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In his address to the conference Riyad Mansour the Palestinian permanent observer to the United Nations highlighted the need for bolstered backing to implement key resolutions on the refugee question. He argued that such measures would help secure a just lasting and comprehensive solution based on established UN parameters. Mansour pointed to the acute hardships confronting Palestinian refugees which he described as having intensified to unprecedented levels amid the military offensive in the occupied Palestinian territory. The envoy stressed that UNRWA has maintained essential operations despite facing both direct obstacles and a chronic lack of resources.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described conditions in Gaza as dire with humanitarian requirements escalating rapidly across the enclave. Guterres reaffirmed the agency’s indispensable function in providing aid and services that no other entity could replicate at the same scale. He noted that UNRWA’s mandate had been extended only six months earlier yet the organisation confronted immediate risks from funding shortfalls and restrictions on movement. The secretary-general connected reliable assistance for the agency to prospects for advancing a two-state solution and regional peace.
UNRWA data places the number of registered Palestinian refugees at 5.9 million across its fields of operation. The agency established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly delivers education health care relief and social services to refugee communities in Gaza the West Bank Jordan Lebanon and Syria. A Congressional Research Service assessment put UNRWA’s 2024 programme budget at $880.2 million the bulk of which derives from voluntary state contributions rather than the UN regular budget.
The annual pledging conference functions as a primary venue for member states to announce financial commitments to sustain UNRWA activities. Recent UN briefings have warned that an acute funding crisis threatens to disrupt operations throughout 2026 unless donors respond with greater urgency. Operational constraints and security issues have compounded difficulties in delivering assistance particularly in Gaza where humanitarian needs surged following the events of late 2023.
Guterres told participants that no comparable organisation possesses the reach or legal foundation to assume UNRWA’s responsibilities in the current context. He appealed for swift steps to close the financial deficit and ease impediments to field work. The secretary-general’s evaluation echoes repeated calls from Palestinian officials for both short-term humanitarian pledges and sustained political engagement on the underlying issues.
Conference attendees reviewed both immediate relief requirements and the longer-term structural pressures on the refugee population according to statements circulated at the event. UNRWA figures indicate that millions of registered refugees continue to depend on the agency for core services while the conflict remains unresolved. A UN working group report from 2024 underscored that 96 percent of Palestine refugees in Syria rely on the agency for various forms of assistance amid regional instability.
