Australia has committed to provide 90 million Australian dollars ($88.6 million) over five years to help improve education and medical care for Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Bob Carr and visiting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi signed the agreement May 28 in Canberra.
The funds, according to an Australian government news release, will go toward supporting additional teachers and doctors for Palestinian refugees.
“That’s good news on humanitarian grounds, and good news for Middle Eastern regional stability,” Carr said.
According to the Australian government, its aid since 2007 has helped at least 470,000 Palestinian refugees go to school and supported 4,200 health workers to render basic and emergency care to displaced Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
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Eliza Villarino
Eliza Villarino currently manages one of today’s leading publications on humanitarian aid, global health and international development, the weekly GDB. At Devex, she has helped grow a global newsroom, with talented journalists from major development hubs such as Washington, D.C, London and Brussels. She regularly writes about innovations in global development.