UNRWA USA Ramps Up Focus on the Restoration of US Government Funding for Humanitarian Aid including for Gaza
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WASHINGTON DC — This past week, dozens of American advocates from 16 different states and members of UNRWA USA were in Washington DC to meet with members of the new Congress to support the forthcoming reintroduction of the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025, which would resume US government funding for UNRWA to deliver essential relief such as food, primary healthcare, and education to Palestine refugees across the Middle East.
Lawmakers are expected to reintroduce the bill in the coming weeks.
The bill, first introduced in September 2024, has already earned the support of several members of Congress, including Representatives André Carson, Pramila Jayapal, and Jan Schakowsky in the House of Representatives, and Senators Peter Welch, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Amy Klobuchar, and Mazie Hirono in the Senate. UNRWA USA is urging its supporters to write to their representatives and encourage them to co-sponsor the forthcoming bill.
During their visit to the US Capitol, UNRWA USA advocates—alongside recent evacuees from Gaza and beneficiaries of UNRWA’s services who shared their powerful testimonies with Members of Congress—met with the offices of roughly 50 elected officials in the House and Senate, representing 16 states and 19 districts. Advocates traveled from as far as Hawaii, Oregon, California, and Washington state to Washington, DC to advocate for UNRWA, meeting with lawmakers including Senators Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, and Tim Scott, as well as Representative Chris Pappas.
United States government funding for UNRWA was suspended in January 2024 under the Biden administration and remains frozen today. Without the US government’s full financial support, UNRWA’s ability to continue its life-saving work for Palestine refugees at the scale needed, including in Gaza will be in jeopardy.
Since UNRWA’s inception in 1949/1950, the US has been the largest and longest financial contributor to UNRWA, sending $422 million in 2023 and $343 million in 2022. However, the US paused funding in early 2024 while it investigated allegations against UNRWA employees.
Despite the ongoing suspension, support among grassroots American donors has increased via UNRWA USA. Since October 2023, roughly 139,000 people have donated to UNRWA USA, an increase from 7,000 active donors before the current emergency. Those donors, and some institutional funders, gave $32 million in 2023 and the total raised in 2024 was over $51 million.
While increased donor support has helped bridge a tiny fraction of that funding gap, it doesn’t come close to what the US typically spends each year on UNRWA. That’s why UNRWA USA is urging members of the new Congress to make the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025 a priority, restoring full funding for education, food, water, shelter, and primary healthcare for Palestine refugees not just in Gaza but across UNRWA’s five fields of operation.
Even with the long-overdue reprieve of a ceasefire, the humanitarian response in Gaza cannot afford obstacles or roadblocks. UNRWA USA is particularly horrified to see that Israel blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza on March 2nd at a time when crisis levels of food insecurity still threaten over 90 percent of Gaza’s population. Nearly all hospitals in Gaza are damaged or partly destroyed, and with universities and schools in ruins, education in Gaza will be crippled for years. UNRWA is currently responsible for 60 percent of all food entering Gaza since the ceasefire began, and it conducts around 17,000 medical consultations every day. Overall, UNRWA alone accounts for half the entire emergency response in Gaza.
“UNRWA is irreplaceable. No other international organization has the experience and expertise to deliver this kind of wide-scale critical humanitarian aid,” said UNRWA USA Executive Director Mara Kronenfeld. “The U.S. funding freeze cripples decades of U.S. foreign policy and national security interests. Humanitarian leadership is the brand that’s built the U.S.’ global reputation for decades. Restoring UNRWA funding brings our country back there.”
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UNRWA USA National Committee (UNRWA USA) is an independent nonprofit organization that provides support for the humanitarian work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA USA lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees to secure American support for resources essential to every human being, for the promise of a better life. US taxpayers are eligible for tax deductions for donations made through UNRWA USA.
Media Contact: For more information, contact Laila Mokhiber, Senior Director of Communications, UNRWA USA, by phone at (202) 223-3767 or via email at laila@unrwausa.org.
