The agency's director, Karen Koning AbuZayd, made the announcement in Helsinki on Wednesday after meeting with Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki.
The European Union has blocked funding to the Palestinian government since the militant group Hamas took office, because the EU considers it a terrorist organization. However Finland and other EU countries are seeking ways to increase direct funding to the beleaguered Palestinian people, bypassing the government.
AbuZayd welcomed Finland's intention to boost support through her agency. She says the situation in Palestinian refugee camps has worsened because the Hamas government has been unable to pay staff wages for two months.
Last year Finland contributed 3.6 million euros to the UNRWA. This year it has donated 2.5 million euros. Finland has been a regular contributor to the agency since 1962.
Mid-East on EU Presidency Agenda AbuZayd, who is on a tour of the Nordic countries, also met in Helsinki with President Tarja Halonen and Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, and addressed a parliamentary human rights seminar. The UN official expressed satisfaction with Finnish officials' assurances that efforts to bring about peace in the Mid-East will be a key theme of Finland's upcoming EU presidency term. AbuZayd, a veteran American aid official married to a Sudanese professor, took over as director of the UNRWA last autumn.