BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Lebanon launched Tuesday sit-ins in Sidon, south Lebanon to demand higher salaries and better working conditions, local media reported.

Protests swept health, educational and social centers in Sidon with demonstrators holding banners criticizing the agency for not meeting their demands, according to Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.

The protesters condemned UNRWA for neglecting their demands which were approved by the Lebanese government in 2017.

UNRWA provides aid, mostly in the form of education, health care, and food, for Palestinians registered as refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

But the agency is facing a severe funding crisis sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's aid cut announced in September 2018.