Jordan, Sweden lead ministerial meeting to secure funding for…
AMMAN— Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi and his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde led, in New York, a ministerial meeting to support United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)with the participation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterresaccording to Jordan News Agency, Petra.
A ministerial statement on Thursday said the meeting, which was attended by a number of foreign ministers and representatives of some forty countries and international organizations, and the agency’s Commissioner General Philip Lazarini focused on developing policies and strategies that would ensure the sustainability of funding. UNRWA’s program to enable it to provide its vital services to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation.
The meeting also addressed mobilizing support for the UN General Assembly vote to renew the agency’s mandate next December.
Addressing the meeting, Guterres emphasized UNRWA’s central role in improving stability in the Middle East region, and called for adequate and sustainable funding for the agency, noting that the organization still needs over $100 million.
He added that without the vital services provided by UNRWA, there would be no education for children and no shelter for families, noting that UNRWA’s support is a moral responsibility and that any disruption to its work would lead to frustration and provide terrorist organizations . a fertile environment for recruitment.
Safadi, for his part, stressed the importance of the agency’s role as an important factor in the stability of the region and the need to continue to implement its full international mandate, and the importance of the international community to provide the necessary political and financial support to UNRWA so that it can continue to provide its vital services to the refugees.
According to the statement, Safadi stressed the need to work according to the principle of shared burden, and stressed the Kingdom’s continued work with Sweden and international and regional partners to provide the support the authority needs to ensure the continued flow of the necessary support it needs. , and emphasizes the need to work on developing policies, strategies and a predictable budget through a 3-year funding plan, enabling UNRWA to finance its program budget from the UN’s regular budget.
Also during the meeting, Safadi emphasized that the agency must continue to provide its services until the refugee issue is resolved in accordance with international law, and within the framework of a comprehensive solution based on the two-state solution that embodies the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with occupied Jerusalem as its capital on the lines on June 4, 1967, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.
The Swedish Foreign Minister, for his part, said that the meeting confirms the international community’s willingness to support UNRWA and its fundamental role which is indispensable, and stressed the importance of providing sustainable and stable financial support to the agency, which is in desperate need of it to be able to provide its services in the sectors of education, health, aid and other services within its five areas of operation.
Lazarini spoke about the challenges facing the agency and its financial deficit, the agency’s plan for the coming years and efforts to provide the necessary support for it.
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