AMMAN —
UNRWA
received $27 million in aid from Saudi Arabia on Sunday to help fund the
agency’s operations in the region.
اضافة اعلان
Saudi Ambassador Nayef
bin Bandar Sudairi presented a check in the specified amount to UNRWA
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini during a ceremony in the Jordanian
capital.
Underscoring his
country’s support for the cause and rights of the Palestinian people, the ambassador
reaffirmed the Saudi Arabia’s commitment to supporting UNRWA’s budget to enable
it to fulfill its financial obligations, and improve living, educational, and
medical services provided to Palestinian refugees.
“Saudi Arabia is
committed to peace as a strategic option,” the envoy said.
“The security and
stability of the Middle East demand that a just and comprehensive solution to
the Palestinian issue be found as soon as possible, in accordance with
international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, and that an
independent Palestinian state be established on the 1967 borders, with East
Jerusalem as its capital,” he added, according to the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
The ambassador also stated that Saudi Arabia
condemns all unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution and
demands their immediate and complete cessation.
The ambassador explained that Riyadh’s assistance to
the Palestinians is the result of the kingdom’s steadfast belief in the
critical support given by UNRWA to more than 5.4 million
Palestinian refugees
through its educational and health programs, relief and social services, and
other employment opportunities it creates, so that the Palestinian people can
live in dignity.
The ambassador
affirmed that Saudi Arabia, under the guidance of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, and their
keenness to support the Palestinians in the occupied territories, “is ambitious
to support the UNRWA budget continuously”.
He said that his
country has always devoted most of its capabilities to support the Palestinian
cause in political, economic and social fields, in addition to its absolute
support for the cause and the rights of the Palestinian people in the UN and
humanitarian organizations.
Speaking in an
interview with
Jordan News, the ambassador said that the latest donation
“is a continuation of the support process that has been going on for more than
70 years and aims to assist Palestine, its cause and its people”. He praised the
efforts made in coordination between Jordan and Saudi Arabia in this regard.
The Head of the
Refugee Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ahmed Abu
Houli, who attended the ceremony, thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
represented by its leadership, for its position and support, at all Arab,
regional, and international levels for mobilizing political and financial
support for UNRWA.
On this occasion,
Abu Houli called on the donor and financier countries to fulfill their
financial obligations and commitments towards Palestine, as the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia did, noting that the financial donations will contribute
significantly “to helping the UNRWA gets out of its financial crisis.”
For his part,
Lazzarini praised the generous Saudi donation, noting that it demonstrated the
kingdom’s continued generosity and support for Palestinian refugees as well as
its renewed commitment to UNRWA.
This unrestricted
donation will allow UNRWA to continue implementing its various programs,
including those in education and health, and to assist the most vulnerable
Palestine refugees in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Jordan,
Lebanon, and Syria, Philippe said.
The kingdom of
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest donors to UNRWA, according to Lazzarini, who
revealed that “Saudi Arabia has contributed nearly $1 billion to UNRWA in the
past decade.”
Moreover, the
latest contribution follows a pledge of $50 million the Kingdom made in 2019.
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