Safadi, Lazzarini discuss UNRWA funding

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini on Sunday discussed efforts towards supporting UNRWA and rallying financial support to bridge the agency's deficit.

The two sides went over the outcomes of the intensive and ongoing consultations with international partners, to ensure the necessary financial flow and dampen the impact of the financial crisis in a way that does not affect the UNRWA staff and institutions, the delivery of programmes and services, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

On the payment of the salaries of the UNRWA staff, Lazzarini stressed that the agency will pay full salaries for November, no later than mid-December, highlighting that UNRWA is making every effort to address the financial flow concerns to meet all financial obligations, stressing that the agency is giving priority to staff salaries.

Safadi and Lazzarini also touched on the Stockholm Group meeting, scheduled this week to discuss the agency's financial situation, mainly the implications of the issue of salaries, with talks also covering the preparations for the international donors meeting, which will be organised by the Kingdom and Sweden early 2021.

Raising the alarm about the repercussions of the lack of financial support needed to ensure the continuity of UNRWA’s vital services across its five fields of operation, Safadi emphasised the need for maintaining the delivery of the agency’s services.

UNRWA’s services must continue until a just and lasting solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees is achieved, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions, particularly Resolution 194, in the context of a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, Safadi said.

Lazzarini lauded the Kingdom’s efforts towards rallying political and financial support to UNRWA, highlighting the importance of the Kingdom’s role, in cooperation with the international community, in ensuring the necessary support to help the agency meet bridge its deficit.