São Paulo – A campaign launched this Monday (30th) at the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo, aims to raise funds in order to improve access to healthcare for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. The fundraiser’s launch was marked by a presentation given by the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (Unrwa), Filippo Grandi, attended by journalists, Arab Brazilian Chamber delegates, members of the Arab community, and laymen interested in the subject.
The goal is to raise R$ 1 million (approximately US$ 443,000 at current exchange rates) from early October to late November, according to Riad Younes, the Arab Brazilian Chamber Marketing vice president and Surgical Oncology coordinator at Hospital São José. The funds will be allocated to three different targets: purchasing equipment to maternities for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East; diagnosing cases of diabetes; and computerizing the management of the agency’s healthcare program.
Grandi said that in 2011, Unrwa served nearly 100,000 pregnant women who gave birth at its clinics; 13% of them had high-risk pregnancies. “This is a challenge to us,” he said. The goal is to buy 23 ultrasound machines. When it comes to diagnosing diabetes, the Unrwa still employs basic techniques, and wants to upgrade its system to the standard utilized in most countries. Regarding healthcare program management, the goal is to computerize patients’ records.
The funds will be allocated to Unrwa’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. In the latter, the situation of Palestinian refugees has worsened since the conflict erupted. Prior to the war, there were 530,000 Palestinians living as refugees in Syria. Grandi estimates that at least 60,000 have left the country, 50,000 of which have moved to Lebanon, where the Unrwa is also active. Others are internally displaced in Syria, i.e. they are becoming refugees for the second time.
Grandi informs that many of the refugees in Syria receive cash or food donations. “Operating in Syria is difficult, we are in the midst of a war and access to the communities is difficult,” the commissioner general said. According to him, eight Unrwa employees have died in Syria since the beginning of conflicts. Others are missing. Younes explained that due to this scenario, life expectancy for Palestinians is 2.6 years to 5.1 years lower than to people in neighbouring countries. “The idea is to improve the health standards for refugees, so their life expectancy increases,” the physician said.
Unrwa has a US$ 1.2 billion budget for 2013, but it is still short US$ 50 million to balance out spending and income, according to Grandi. The commissioner explained that half the budget goes into Unrwa’s basic programs in healthcare, education and poverty alleviation. The other half is allocated to special and emergency programs. The hardest programs to fund, said Grandi, are the basic ones. Emergency cases such as that of Syria are usually met with further donations. “The bigger the country’s political failure, the more other countries are willing to donate,” the commissioner said.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber president Marcelo Sallum said the organization will be at the Unrwa’s avail to publicize the campaign. Fundraising meetings will be held with Arab and non-Arab organizations and clubs. According to Grandi, São Paulo has been chosen for the campaign launch due to the city’s ties with Arab countries, and the existing awareness of the Palestinian refugee issue. “Brazil is an emerging global player, and São Paulo is a global metropolis,” the commissioner said, noting that Brazil is important to the Unrwa; that the country has experience and is paying attention to social issues; and that the Palestinian issue is an important humanitarian issue.
The Unrwa sustains relations with the Brazilian government, which supplied US$ 7.5 million to the agency last year. According to Grandi, the agency is negotiating to make these contributions regular. “And the Brazilian government has encouraged us to seek other partners in Brazil,” the commissioner told journalists following the presentation. The current campaign originated from talks between the Unrwa and members of the Arab Brazilian Chamber board, approximately a year ago. Donations can be made via a bank deposit (see below) and the funds will be transferred directly to the Unrwa, which will provide details as to its spending further on.
The launch was also attended by the Arab Brazilian Chamber CEO Michel Alaby, the director of the United Nations Information Centre, Giancarlo Summa, and the in-house coordinator of the United Nations System in Brazil, Jorge Chediek, among other top-level delegates.
Unrwa Campaign
Account for donations
Citibank (bank # 745)
Branch: 008
Account: 96910550
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
