SWISS RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR DONATIONS TO UNRWA'S

UNCLAS BERN 000007 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR PRM/ANE (M.RAMGOOLIE),NEA/IPA (S.HANKINS),AND EUR/CE (Y.SAINT-ANDRE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL PHUM LE UNRWA SZ SUBJECT: SWISS RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR DONATIONS TO UNRWA'S GAZA FLASH APPEAL REF: SECSTATE 135559 ¶1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel message on January 5 to Thomas Oertle, Desk Officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs in the Middle East and Africa Division of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA). Oertle explained that Switzerland already was providing CHF 4 million (USD 3.8 million) in financial support for humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He noted that these funds were divided equally between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). ¶2. (SBU) Oertle further clarified that, of the CHF 4 million in Swiss funding, the CHF 2 million (USD 1.9 million) for UNRWA was earmarked for UNWRA's Emergency Appeal under the 2009 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP),not for UNRWA's recent Flash Appeal. He remarked that the Emergency Appeal was "chronically underfunded." With reference to the Flash Appeal, Oertle said that the EDA, and specifically the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC),was still evaluating the possibility of increasing its contributions to UNRWA. He noted, however, that any such increase likely would be within the framework of the regular UNRWA Emergency Appeal. CARTER