UNRWA IN CRISIS

1902 18th St NW • Washington, DC 20009 | (800) 368-5788 • Fax: (202) 265-4574 ACTION ALERT October 6, 2010 Contact: newseditor@wrmea.com We’ve been asked to forward this to our e-mail action alert list. UNRWA needs our help now. If you’re having trouble viewing this email, you may see it online UNRWA is an agency in crisis.  For more than 60 years, it has tirelessly served as a lifeline for Palestinian refugees, but 2010 is different.  UNRWA is simply overstretched and underfunded.  Due to the increased demand for services and the global financial crisis, the Agency is facing an $80 million deficit and as a result, UNRWA cannot pay staff salaries in November. This is a devastating reality for the 29,000 staff members, 99% of whom are Palestinian refugees themselves, working as doctors, nurses, teachers, counselors and engineers.  Without this staff, UNRWA cannot continue to operate its life-saving programs.   What will become of the 4.8 million Palestinian refugees without UNRWA?  Who will teach the 500,000 students enrolled in UNRWA schools?  Who will care for the patients that visit UNRWA’s 134 health clinics each day? Without your support, we will all be forced to answer these questions. UNRWA has always served as a refuge, providing food, water and shelter in the worst of storms.  From Gaza in 1956 through the cataclysm of June 1967, to Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s and onto successive intifadas, up to Operation Cast Lead in 2009 – UNRWA continues to shield and support the people of Palestine.  However, conditions are more urgent than ever, and the unprecedented budgetary crisis of 2010 may be one storm the Agency cannot weather.   Now, more than ever, the UN agency that has steadfastly worked to provide Palestinians with the tools to improve their lives needs our support.   There are many ways you can help: Click here to make an online donation today with any major credit card. You can also mail a personal check, or if you are a Federal employee donate through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC Code: 32712).  To learn about other ways you can help, visit our website or call us at 202-223-3767. Washington, DC 20006 • (202) 223-3767 • info@FriendsUNRWA.org     ### The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, PO Box 53062, Washington DC 20009. Phone: (202) 939-6050, Fax: (202) 265-4574, Toll Free: (800) 368-5788, www.wrmea.com Published by the American Educational Trust, a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. Material from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs may be printed with out charge with attribution to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.