Safadi, Lazzarini review efforts to support UNRWA

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 Thursday 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 amid the pandemic and dampen the impact of the financial crisis in a way that does not affect the UNRWA staff and institutions, and the delivery of programmes and services, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Talks also reviewed preparations for the international conference on UNRWA, which the Kingdom and Sweden are seeking to hold this year to discuss financial and political support to the agency with international partners. 

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 stressed the need for maintaining the delivery of the agency’s services.

He also stressed the importance of continuing political and financial support to the agency to enable it to continue playing its UN-mandated role, until reaching a lasting and a just solution to the refugee issue, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, most notably UN General Assembly Resolution 194 and within a context of a comprehensive solution to the conflict, on the basis of the two-state solution.

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

The two sides agreed to continue bilateral consultation and coordination, as well as with the members of the Stockholm group, over means of mobilising support to the agency to enable it to continue playing its UN-mandated role.