Palestinian refugee agency seeks $1.6b

GENEVA, Jan 25 (AFP): The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, appealed Tuesday for $1.6 billion for its work in 2023, as it struggles to overcome chronic budget shortfalls.

UNRWA -- which provides services to nearly six million Palestinians registered in the Palestinian territories, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria -- warned that "compounding challenges" had placed it under "immense strain".

The agency, which counts nearly 30,000 staff -- most of them Palestinian refugees -- runs more than 700 schools that offer education to half a million children, and provides health, sanitation and social services, including food and cash assistance.