more than 1.7 million Palestinians, mainly in the Gaza Strip.

In January UNRWA, which last year raised $1.2 billion, appealed for $1.6 billion by 2023, most of which (848 million) is needed to fund essential services such as the health centers and 700 schools it runs, and the rest for its emergency operations in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Nevertheless UN agency, funded almost entirely by voluntary donations, ‘is on the brink of financial collapse’UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized at the start of the conference yesterday morning.

The conference raised $107.2 million in new resources, bringing UNRWA’s total donations to $812.3 million, the agency said, but stressed that “this money is not enough to cover the financial needs after September”.

“While we are grateful for the commitments announced, they are far below what the agency needs to keep the doors of UNRWA’s 700 schools and 140 clinics open from September,” warned its commissioner-general, Filipe Lazzarini.

Citing chronic financial problems, he called for “long-term solutions” to fund the service.