Denmark confirmed it will not stop funding the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), predicting it will “accelerate a humanitarian” crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Denmark will continue to provide financial aid to UNRWA, local broadcaster DR News reported, citing Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
The minister said the countries that have suspended funding for UNRWA have already committed to providing financial aid to the organisation this year because collective punishment of Gazans is not a viable solution to the complex crisis in the region.
“It’s quite terrible, but now it’s not like we normally have a principle of collective punishment. We are talking about an organisation that has about 30,000 employees – 13,000 are in Gaza,” he stressed.
Rasmussen, meeting the same day with his counterparts from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and France, warned that if UNRWA does not work, the crisis in Gaza will intensify, and noted “Constructive meeting with Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and France ministers on how to restore trust in UNRWA.”
