The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) promised to increase donations and financial transfers to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the international body that provides humanitarian aid to Palestinians in refugee situations in the Strip. of Gaza.
The announcement made by the president during a visit to the Palestine Embassy, in Brasília, on Thursday (08), was released by Palácio do Planalto the following day.
“Brazil urges the international community to maintain and reinforce its contributions to the proper functioning of its activities. My government will provide additional resources to the agency”, declared Lula.
On the other hand, the president reinforced that the allegations against UNRWA employees “need to be properly investigated, but they cannot paralyze it”.
“The time has come to put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen the more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza. Almost 30,000 people died, most of them children, the elderly and defenseless women. More than 80% of the population was forcibly relocated (…). Enough of collective punishment”, added the PT member.
Lula mentioned ‘collective punishment’, the same term used by UNRWA’s general commissioner, Phelippe Lazzarini, at a time when several countries began to declare suspension of aid to the UN agency.
Opera Mundi consulted Itamaraty about defining the amount to be transferred by Brazil, but as of the time of writing this report, it has not received a response.
The latest data released by the international body reveals that the total budget for 2022 was US$1.17 billion. The biggest donors were members of the European Union, which allocated US$520 million, and the United States, with US$344 million. Brazil sent just US$75,000.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
