United Palestinian Appeal (UPA)

UPA was established in 1978 in the State of New York by a group of Palestinian-Americans from the business and professional communities who shared the objective of creating an efficient and professionally managed charity that would assist needy Palestinians and contribute to socioeconomic and cultural development in Palestine.

In 1980, UPA was granted tax-exempt status under Section 501 (c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. UPA’s federal tax-exemption I.D. number is 11-2494808.

In 1985, UPA became the first Palestinian-American charity to be registered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a Private and Voluntary Organization (PVO).

In 1985, UPA began funding the construction of a $2.4 million nursing college on the Mount of Olives affiliated with al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital. Thanks to a $1.1 million grant from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and his brother Prince Salman, UPA was also able to greatly expand its assistance programs in the areas of health care, education, children's services, community development, and emergency relief.

In 1986, UPA initiated its Child Sponsorship Program.

Between 1985 and 1987, UPA sent nearly $450 thousand in emergency medicines and supplies to Palestinian refugees in Southern Lebanon.

In 1987, with the outbreak of the first intifada, UPA shifted its funding priorities to emergency medical relief for intifada-related injuries.

In 1989, UPA became the first Palestinian-American charity accepted by the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the national organization allowing for charitable solicitation of federal government employees.

In 1990, the UPA/al-Makassed Nursing College in East Jerusalem was completed, the first modern, four-year nursing college in Palestine offering training to meet the increasing health care demands of the Palestinian population.

In 1991, UPA was accepted as a participating member agency by the Independent Charities of America (ICA), a nationwide consortium of approved charities soliciting state, federal and local public employees.

In 1994, in the wake of the Oslo agreement, UPA re-focused its grant making on programs aimed at the long-term socioeconomic recovery and development of Palestinian society in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

From 2000 onwards, UPA responded to al-Aqsa intifada by giving priority to emergency medical relief programs.

In 2002, UPA was awarded a $2.7 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a job creation and infrastructure development program throughout the West Bank and Gaza in cooperation with the Welfare Association in East Jerusalem. The program represented an emergency response to devastating economic collapse, including an unemployment rate of over 60 percent

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