Guterres Urges Immediate Funding for UNRWA as Liquidity Crisis Threatens Services for 2.6 Million Palestinians

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged member states to provide immediate financial support to UNRWA, warning that “the safety and welfare of millions of Palestine refugees hangs in the balance.”

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged member states to provide immediate financial support to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warning that a severe funding shortfall threatens humanitarian operations and regional stability”

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Christian Saunders, UNRWA’s acting commissioner-general, told a pledging conference that “UNRWA’s financial situation is untenable and the viability of our operations across the region is at stake,” citing a $100 million cash shortfall and a 20 percent cut in service-delivery hours in January.

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Saunders said austerity measures valued at $175 million in 2025 had so far staved off mass layoffs, while the agency was forced to slash the salaries of many Palestinian members of staff and keep 15.5 percent of international posts vacant.

Guterres said Israeli attacks had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since last October’s ceasefire agreement and that “living conditions are utterly appalling,” with challenges including unexploded ordnance, open sewers, rodent infestations, disease outbreaks and widespread displacement.

He warned that “UNRWA’s liquidity crisis” jeopardized its ability to implement its mandate, which he said was renewed by an overwhelming majority of UN member states six months ago and underpins services provided for 2.6 million people.

Guterres said more than 390 agency workers have been killed and thousands injured or subjected to abuse since October 2023, adding that “Every single one of the agency’s premises in the Strip has been damaged or destroyed.”

He also said international staff have been barred from entering Gaza for nearly 18 months and condemned the seizure in January of UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters as “a striking and unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities.”

Anadolu Ajansi

The UK statement at the UNRWA Pledging Conference said it would provide $30.7 million to UNRWA this year, including $1.3 million to support implementation of the Colonna Report.

It also said UNRWA has delivered over 18.7 million health consultations since October 2023 and is reaching around 860,000 people each day with clean water, calling it “essential public health work.”

In parallel, the Jerusalem Post reported Guterres saying UNRWA was nearing a breaking point after deep cost-cutting and austerity measures, and quoting him: “They cannot keep going like this without urgent backing and financial support from member states.”

Guterres and Saunders framed UNRWA’s survival as regional stability, with Guterres calling it “a stabilizing force in an age of instability” that helps counter “the hopelessness that can fuel insecurity.”

“NEW YORK CITY: The operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees are at breaking point, its chief warned the UN General Assembly on Tuesday”

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The Global Issues.org account said UNRWA serves 5.9 million Palestine refugees and faces an unprecedented $100 million budget shortfall, hoping to narrow the gap during Tuesday’s pledging conference at UN Headquarters.

It reported that in 2025 pledges reached $878 million but UNRWA received only $839 million, and that the liquidity crisis jeopardizes UNRWA’s ability to implement its mandate renewed six months ago with overwhelming member state support.

Annalena Baerbock told member states gathered at the pledging conference that “A Palestinian State means that UNRWA is no longer needed,” while urging support for the “two-State solution” and saying “let us never stop supporting UNRWA.”

Mirage News quoted Baerbock’s remarks that UNRWA has already cut service hours by 20 per cent and that it confronts an unprecedented cash-flow deficit of 100 million dollars for 2026, warning that without funding “the pursuit of a just and lasting peace… becomes harder, if not impossible.”