BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

UNRWA Funding
Assistance
UNRWA’s funding comes from three different sources: the regular budget, the project budget, and emergency and
flash appeals. The regular and project budgets together form the total annual budget, while the emergency and flash
appeals are driven by the humanitarian situation. The regular budget is designed on the basis of a “needs-based
approach”, and is divided into cash contributions and in-kind donations (food aid, for instance). It includes recurrent
costs for ongoing programmes, i.e., education, health, relief and social services. The project budget comprises mainly
non-recurrent costs for specific projects and activities, such as the construction of schools, health centres or camp
infrastructure. These projects can be carried out only if donors specifically fund them.
Since its establishment in 1950, UNRWA has faced continual shortfalls in donor contributions related to the system of
voluntary funding by UN member states, delays in contributions for current budget cycles, political and humanitarian
crises that necessitate emergency programmes, rising costs and inflation. The lack of any prospect of durable solutions
places further strain on Agency services. Lack of funding for UNRWA’s regular budget, as well as budgets for projects
and emergency appeals, have affected UNRWA’s activities over the past few years.
A similar trend was observed in 2006, when the funding gap for the regular budget, the projects and the emergency
appeal amounted to a total of US $264,7 million – only 34% of the requested funds for 2006 (excluding the Lebanon
and Beit Hanoun flash appeals). 89 The funding gap was particularly notable for the project budget, which led UNRWA
to warn that lack of funding “w[ould] certainly result in non-implementation of badly needed infrastructural requirements
essential for the efficient delivery of services to registered Palestine refugees.” 90
Since 1950, over 115 donor states, in addition to the European Union and non-governmental sources, have contributed
US 8.3$ billion (not including inflation) towards providing international assistance to Palestinian refugees. The single
biggest donor between 1950 and 2006 has been the United States. However, Norway, Sweden and Denmark are the
most “generous” donor states to UNRWA when total contributions as of 2000 are calculated on a per capita basis,
as well as a percentage of GDP. The most generous donors in terms of the proportion of aid channelled to UNRWA
are Sweden, Norway, the United States and Switzerland – each of which gave approximately 1% of total overseas
development aid funding to UNRWA. 91 In absolute terms, most funding for UNRWA in 2006 came from the European
Commission (28%), the United States (27%), Sweden (8%), and Canada (5%).
Table 3.6: Top 10 UNRWA Donors in 2006 (in US dollars)
Source Regular Budget
Non-Regular Budget
Project Budget and
Emergency Appeal
1. European Commission 96,470,176 46,783,440 143,253,616
2. United States 79,560,000 57,350,000 137,000,000
3. Sweden 29,635,488 11,552,665 41,188,153
4. Canada 8,620,690 19,106,433 27,727,123
5. United Kingdom 26,191,696 897,088 27,088,784
6. Norway 14,749,263 10,565,995 25,315,258
7. Netherlands 15,766,924 2,418,716 18,185,640
8. Japan 7,031,687 6,832,703 13,864,390
9. Denmark 10,012,378 3,713,010 13,725,388
10. Spain 8,161,709 5,157,602 13,319,311
Source: UNRWA, Pledges to UNRWA for 2006 (Cash and in Kind), as of 31 December 2006.
Arab states have contributed an annual average of less than 2% of the general budget of UNRWA, which is significantly less than the
7.73% they initially committed to contributing. Since 1950, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya have been the largest Arab state donors
to UNRWA’s regular budget. The total Arab contribution to UNRWA’s budget in 2006 (including regular and project budgets as well
as emergency appeals) amounted to 0.76% of the total UNRWA budget (US 779,8$ million).
Total
2006
95