Safadi, UNRWA chief set programme to garner int’l support for agency

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Krahenbuhl on Wednesday met over sustaining political and financial support for the agency.

During the meeting, Safadi and Krahenbuhl set a work programme to eliminate the agency's expected deficit for this year, which is estimated to be $200 million, to be adopted in coordination with partners in the international community, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The top official reaffirmed the importance of garnering support for the agency in providing services to some 5 million Palestinian refugees, as well as ensuring that the international community is still committed to the refugees' rights, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, especially UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

The resolution in question stipulates the necessity of providing support to Palestinian refugees until they are allowed to return to their homeland.

Safadi stressed that failing to secure the needed support for UNRWA would rob over 570,000 Palestinian students of their right to an education and millions of Palestinians from healthcare and other basic services, which will further increase tension and despair in the region, according to the statement.

The two officials commended the international community's "positive" stance towards supporting the agency, which enabled the agency to cut its deficit in 2018 from $446 million to less than $20 million.

Talks also covered means of implementing the recommendations of the Stockholm meeting, which was held upon a Jordanian-Swedish invitation and attended by representatives of several countries including the European Union. 

The outcomes of the Stockholm meeting revolved around the need to address the gap in UNRWA’s funding, in addition to the necessity of resolving the Palestinian refugee issue within a comprehensive political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on international legislations.

Krahenbuhl lauded the Kingdom's efforts in support of  UNRWA and in safeguarding the rights of Palestinian refugees.