Jordan will be hit hard if UNRWA funding does not resume

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s already struggling economy will face even tougher times if several donors continue to suspend funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and its services are closed or slashed. consequence, the country head of UNRWA said on Tuesday.

“The current suspension of funding is jeopardizing the continuation of these services after the end of February. It will have serious consequences (on UNRWA operations),” said Olaf Becker, Jordan director of the UN relief agency and employment.

UNRWA, which provides health care, education and other services, has been in crisis since Israel said 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which precipitated the war between Israel and Hamas. The allegations prompted major donors to suspend funding.

Jordan, which lies at the center of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is home to 2.4 million Palestinian refugees, the highest number among Israel’s neighbors. Many of its citizens are of Palestinian origin.

Jordan already provides $1 billion in infrastructure and other services to 10 Palestinian camps across the country, where the agency runs schools and health services for nearly 400,000 residents, Becker said.

UNRWA was already helping the economy with 7,000 workers on its payroll, making it one of the kingdom’s largest employers, injecting more than $120 million in wages into the economy annually, Becker said.

Its services support over one million Palestinian refugees in the kingdom with, on average, 20% lower costs than the state in providing comparable services, Becker added.

“Our first option would be to reduce our services and that might require different modalities, but it’s very difficult: what to choose, healthcare or education or sanitation?” He said.

“School-age children may have nowhere to go… It would be very harmful to social cohesion in Jordan,” Becker said.

Jordan, a staunch ally of the United States, believes it is essential to continue to empower UNRWA, founded in 1949 under a United Nations mandate in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, speaking on a visit to the White House on Monday, said UNRWA’s work in Jordan is “vital” and it is vital that it receives support to continue its mandate.

Sheri Ritsema-Anderson, UN resident coordinator in Jordan, said that no other UN agency could take on UNRWA’s role at short notice and within its cost structure.

Jordanian officials say any attempt to dismantle UNRWA would undermine Palestinians’ right under international law to return to abandoned homes in Israel or to be compensated.