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UNRWA employees staged a general strike in protest of downsizing plans on Tuesday, paralyzing operations of the cash-strapped UN refugee agency in the Gaza Strip.
"We announce a general strike in all educational, health, and relief institutions and all UNRWA facilities in protest of the agency's downsizing measures and their failure to meet our demands," Amir al-Misshal, head of the UNRWA employees union in Gaza, told Anadolu Agency.
He said the two-day strike will continue until Wednesday.
Al-Misshal said the UNRWA administration “was pushing the union to go into an open-ended strike”.
Dozens of Palestinians staged a rally on Monday to protest plans by UN refugee agency UNRWA to scale down its services in the Palestinian territories.The protest was organized outside the office of the UN refugee agency in the occupied East Jerusalem.Leading among participants in Monday’s rally was Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem.The protesters handed over a message to the UNRWA operations director, in which they “highlighted the UN responsibility and historic role toward the Palestinian issue”.The message cited UN General Assembly resolution 302 that calls for the provision of services to refugees by UNRWA until reaching a just settlement to the issue of Palestinian refugees.Clashes erupt in West Bank amid general strikePalestinians, Israeli-Arabs protest ‘nation-state’ lawParticipants also appealed to international donors to increase their funding to the UN refugee agency “to guarantee UNRWA to continue to do its role”.According to the UNRWA employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.In August, the U.S. administration said it would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Palestinians protest UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plans
"We are pursuing our peaceful and legitimate steps until we regain our rights,” he said.
In late July, an UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency -- which continues to suffer from chronic funding shortfalls -- would not renew the contracts of more than 100 staff members in Gaza.
According to the employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.
UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.
Employees of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Thursday called for a series of measures to be taken in response to recent policy decisions by the agency’s administration.The UNRWA employees union has called for a “civil disobedience” campaign to include protests, strikes and the closure of the UNRWA’s Gaza office."We will conduct a comprehensive strike at all UNRWA institutions [in Gaza] next Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the arbitrary measures the agency has taken against its employees and the services they provide," union head Amir al-Mishal said in Gaza City.Al-Mishal said that UNRWA employees also plan to boycott “all UNRWA workshops and programs”. Palestinians protest UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plansUNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plans“We also announce the closure of the agency’s Gaza office, and all sub-offices, starting next Sunday,” he added.Employees, he continued, plan to escalate their protest activities “until we sit at the negotiation table [with top UNRWA officials]”.Al-Mishal urged countries now participating at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York to "to increase their annual contributions to UNRWA to meet the shortfalls caused by recent U.S. funding cuts”.According to the employees’ union, the cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency. The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Palestinians protest UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plansUNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plans
UNRWA employees in Gaza vow to protest funding cuts
Late in August, the U.S. announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.
The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
UNRWA employees staged a general strike in protest of downsizing plans on Tuesday, paralyzing operations of the cash-strapped UN refugee agency in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA employees strike over downscaling plans