In an interview with Al Jazeera Net .. UNRWA Director in Gaza presents the reality of the Agency and its future

Interviewed by Ola Mousa, Gaza

UNRWA schools opened this year to hundreds of thousands of students in the Gaza Strip, the most concentrated area of ​​UNRWA's services, compared to its five areas of work, amid general concern for them about fears that have persisted since the cutoff in support. American her a year and a half ago.

To talk about these and other things, Al Jazeera Net held a dialogue with UNRWA Operations Director Matthias North.

- Let's start from UNRWA's financial situation. You had a meeting in Cairo, and there is a meeting in New York. How many UNRWA staff? How many people benefit from services in your five areas of operation and specifically in Gaza?

To begin with, the general budget is $ 1.2 billion a year, to cover the cost of services in UNRWA's five areas of operation, but in the current situation we have a shortfall of about $ 120 million.

Regarding the Cairo meeting, which was attended by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the Arab countries expressed great sympathy for UNRWA, which we hope will continue, and soon there will be meetings in New York to open the General Assembly.We hope that the Arab countries will continue to support and fulfill the commitments to overcome the financial crisis.

The number of staff is around 30,000 in the five areas of operation, and in the Gaza Strip 13,000. According to recent statistics, there are 5.5 million Palestinian refugees, and in Gaza alone 1.4 million, all of whom are entitled to UNRWA services.

- How did this school year start in UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip despite the worsening crisis?

We opened this school year on time for 280,000 students in Gaza, despite the financial crisis and the gap of more than $ 120 million, but when I talk about the risks, I mean to provide staff salaries until the end of the year, and our ability to pay these salaries, and I am not talking here about There is a decision not to pay salaries but there are doubts, and in the coming weeks I hope to get donations to fill this gap.

- How many students in your schools? How much is the rise in students compared to last year?

We are still in the final stages of counting the exact number, but 280,000 is the approximate number, which is an increase of about 3000 students from last year, where the number of 277 thousand students.

- There are complaints of overcrowding in the classroom? And other complaints about schools that teach three periods per school day; what about this topic?

I understand these complaints, and the average number of students in the classroom is 41 students per class, which is similar to last year, and I know that the number is somewhat high, but education experts said the average number of students per class is 40, but this problem is caused by the situation. Financial hard.

- There are international reports that the Gaza Strip will become viable by 2020, what is your assessment of life in Gaza and is it really bad?

I was asked a lot about this, and indeed I am in a difficult place to live, I look at several aspects of life in Gaza, including unprecedented unemployment rates, and there are ratios that it is more than 50% and sometimes up to 70% among young people .. There is no place in The world has these unemployment rates.

Around one million refugees (half the population of the Gaza Strip) depend on our food aid.

When I also see the high rates of psychological problems and high suicide rates, I wonder why the society of the Gaza Strip has withstood?

I think there are three reasons why the collapse has not stopped: first, the sympathy among the Palestinians themselves, despite the extreme poverty of the majority, the Palestinians abroad or others who send financial aid to their families, and the third is the existence of UN institutions.

- How many Gazans now benefit from UNRWA services? How many of them are refugees? What services are not available to Gazans?

There are 1.4 million refugees in Gaza who have full access to our services, including education, health, food assistance, psychosocial support and construction projects.

The most unavailable services relate to health services, but we are referring some of the cases from UNRWA clinics to hospitals.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] I said in previous statements: "Gaza is the most geographic area to receive support from UNRWA." Why?

Gaza is getting a lot of attention for a number of reasons: it has been under siege for 13 years, in addition to three wars that have gone through it.

So what is the difference between aid in the Gaza Strip in 2005 and this year?

Although I was not in Gaza in 2005, but I know where it was, there was no siege and Hamas did not rule Gaza. In 2005, the number of beneficiaries of food aid was about 100,000, but today in 2019 there are one million people benefiting from food programs.

- How do you face the high rate of aid in light of the financial crisis?

There are reasons why we can continue to help. Last year, the United States cut off its $ 300 million in aid. As a result, 42 institutions and countries helped us to meet our financial needs, including the European Union, which has increased its contribution to cover the deficit.

The second reason we moved to the austerity option, for example, we stopped hiring new teachers and relied on teachers' daily contracts.

- Can the refugees in Gaza lose one of your services in the coming period if the crisis continues? And what this service or services?

I am concerned that we will be unable to meet our obligations, but I hope that we will have the resources to continue our services, and the situation will be difficult for Gazans if there is any downsizing.

- You said that you had to reduce the proportion of UNRWA staff within a year, how many? Is there a possibility at the end of the year to dispense with others?

Yes, it was reduced. Last year, 100 employees were terminated. This is not a good message for those whose contracts have been terminated, but we have to admit that we are under new pressure, and the good part of the matter is that we miraculously survived and we were able to Continue services.

- Which countries are most committed to supporting UNRWA? And what countries have compensated for the interruption of US aid? Have Arab countries played their part in supporting UNRWA's budget and filling its budget shortfall?

I can say that the EU group is committed, but Germany has been the most supportive country, and four Gulf countries have contributed significantly to make up for the shortfall, such as Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Other countries have increased their donations, such as India, Russia, Turkey and China, and even small countries stood with us, including Afghanistan, which provided $ 1 million.

- There are those who talk about US and Israeli efforts to liquidate UNRWA and transfer responsibility to Arab countries only, and weaken them by pressing donors to stop their financial assistance? Is this accurate and how do you see it?

We all read the same news sites and newspapers, and the positions of governments in America and Israel are not friendly to the refugee issue. I really don't know what pressure they are putting on others.