Canada Pledges $50 Million For Palestinian Refugees After Trump Cuts Aid
The Government of Canada announced October 12 via its official website that it would be allocating up to $50 million in aid to Palestinian refugees.
In a statement, Minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau said the following.
“Canada’s new funding will contribute to improving the lives and protecting the human dignity of millions of Palestinian refugees. This support will help to send hundreds of thousands of children to school, train teachers and support over a hundred health clinics. This new funding to UNRWA is urgently needed, and it will bring some predictability to the agency as the needs on the ground are increasing.”
Canada will support Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). An additional sum of up to $12.5 million will be allocated to Right to Play International.
Right to Play International is collaborating with UNRWA in an effort to create an inclusive environment for Palestinian refugee children.
Up to $40 million of Canada’s humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees is meant to contribute to meeting the basic health, livelihood, and education needs of refugees, women, and children in particular. These funds, Canada says, will contribute to stability in the region.
The remaining $10 million will provide emergency life-saving assistance to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Syria, also through UNRWA.
According to Canada, these funds will assist UNRWA’s ongoing efforts in the Middle East.
As of 2016, Canada has committed $110 million in support for Palestinian refugees.
This announcement comes less than two months after U.S. President Donald Trump directed the State Department to withdraw $200 million in aid to Palestinian refugees.
In a statement supplied to The Guardian, Head of the Palestinian General Delegation to the United States Husam Zomlot characterized Trump’s cutting of aid as “another confirmation of abandoning the two-state solution and fully embracing Netanyahu’s anti-peace agenda.”
According to Al Jazeera, President Trump has made a number of decisions benefiting Israel thus far, starting with the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In 2017, Trump dropped the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, advocating for a single state solution after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2018, Trump embarked on an economic aid cutting spree.
Israel, however, will continue to receive aid from the United States. Israel will receive $3.8 billion annually under a 10-year deal signed by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, who upped the figure from $3.1 billion.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States has continued to maintain a hardline stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In June this year, for instance, soon to be former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Human Rights Council, citing bias against Israel, according to the Washington Post.
