UNRWA chief calls for urgent funding, reform as agency faces $100 million deficit

UNRWA head Christian Saunders on Tuesday called for urgent financial and political backing from UN member states, warning that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees cannot sustain its operations without new funding.

Speaking at the General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee's announcement of voluntary contributions to UNRWA, Saunders said the agency remains indispensable to millions of Palestinian refugees but faces mounting political, operational and financial challenges.

"To safeguard our mandate to protect and assist Palestine Refugees, and to uphold our commitment to giving them the best possible chance at fulfilling and meaningful lives, the agency must evolve. The agency must reform," Saunders said.

Established by the UN General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA continues to provide humanitarian assistance, education, healthcare and social services to Palestinian refugees across the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Saunders said the agency remains the largest humanitarian organization operating in Gaza, where approximately 1.7 million people depend on its services.

He said more than 390 UNRWA employees have been killed in Gaza since the war began, while thousands more have been injured or subjected to "abuse and ill-treatment."

"UNRWA is a critical platform for recovery, institutional stability, and lasting peace. Preserving and strengthening this asset is essential, not only for those it serves but for the region's future," he added.

GOAL 'TO MAKE UNRWA MORE FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE'

According to Saunders, UNRWA's 11,000 staff in Gaza continue to provide approximately 80,000 medical consultations each week through more than 1,300 healthcare workers. The agency also operates water wells, desalination systems and waste management services benefiting more than 1 million people, while providing emergency education and psychosocial support to hundreds of thousands of children.

Despite those efforts, Saunders said Israeli restrictions continue to hamper the agency's work.

"These services, which keep people and hope alive, continue despite the draconian restrictions imposed on UNRWA," he said.

Saunders also expressed concern over developments in the occupied West Bank, saying the extension of Israeli military closure orders has prevented 33,000 displaced residents from returning to refugee camps in the north, calling it the largest displacement of Palestine refugees since 1967.

On finances, Saunders warned that UNRWA remains in a precarious position despite implementing $175 million in austerity and cost-control measures last year.

The agency still faces a $100 million cash-flow deficit for 2026, he said.

"I must underscore that these severe austerity and cost-control measures are not sustainable in the long term and cannot continue indefinitely," the agency head said. "It will simply not be possible to restore UNRWA's operations to their past scope-or to prevent further deterioration-in the absence of a significant influx of new funding and change."

Saunders concluded by urging member states to provide both political and financial support, calling for the lifting of access restrictions in Gaza and backing for reforms that would enable UNRWA to continue serving Palestinian refugees.

"Our goal over the next five to 10 years is to make UNRWA more financially sustainable and supportable, by reducing duplication and redundancy and by adopting a more sustainable service-delivery model," he said.