Guterres urges countries to close UNRWA's $100 million funding gap

UNRWA faces a $100 million cashflow shortfall in its 2026 core budget, a gap already forcing cuts that threaten food aid, schools, clinics and emergency support for millions of Palestine refugees. As of May 31, UNRWA put its broader projected funding gap for the year at $275 million, with only about 44 percent of its Programme Budget pledged and roughly $267 million received.

Antonio Guterres pressed countries on June 30 to close the gap, warning that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees was nearing a breaking point after months of austerity. He delivered that appeal at a pledging conference in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at United Nations Headquarters in New York, alongside the President of the General Assembly and UNRWA’s commissioner-general ad interim, Christian Saunders. The meeting aimed to raise financial support for 2026 and beyond.

UNRWA would be unable to continue delivering critical services to 3.25 million Palestine refugees without adequate resources. UNRWA serves 5.9 million Palestine refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and provides education, primary health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure, protection, microfinance and emergency aid.

On June 11, UNRWA terminated 70 staff members in Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini said the funding squeeze had forced UNRWA to cut services by 20 percent, meaning schools that had opened five days a week would drop to four and health clinics would run 32 hours a week instead of 40.

Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949, the agency relies almost entirely on voluntary contributions, and donor promises have often fallen short of cash actually received. Pledges reached $878 million in 2025, while receipts totaled $839 million. Attacks since 2023 have killed about 390 UNRWA staff and damaged U.N. property, while humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank have deepened.