AMMAN — UNRWA is considering asking other UN
agencies to provide some services as the organization struggles with funding
issues, amid Palestinian refusal for “compromising the jobs and services
provided by UNRWA,” according to Al-Mamlaka TV.
اضافة اعلان
The official spokeswoman for the UN agency, Tamara
Al-Rifai, spoke about “thinking to asking UN agencies to provide some services
on behalf of UNRWA in case that funding for the agency is not possible, with
the aim of preserving all services provided to refugees and not compromising
them, as included in the mandate granted to the agency.”
One option is currently being explored and that is to “maximize partnerships within the broader UN system
Rifai, who is also the director of strategic
communications at UNRWA, said that the issue is "under study and internal
discussion, with an emphasis on the fact that the agency will not hand over any
services, and there will be no prejudice to the refugees’ right to obtain
services guaranteed by UNRWA, even if another UN agency provides them on its
behalf."
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini
announced in a letter addressed to Palestinian refugees on Saturday that one
option is currently being explored and that is to “maximize partnerships within
the broader UN system, and what holds a centerpiece in this option is to be
able to provide services on behalf and under the direction of UNRWA, thus to
remain fully in line with the mandate that UNRWA received from UN General
Assembly.”
Lazzarini underlined that "such partnerships have
the potential to protect basic services and the rights of Palestinian refugees
from chronic underfunding," adding that "there is no handover or
transfer of responsibilities and programs on the table, and there is no
tampering with the UNRWA's mandate."
The Commissioner said that UNRWA is
"indispensable and will remain so, and we are preparing to vote on renewing
UNRWA's mandate at the end of the year."
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) on Monday rejected any compromise to the functions and
services provided by the agency, and called on it in a statement to
"retract its recent position regarding the possibility of referring the
agency's services to other international institutions."
It warned "against the old and new suspicious
plans and attempts aimed at liquidating UNRWA's work."
The PLO considered that "these statements clearly
contradict UN Resolution 302 establishing the agency, and the mandate that
defines very precisely the functions and responsibilities entrusted to
it."
In a statement on Monday, Hamas rejected Lazzarini's
statements. The movement's spokesman, Jihad Taha, said that Lazzarini's
statements "affect the essence of the refugee issue, the agency's primary
role, and the permanence of its work for which it was established in serving
and providing relief to refugees."
The Area Staff Union/UNRWA (ASU) in Jordan said in a
press statement Monday that the latest statements give a dangerous indication
of the future of UNRWA and the Palestinian cause, and open the door wide for
more speculations and scenarios, and to put pressure on the agency, stressing
their categorical rejection of these statements.
The ASU added that this policy aims to cancel the role
of UNRWA in presenting its message and abandoning its responsibility towards
the Palestinian refugees, and will inevitably lead to the dissipation of their
dream and the elimination of their aspirations and their hope in their right to
return to their land and homeland, Palestine, calling on agency officials to
retract these statements immediately and calling on the Jordanian government to
address these statements and pressure them to retract them.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates was expected
to issue a statement on the matter later on Monday.
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