Palestinian agency urges donors to match 2018 funds this year after US cuts

The head of the UN agency that helps 5.3 million Palestinian refugees has urged donors who filled a $446 million hole in its budget last year after the Trump administration cut the US contribution to be equally generous this year. “Last year we had an extraordinary crisis and an out-of-the-ordinary response,” Pierre Krahenbuhl told AP on Monday. “Our humble request to all the donors is: Please keep your funding levels at the same level as 2018.” He has been thanking donors for their “exceptional” contributions that enabled the UN Relief and Works Agency to fund its entire 2018 budget of $1.2 billion. Krahenbuhl said the UNRWA agency also adopted a $1.2 billion budget for 2019, and this year it is getting nothing from the US.