BEIRUT, Friday, April 05, 2019 (WAFA) – The Japanese embassy to Lebanon announced Thursday that Japan contributed an additional US $6 million in support of the United Nations agency responsible for the Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
According to the embassy’s Facebook page, Japan’s ambassador to Lebanon Matahiro Yamaguchi announced that his country extended $5.5 million to UNRWA to mitigate the impact of the Syrian crisis on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon through the implementation of projects in the fields of healthcare, water and sanitation, and solid waste management.
He added that Japan also supported the agency with additional USD 580,000 to enhance medical services in UNRWA’s healthcare facilities.
Yamaguchi made his announcement during a ceremony organized by UNRWA at the Gefinor Rotana Hotel Beirut in the presence of Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour and Director of UNRWA affairs in Lebanon Claudio Cordone.
In his speech, Yamaguchi hoped that the new $6 million grant would help alleviate the suffering of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and reiterated his country’s support the emerging Palestinian generations to help them access basic services and realize their full potential despite all restrictions.
For his part, Dabbour thanked the Japanese government and people for their support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who were forced out from their homes by Zionist militias in 1948.
He called upon the whole world to support the realization of the Palestinian people’s national right to self-determination, the right to establish their independent and sovereign state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, in addition to the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes.
For his part, Cordone thanked the Japanese Government for its continuous support of the Palestinian refugees and for enabling UNRWA to continue to provide crucial assistance to vulnerable refugees.
During the ceremony, Palestinian refugees residing in al-Tireh section of Ein al-Hilweh camp thanked Japan for funding the rehabilitation works of their neighborhood following destruction during armed conflicts inside the camp.
K.F.
