US Embassy officials in Damascus, the Syrian government, and UNRWA inaugurated a newly constructed community centre that will benefit some 144,000 Palestinian refugees living in the Syrian capital's Yarmouk refugee camp on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the US State Department said America contributed 1.4 million US dollars for the community centre's construction.

The United States is UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor. In 2009, the United States provided over 267 US dollars million to UNRWA. With this contribution, the U.S will have provided over 115 US dollars million to UNRWA in 2010, including 60 US dollars million for the General Fund, which supports core services for 4.7 million refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, such as providing education for nearly 500,000 Palestinian children in 691 UNRWA schools.