Date: 15 January 2026
Donors Urged to Provide Early Funding to Enable UNRWA to Manage Its Programs During the First Quarter of the Current Year
Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, Dr. Ahmad Abu Holi, called on the Head of the Representative Office of Brazil to the State of Palestine, Ambassador João Soares, in his capacity as Chair of UNRWA’s Advisory Commission, to convene an emergency meeting of the Commission to assess the repercussions of UNRWA’s recent decisions and its financial crisis, which has taken a serious and unprecedented turn that threatens to undermine its mandate, violate the rights and job security of its staff, and jeopardize the services it provides to millions of refugees across its five fields of operation.
During his meeting with Ambassador João Soares at the headquarters of the Department of Refugee Affairs in Ramallah on Thursday, in the presence of Deputy Head of the Department Anwar Hammam, Abu Holi stressed the need to explore ways to protect UNRWA’s mandate and enable it to overcome its financial crisis in a manner that ensures the continuity of its vital services to Palestinian refugees and safeguards the rights and job security of its staff, in light of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in refugee camps across its five fields of operation. He emphasized the importance of strengthening UNRWA’s status and mandate to lead recovery and reconstruction plans for the destroyed Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as the body entrusted with the mandate over Palestinian refugee camps under UN General Assembly Resolution 302.
The meeting discussed the conditions of Palestinian refugees in the camps, UNRWA’s financial crisis, the challenges facing its operations, and UNRWA’s recent decisions and their implications for the mandate granted under Resolution 302, in light of the ongoing military aggression against refugee camps in the northern West Bank and the deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip amid the continued repercussions of the war of extermination and the blockade.
Abu Holi briefed the Brazilian Ambassador on the conditions of Palestinian refugees in the camps and the targeting of these camps by the Israeli occupation, including decisions to cut water and electricity supplies to UNRWA facilities in occupied Jerusalem. He also addressed UNRWA’s severe financial situation, explaining that the Agency is facing a significant reduction in its 2026 budget as a result of a decline in donor support by more than 50%, leading to a major financial deficit estimated at 40% of its regular budget, which amounts to USD 959 million, in addition to political pressure and the campaign led by the occupation government against UNRWA.
Abu Holi warned of the seriousness of UNRWA’s recent decisions, which included the termination of contracts of 560 staff members who were forcibly displaced from the Gaza Strip to the Arab Republic of Egypt, with their entitlements settled by 2026; the payment of only 80% of staff salaries in exchange for a 20% reduction in working hours and the cancellation of currency adjustment differentials that affected their wages; the privatization of the security department; and the designation of 20 staff members as surplus until 31 March. He cautioned that the repercussions of these decisions are already manifesting on the ground, as UNRWA staff unions have announced a labor dispute that may escalate into an open-ended strike, posing a real threat to the refugee community and the essential services provided to them.
Abu Holi underscored the importance of Brazil’s role in supporting UNRWA’s mandate and mobilizing funding for its budget through its chairmanship of the Advisory Commission, calling on Brazil to increase its funding and urge donor countries to provide their contributions early, in order to enable UNRWA to overcome the anticipated financial deficit in the first quarter of 2026.
He affirmed that early funding is a decisive factor in ensuring the continuity of UNRWA’s vital services, protecting its legal mandate, and preserving the rights of Palestinian refugees and Agency staff, particularly in light of the severe humanitarian and economic conditions prevailing in UNRWA’s fields of operation, especially in the Gaza Strip and the refugee camps of the West Bank.
Abu Holi stressed the PLO’s firm rejection of UNRWA’s adoption of service reduction policies as a remedial measure to address its funding crisis, emphasizing that resolving the crisis must come through donors’ fulfillment of their financial pledges—either by expediting disbursements or increasing funding—and not at the expense of staff rights and job security or through reducing services provided to refugees.
Dr. Abu Holi rejected any attempts to undermine UNRWA’s status or its mandate granted under Resolution 302 by transferring its responsibilities to alternative international organizations, affirming the continuation of UNRWA’s work until a political solution to the refugee issue is achieved in accordance with Resolution 194.
He added that UNRWA’s presence and the continuation of its services in its fields of operation in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank including Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan constitute a stabilizing factor in the region and a lifeline for Palestinian refugees who rely primarily on its services and food and cash assistance.
Abu Holi rejected the proposals contained in the strategic assessment known as the “Ian Martin Report,” explaining that the assessment effectively calls for a “gradual transfer of UNRWA’s responsibilities to host countries,” which represents a political liquidation of the refugee issue.
For his part, the Brazilian Ambassador reaffirmed his support for UNRWA and expressed his country’s readiness, from its position as Chair of the Advisory Commission, to support any initiative aimed at overcoming the current impasse.
