Norway’s foreign minister visits Baqaa camp 

AMMAN — Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt on Monday paid a visit to a Palestine refugee camp in Jordan with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) officials. 

The foreign minister and accompanying delegation, including Norway’s Ambassador to Jordan Espen Lindbæck, was welcomed to Baqaa camp by UNRWA Chief of Staff Ben Majekodunmi, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Jordan Marta Lorenzo and by the Director-General of the Department of Palestinian Affairs Rafiq Khirfan, according to a UNRWA statement.

The Norwegian delegation arrived at UNRWA’s Baqaa Preparatory Girls’ School where its members and UNRWA officials discussed the agency’s essential education, relief, health and protection services offered to nearly 2.3 million Palestine refugees in Jordan.

The delegation met first with members of the UNRWA student parliament for an interactive dialogue on issues related to transforming education. Students responded to questions on their roles and presented several demands for both the agency’s management and donors, represented today by Norway, hoping that such demands for improving their schools and the learning environment will be realised.

The delegation was briefed by frontline staff on the agency’s efforts to align its response with national action plans to mainstream mental health and psychosocial support in schools and primary healthcare. 

Frontline staff reported that 20 per cent of patients in the UNRWA health clinics have been experiencing mental health issues, and that this trend has been increasing after COVID-19, the statement said. 

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programme (MHPSS) has been integrated into the agency’s health system at all 25 health centres in Jordan. All staff, from doctors to pharmacists and clerks, were trained with WHO modules.

This visit follows the announcement made by Huitfeldt in February 2022 of a significant multiyear agreement that will see Norway contribute approximately $124.5 million over a period of four years to support UNRWA’s core and humanitarian services.

Huitfeldt said: “I am very happy to visit the Baqaa School today together with UNRWA. Norway and Jordan are close partners in enabling UNRWA to fulfill its mandate towards Palestine refugees. I was especially happy to have talked to the student parliament about their life and aspirations. I wish them all the best with the start of the new school year.”

Majekodunmi said: “UNRWA is deeply grateful to the Kingdom of Norway for its tremendous financial assistance to the agency over many years, as well as for Norway’s critical political support; both play a fundamental role in ensuring the agency can deliver its vital services and contribute to regional stability.”

Norway is an active and supportive partner of UNRWA. In 2021, Norway contributed NOK165 million ($19.2 million) to the PB, NOK84 million to the UNRWA Emergency Appeals ($10 million), and NOK8 million for the oPt Flash Appeal ($1 million), which included top-ups to the UNRWA Syria Emergency Appeal in November and the Agency’s Programme Budget in December.