Gov’t exempts UNRWA from school textbook costs

AMMAN — Education Minister Walid Maani said on Thursday that the ministry will bear the costs of textbooks for the schools run by UNRWA in Jordan for the 2019-20 scholastic year.

Maani was quoted in Al Rai Arabic daily as saying that the ministry’s initiative came in light of the financial difficulties the UN relief agency is facing.

UNRWA Jordan Operations Director Mohammad Adar thanked the government on Thursday for its “steadfast” support for UNRWA’s works and programmes.

In a statement on Thursday, Adar voiced UNRWA’s appreciation to the government for its decision to exempt the agency from the costs of school textbooks amounting to around JD1.3 million.

He said that the decision will help UNRWA ensure the distribution of textbooks to all of its students, “numbering more than 123,000 in 169 schools in Jordan.”

UNRWA’s work covers Palestinian refugees mainly residing in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In Jordan, over 2.1 million registered Palestine refugees distributed among 10 camps benefit from the agency's services and financial aid.

UNRWA’s financial problems started at the beginning of 2018 when it began the year with an overall budget shortfall of $146 million. The situation was then aggravated by the withdrawal of funding from the largest UNRWA donor — the US — and so the budget shortfall increased to $446 million.