Ministerial Meeting on UNRWA Raises $122 Million

New York, MINA — The Foreign Ministers of Jordan, Sweden, Turkey, Japan and Germany, as well as the High Representative and Vice-President of the European Union, hosted a Ministerial Meeting in New York late Thursday with the aim of mobilizing financial and political support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), WAFA reported.

The Ministerial Meeting raised a remarkable $122 million, with Kuwait, the European Union, Germany, Norway, France, Belgium and Ireland announcing additional funding commitments. This meeting represented a crucial step in the efforts to overcome the Agency’s remaining shortfall of $186 million and sustain UNRWA operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The event was attended by Ministers and senior officials from a total of 34 Member States and organizations, including the League of Arab States, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the Islamic Development Bank. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and two Palestine Refugee students also participated in the event.

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Commissioner-General, Pierre Krähenbühl, thanked Member States for their extraordinary support: “Today, we witnessed a powerful moment of commitment and solidarity with Palestine refugees. I am very grateful to the co-Chairs for convening this important meeting and demonstrating the strength of collective action”.

UNRWA was confronted with a dramatic financial crisis when in January 2018 its largest donor, the United States, announced a major reduction in contributions and the Agency’s shortfall reached an unprecedented $446 million. The mobilization since then, including at this Ministerial meeting in New York, has brought the deficit down to $64 million.

Krähenbühl added: “I express my genuine appreciation for the generous funding announcements made by Kuwait, the European Union, Germany, France, Belgium and Ireland. The results of the New York meeting, added to the support received from other partners this year, represent a very significant achievement.”

During the meeting, UN Member States reaffirmed the fundamental rights of Palestine refugees under international law and obligations of the international community. Participants expressed strong political support for UNRWA, its mandate and staff, and its critical services to Palestine refugees. Additionally, they applauded UNRWA for its remarkable achievements, especially this last year, in funding diversification and improved efficiency of its programming. (T/RS5/RS1)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)