Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the capacity of the UN Relief and Works Agency to respond to healthcare needs arising from the covid-19 outbreak.

The UK recognises the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) unique mandate to provide?protection and core?services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon Jordan and Syria. In 2019/20 the UK has provided £65.5 million to UNRWA, matching our 2018 contribution. UNRWA has 3,300 staff working in 144 health centres who are responding to the pandemic and ensuring that Palestinian refugees continue to have access to quality health care services. UNRWA is supporting the delivery of national pandemic response plans and has put in place a range of measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to treat patients with symptoms, working in cooperation with WHO and other partners.