(Ottawa) Canada is reportedly on the verge of announcing the restoration of funding to UNRWA, like other countries which had also suspended it a little over a month ago.
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen was scheduled to provide an “update on Canada’s humanitarian funding to Gaza” on Wednesday with Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, but the announcement was canceled .
In an email, the minister’s press secretary, Olivia Batten, cited “logistical reasons” to justify the cancellation of the event, approximately 75 minutes from the scheduled time. She did not want to say when the announcement might take place.
The CBC network had reported, on the strength of an anonymous government source, that the minister was to announce the possible resumption of payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA ).
Canada and several countries cut off funding to the organization at the end of January after Israel alleged that 12 of its employees took part in Hamas attacks last October. A preliminary United Nations report consulted by Canadian representatives would have reassured them, according to CBC.
A sign that there is movement, Finnish Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Wednesday in an interview with the Reuters news agency that several countries were preparing to reopen the floodgates.
“I think a lot of these countries that have suspended have doubts,” and that there has been a form of recognition that they “cannot punish the whole of Palestinian society,” he said. he said in an interview.
“We are not depriving 2 million people of essential assistance for allegations which, we agree, are very serious,” agrees France-Isabelle Langlois, director of the French-speaking Canadian section of Amnesty International, recalling that the UNRWA quickly dismissed the dozen people targeted.
In fact, Canadian funding to UNRWA was not interrupted – what was at stake was a payment of 25 million scheduled for next April.
But given the crucial importance of the organization in the enclave, Canada would be ill-advised to continue to freeze its funding, believes France-Isabelle Langlois. “Before October 7, 500 trucks arrived with food, medicine, water, gasoline. We need that on a daily basis,” she says.
The Conservative Party, which cut aid to UNRWA under Stephen Harper in 2010, castigated the Liberals. “So, Justin Trudeau “cut funding” by prepaying your taxes to UNRWA in March and then resuming its funding in April,” Deputy Chief Melissa Lantsman mocked on X.
Dropping help?
A week ago, Minister Hussen’s office affirmed that he was working on the project of parachuting humanitarian aid into the skies of the Gaza Strip.
The status of the idea, which was criticized by former Liberal Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy in an open letter published in the Globe and Mail.
The United States and France, among others, have opted for this method of delivering aid to the Gaza Strip, where the population is afflicted by hunger.
The best option for aid to reach the population remains shipping by land, which is less chaotic, notes France-Isabelle Langlois.
“There, we are parachuting because Israel does not want to open the access gates. We must open them, and ensure that humanitarian aid is organized,” she insists.
The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, has delivered this plea on numerous occasions.
The issue will certainly come up again as part of her mission in the region, where she is these days.
Stops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the West Bank are on the minister’s schedule, whose trip will last until March 13.