UK calls UNRWA indispensable to Palestinian refugees in statement at pledging conference

The United Kingdom told the UNRWA Pledging Conference 2026 that the agency remains indispensable to delivering essential services to Palestinian refugees across Gaza and the Middle East, and pledged $30.7 million in annual funding, per a statement delivered on June 30 by Ambassador James Kariuki, the UK Chargé d'Affaires to the United Nations, and published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The pledge includes $1.3 million to support implementation of the Colonna Report, per the FCDO text, which also noted the UK's role as co-chair of the Neutrality Working Group supporting the agency's reforms on neutrality, governance and oversight. Kariuki opened by acknowledging the 392 UNRWA staff killed since October 2023, per the statement.

On operations, the statement cited more than 18.7 million health consultations delivered in Gaza since October 2023 and around 860,000 people reached each day with clean water, alongside the agency's work in Lebanon, where it operates two emergency shelters for 1,900 displaced people and has provided more than 200,000 medical consultations, per the FCDO.

Kariuki also criticized Israeli measures restricting UNRWA's operations. "The United Kingdom condemns actions taken by the Israeli Government including Knesset legislation aimed at restricting its operations in Palestine and the demolition of UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem," the statement said. The agency, per the UK text, anchors stability and supports the rights of Palestine refugees pending a political solution.

Background

UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 and provides education, health care and relief services to registered Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from member states, which makes annual pledging conferences central to its ability to plan and operate.

The Colonna Report refers to the independent review led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, commissioned in 2024 to examine the agency's neutrality mechanisms after Israeli allegations against a number of its staff. The review produced a package of recommendations on governance, oversight and neutrality that donors, including the UK, have since tied to portions of their funding. Israel's parliament separately passed legislation in late 2024 restricting the agency's ability to operate, a move that drew objections from many donor governments.

What comes next

Pledging conferences set out intentions rather than transfers, so the operative questions are the disbursement schedule for the UK's $30.7 million and the aggregate raised against UNRWA's budget for the year, which the agency would ordinarily report through its own channels. The UK statement points to continued work through the Neutrality Working Group on Colonna implementation; progress there, and the practical effect of Israeli restrictions on the agency's operations, are the threads to watch.