Germany signs pound 28 million in project funding to support Palestine refugees through UNRWA programs

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Government of Germany, through KfW Development Bank, last month signed three agreements in support of Palestine Refugees totaling pound 28 million, today said a press release by UNRWA. ‘The German government will continue to support Palestine Refugees throughout the region. The new agreements will make a substantial contribution to improving living conditions in Palestine Refugee camps. They will enable UNRWA to invest in camp infrastructure and modernize its service provision system. This will make UNRWA’s services more efficient and accessible for Palestine Refugees,’ said Oliver Owcza, Head of the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ramallah. Two of the new agreements, totaling pound 16 million, will support the continuation of the ongoing Regional Program for the Improvement of the Living Conditions of Palestine Refugees in Camps (REPAC). This REPAC funding will improve infrastructure in Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, supporting the construction, extension and rehabilitation of social, economic and environmental infrastructure. The third agreement signed is to provide pound 12 million towards a second phase of the current Digital Transformation in Health and Education program. This innovative project focuses on digitalizing key elements of UNRWA health and education services across Jordan, Gaza Strip, West Bank and Lebanon. Tamara Alrifai, the UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications, said, ‘I am very grateful to Germany for these new agreements that will help improve the living conditions of Palestine Refugees across the region and will allow UNRWA to make crucial infrastructure investments. In addition, the new phase of the digitalization program will help UNRWA implement its digital transformation strategy in the areas of health and education.’ The objective of the REPAC program is to continue to improve the living conditions of people affected by continued crises in and close to Palestine Refugee camps in the region. Members of the camp community are involved in the identification of issues to address through the program as part of the participatory camp improvement process. Agreements signed: EUR 15 million will improve infrastructure in Burj Barajneh, Rashidieh and Beddawi camps in Lebanon, as well as in Gaza City and Deir El-Balah camp in the Gaza Strip. EUR 1 million top-up to the ongoing phase of the program will enable the continued improvement in street infrastructure and create recreational and green areas in Khan Younis camp in Gaza. The second phase of the Digital Transformation in Health and Education program will focus on the continued implementation and expansion of the new UNRWA health software (EMR). The project also supports hardware and infrastructure improvements of selected UNRWA schools in Lebanon and the West Bank, as well as software investments in the UNRWA Education Program’s digital ecosystem. REPAC and the Digital Transformation in Health and Education program are financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and delivered through its implementing partner KfW Development Bank. In 2022, the Government of Germany was the Agency’s second-largest donor, having contributed pound 190 million to the Agency’s Program Budget, Emergency Appeals, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Early Recovery Appeal and different projects. Germany has been a member of the UNRWA Advisory Commission since 2005.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA