KUWAIT: On Friday, July 19, 2024, the United Kingdom announced that it will resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), pledging £21 million in new funds to support its work in Gaza, the West Bank, and the wider region. This announcement came one week after the UNRWA Pledging Conference 2024, during which the UK joined 117 fellow UN Member States - led by Kuwait, Jordan, and Slovenia - in signing a joint statement emphasizing their shared support for UNRWA. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering of civilians, and for aid to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.

Belinda Lewis, British Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, noted: “I would like to acknowledge Kuwait’s leadership in building support for UNRWA within the international community, with the UK having joined 117 fellow UN Member States in signing the statement Kuwait led, alongside Jordan and Slovenia, at UNRWA’s Pledging Conference in New York on July 12.

The UK’s funding for UNRWA is one element of a broader package of support we are delivering through several humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, the UN World Food Program, the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, the British Red Cross and British charity UK-Med. The latter has established field hospitals in Al-Mawasi and Deir El-Balah as part of its biggest humanitarian operation in its 30-year history.

Working jointly with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society and the David Nott Foundation, the UK funded and delivered specialist training for Kuwaiti doctors deploying to Gaza. The UK Government is lobbying for greater, quicker access for aid into Gaza, supporting efforts to broker an immediate ceasefire and has pledged £15 million in financial and technical support to the Palestinian Authority.”