The popular committees of Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus shut down at least two UNRWA offices in the area on Monday to protest the UN agency’s decision to replace its food distribution program with a cash card system.
In April, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees decided to halt its food distribution program in the camps and replace it with a cash card system, causing concern among UNRWA’s Palestinian employees, who say the move would jeopardize the jobs of 300 to 400 people who work at the organization’s distribution centers.
Instead of the $111 year that had been provided to refugees in the form of a food basket, UNRWA’s new program would provide $130 per year via cash card, in four cycles annually, to some 36,129 people, according to the UN agency.
A spokesperson for the committees, Husni Odeh, told Ma'an that the office would be shut down for one day as a warning step before the committees took “additional steps in the coming few days.”
Odeh said that the committees had asked to discuss the transition with UNRWA, but that the agency’s administration had refused to talk with them.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told Ma’an on Tuesday morning that two of UNRWA’s three area offices were “unjustifiably” closed on Monday.
Gunness added that the transition to the cash card system were “still ongoing with close follow up from the highest levels in both the PLO and PNA (Palestinian Authority),” adding that the camp card committees were not against the new system’s concept, but that current discussions were “mostly around the technical part and the implementation of the transition.”
The UNRWA spokesman said that a meeting with the committees was scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
“Bearing in mind that the holy month of Ramadan is getting closer every day, we hope we reach an agreement so the roll out of the (cash-card) transition takes place the soonest possible in a smooth and secure way in various areas of the West Bank,” Gunness added.
