Minister Coveney Announces Additional Support for Palestine
Press release
03 November 2021The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Simon Coveney, T.D, today announced €2.4 million in additional support for the Palestinian people during a working visit to the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
The package includes €2 million for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides essential services to 5.7 million Palestine refugees in the oPt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and brings Ireland’s support to the agency to €9 million in 2021.
The remainder of the funding will support the UN in providing humanitarian assistance in the oPt, UNICEF’s work with Palestinian children and the West Bank Protection Consortium’s activities with threatened communities in the West Bank.
Minister Coveney said:
“Today I heard directly from communities in the occupied Palestinian territory about the challenges they face, and from humanitarian agencies about the high level of need in the Palestinian community.
“This Irish Aid funding will help the UN and others to provide essential support to vulnerable people, including those in Gaza who are dealing with the impact of the May hostilities and the effects of the ongoing blockade.
“Once again we are focusing on the needs of Palestinian children by supporting UNICEF in their important work. The plight of children in this conflict is appalling, and our support of UNICEF seeks to alleviate the dire situation they are facing. As I stated at the UN Security Council earlier this year, children must never be made prisoners of history.”
The Minister of State for Overseas Development and Diaspora, Colm Brophy TD, added:
“Support for the Palestinian people is an important element of Ireland’s international development programme. This additional funding will allow our partners to meet the needs of communities in the occupied Palestinian territory at a time when they are under enormous stress.”
ENDS
Press Office
3 November 2021
- This announcement brings Ireland’s assistance to the Palestinian people in 2021 to more than €17 million.
- In addition to €2 million for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), €200,000 will be provided to UNICEF for the safeguarding of children’s rights. Earlier this year, Ireland provided €500,000 to UNICEF for child protection, medical and sanitation services to thousands of children following the May hostilities.
- €100,000 will be provided to the oPt Humanitarian Fund, a funding mechanism managed by the UN, that responds to humanitarian emergencies.
- €100,000 will also be provided to the West Bank Protection Consortium, which works to prevent the forced transfer of threatened communities in the West Bank, providing them with legal aid and coordinating access to essential services including water and sanitation, shelter, education and health.