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UNRWA Inaugurates Saudi-Funded Health Center in Gaza

UNRWA Inaugurates Saudi-Funded Health Center in Gaza
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UNRWA Inaugurates Saudi-Funded Health Center in Gaza

UNRWA Inaugurates Saudi-Funded Health Center in Gaza

Funded by Saudi Arabia, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) inaugurated Al-Sabra Health Center in Gaza City.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that UNRWA was able to build the health center with generous funding from the Kingdom through the Saudi Fund for Development.

Notably, this comes as part of an agreement signed between UNRWA and KSA in 2018 with funds worth $31 million, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

In addition to building the Al-Sabra Health Center, the agreement also provides for the construction, furnishing, equipment and maintenance of UNRWA's schools, restoration and reconstruction of more than 250 homes, and the provision of fuel for water and sanitation facilities in Gaza.

Lazzarini pointed out that Saudi Arabia is one of the most important donors to UNRWA.

He noted that over the past five years, the Kingdom has funded the construction of seven health centers in Gaza through the Saudi Fund for Development.

It has also financed the construction of a number of schools and the reconstruction of more than 1,000 completely destroyed homes.

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UN Migration Agency Head: Interim Syria Leaders Recognize Challenges Ahead

Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
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UN Migration Agency Head: Interim Syria Leaders Recognize Challenges Ahead

Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS

The head of the UN migration agency said she was reassured by commitments she heard from Syria’s new caretaker government in meetings in Damascus, as the country seeks to rebuild after more than a half-century of rule under the Assad family.

Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that Syria’s new leaders “recognize the job they have ahead of them is enormous and that they need the support of the international community.”

IOM estimates about 100,000 people — many looking to return to their former homes — have entered Syria from neighboring countries since Dec. 8, the day former President Bashar Assad fled the country as opposition fighters swarmed into the capital.

“We are also seeing about 85,000 people come out” into Lebanon through established border crossing points, she said. “It’s a rough figure: There’s certainly people who cross informally and so they’re not counted.”

Most of those found to be leaving are Shiites, she said.

“There’s no question to me that at this moment in time, they are looking for ways to make this work, to be more inclusive, to build partnerships across the international community, to build partnerships with other governments,” Pope said of the caretaker government. “It’s just going to be a question of whether they can deliver.”

IOM said Pope was one of the first heads of a UN agency to visit Syria since Assad’s ouster, and she met with unspecified members of the caretaker government on Tuesday, as well as UN officials and advocacy groups.

She reaffirmed the IOM's commitment to Syria. The organization has been providing assistance to people in the country since 2014 and is seeking $30 million in urgent aid funding for the next four months to try to help nearly 685,000 people in the northwest of the country.