Al-Awda's UNRWA Project

Compelled by the desperate condition of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank after nine months of closures and other punitive measures by Israel since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)has launched an appeal to the international community for US$77 million in emergency funds. This amount is needed to buy and distribute urgently needed food aid, medical supplies and to provide emergency work programmes.

UNRWA believes the international community can help stabilise the situation in the region by quickly responding to the appeal and showing Palestinian refugees that they have not been abandoned by it. The UNRWA appeal is also needed because of the severe decline in the Palestinian economy and the impact of the violence, closures and punitive measures on the health and welfare of refugees. This is UNRWA's third appeal since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The largest individual donor to date is the Netherlands which contributed more than US$13 million to the November Emergency Appeal, nearly US$3million more than the Netherlands' regular and project budget contributions in 1999. The European Union has contributed a similar amount. This latest appeal from UNRWA is for funds needed for emergency operations to the end of the year.

Cuarto de alojamiento MarseilleThe US$ 77 million appeal total was reached after careful assessment of needs in the territories and was made in consultation with the representatives of major donors to UNRWA, NGOs, other UN agencies and the Palestinian Authority. With the US$ 77 million UNRWA plans to:

• ELP 217,000 refugee families, a majority of the population, with basic food aid - including packages of flour, rice, cooking oil and lentils.
• REATE almost 700,000 emergency job opportunity days to support the unemployed and stimulate demand in the devastated Palestinian economy.
• ERROR MSGROVIDE over 5,000 desperately poor families with emergency cash assistance.
• hotels DubrovnikEBUILD 200 refugee shelters destroyed by Israeli shelling and bulldozing operations.
• BUY two ambulances.
• SUPPLY 51 health centres with first aid drugs and emergency medical supplies including prosthetic devices and physiotherapy equipment.
• CREATE extra school days for over 200,000 refugee children to replace some of the days lost to closures and sieges while also creating summer activities for children traumatized by the fighting.

accommodation in NoordwijkAl-Awda aims to help UNRWA in this endeavour by launching its own project in support of UNRWA's appeal. The aims of Al-Awda's project are to:

• Raise awareness about the financial crisis facing UNRWA and the drastic affects of this crisis on the already deteriorating conditions of the Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps in Gaza Strip, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
• Lobby the European Union (EU) and the International Community to fulfil their financial commitments towards UNRWA.
• Highlight the need for a lasting and just solution for the problem of the refugees by the implementation of the UN Resolution 194, which calls for the return of all refugees to their homes.
• Raise funds to support Palestinian refugees through charities and organisations working in refugee camps.

Our project will mainly be carried out through the Al-Awda website where a special section will be dedicated to the UNRWA appeal. The website will include a detailed description of the crisis facing UNRWA and the consequences inflicted on the Palestinian refugees who use UNRWA's services. Sample lobbying and protest letters will be placed on the website with information about how and where to send these letters.

Dubrovnik hôtelsFor more information on UNRWA, visit http://www.un.org/unrwa/