The Canadian government announced that it intends to provide emergency financial assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is suffering from a severe financial crisis due to United States suspending its funding.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday, October 12, 2018, confirming that UNRWA will be receiving 50 million Canadian dollars (33 million euros) over the coming two years.

Most of the fund will be directed to improving education, health and living conditions of millions of Palestinian refugees, especially women and children, the statement confirmed.

The rest of the fund will be allocated to vital emergency assistance to more than 460,000 Palestinian refugees who reside in Syria and Lebanon.

UNRWA

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949. It currently offers education to more than 500,000 refugee students in more than 700 schools. The Agency also offers healthcare as well as food and cash assistance programs throughout the region, serving a total of 5.3 million Palestinian refugees.