CANBERRA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia will reinstate funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the nation's Foreign Minister has announced.

Penny Wong on Friday said the government will restore 6 million Australian dollars (3.9 million U.S. dollars) in funding to the UNRWA and provide additional support for Gaza.

It came after Australia in January joined several countries in freezing funding to the UNRWA amid allegations that staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and followed moves by Canada and Sweden to resume aid to the organization.

"The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, and that existing additional safeguards sufficiently protect Australian taxpayer funding," Wong said at a press conference in Adelaide, capital of South Australia, on Friday.

She called for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza immediately and committed 4 million AUD (2.6 million USD) in funding for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to provide urgent services as well as 2 million AUD (1.3 million USD) for a new UN mechanism to facilitate expanded humanitarian access into Gaza.

In a joint statement with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and International Development Minister Pat Conroy, Wong announced that the Royal Australian Air Force will deliver 140 Australian Defence Force aerial delivery parachutes to assist humanitarian airdrops. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)