New UK DFID Aid for UNRWA

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has pledged ₤1.5 million of new support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The aid will go the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides services to Palestinian refugees in a number of countries.The money is intended to provide rental subsidies to almost 3500 families for the next two months, in addition to a month’s medical aid for approximately 1200 families. Over 425 000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, often in insecure conditions and abject poverty. The minister for the DFID, Alan Duncan, stated, ‘I remain concerned by the difficulties facing thousands of Palestinian refugee families in Lebanon, especially those displaced from the Nahr el Bared camp.’ In 2010 the DFID gave a total of ₤27 million to UNRWA.