Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh discussed today the unprecedented financial crisis affecting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) with the visiting UNRWA Commissioner-General Philip Lazzarini and the Agency’s Strategic and Diplomatic Policy Adviser Ronald Steinger.
During the meeting, which was held in Shtayyeh’s office in Ramallah, the Prime Minister briefed Lazzarini on the Palestinian efforts to mobilize the necessary funding for the UNRWA in order to enable it to continue providing its basic services to the Palestine refugees, especially in the areas of education, health, and emergency relief.
Shtayyeh also briefed the UNRWA Commissioner-General on what the government has offered in the Palestinian camps in harmony with UNRWA’s efforts to provide a decent life for the Palestinian refugees, including the provision of infrastructure projects and boosting the budgets of the popular committees in charge or running the camps’ municipal services.
“We are working jointly to ensure the continuity and sustainability of UNRWA’s programs as an international institution that benefits more than 5.5 million Palestinian refugees, until a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue is found and the refugees’ return,” said Shtayyeh.
Meantime, Lazzarini stressed the importance of continuous coordination with all Palestinian institutions to mobilize financial support for the continuation and sustainability of UNRWA’s work.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)