AMMAN —
UNRWA’s Advisory
Committee said that partnerships struck with the agency will not replace it,
rather they will boost services provided to refugees.
اضافة اعلان
UNRWA
Commissioner-General
Philippe Lazzarini, speaking in Beirut at the Advisory
Committee’s meeting, said that the agency is facing the most threatening
financial situation in its recent history, stressing that the agency’s capacity
and financing tools have been exhausted.
UNRWA suffers from
a $100 million financial deficit annually.
UNRWA Director of
Strategic Communication Tamara Alrifai told
Jordan News that the agency
is facing major financial challenges due to the scarcity of resources and to
the fact that the world is busy with the
Ukrainian crisis, as well as that
UNRWA is under a political attack that prejudices the rights of Palestinian
refugees.
UNRWA’s priority,
she said, is to mobilize sufficient resources to be able to provide basic
services, such as education and health, to the
Palestinian refugees, as
stipulated in the mandate given to the agency by the UN General Assembly.
“We appeal to donor
countries to announce additional resources at the donors’ conference to be held
on June 23,” she said, adding that the agency also seeks to strengthen
partnerships with international organizations (within the UN system) in order
to support, develop and continue services and obtain sufficient resources.
She also said that the agency aspires to develop and
modernize, to keep up with the world’s transition to digitization, but the lack
of resources is an obstacle and has affected the quality of services. For
example, she said, there are approximately 50 children in a classroom, and
medical visits last for less than three minutes due to the lack of sufficient
number of doctors.
partnerships have existed for decades, and we have more than 30 partnerships with organizations
Director General of
the Department of Palestinian Affairs
Rafiq Khirfan told
Jordan News that the partnerships Lazzarini talked about recently will not replace UNRWA,
which alone is mandated with providing services to Palestinian refugees, adding
that Jordan’s position was made clear by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, who rejected any change to or derogation from
UNRWA’s jurisdiction.
Khirfan added that
the recurring financial deficit is a challenge, as is the fierce attack
targeting UNRWA under false pretexts, and the increase in demand for services
by the growing number of Palestinian refugees.
He stressed that
the solution lies in having the UN grant the agency a fixed budget, as is the
case with other UN bodies, and urged donor countries to commit to grants, increase
their contribution and activate UNRWA’s Department of External and Economic
Relations.
While partnerships
have existed since the founding of UNRWA, he said, Lazzarini’s recent mention
“that there may be another UN agency that provides services” has given rise to
concerns and misunderstandings.
UNRWA media advisor
Adnan Abu Hasna said “partnerships have existed for decades, and we have more
than 30 partnerships with organizations”, but they do not mean that UNRWA’s
responsibilities or programs get transferred to other entities.
If there are
concerns for the refugees, he said, this is because of the prevailing
circumstances, “and UNRWA understands that”, but partnerships will not entail
delegating or canceling programs, or handing them over to other bodies, as
“this matter needs a resolution from the UN General Assembly”.
He added that there
is political support for UNRWA, whose mandate will be renewed in December this
year, stressing that while there is “great effort from Jordan and the group of
77 countries, it is not matched by great financial support, so we borrowed
$17million from the UN emergency fund to pay salaries. This matter is repeated
in December of each year, but that happened on May portends something unusual”.
Abu Hasna said that
donors are shifting toward Ukraine, “and some told us that we should not expect
them to donate like in previous years; some will postpone payments, which will
create a liquidity crisis for us”.
He reiterated that “partnerships are not about transferring
responsibilities, but rather to help and try to get out of the crisis”.
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