NEW YORK, Friday, July 12, 2024 (WAFA) – The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, stressed at the opening of the UNRWA pledging conference that the UN Relief Agency, UNRWA, is the backbone of humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip.
Addressing the pledging conference, Guterres said the work of UNRWA is one of the greatest factors providing hope and stability across a troubled region.
“Without the necessary support and financing to UNRWA, Palestine Refugees will lose a critical lifeline and the last ray of hope for a better future,” he said.
“Every year we meet to help bridge the gap between what is pledged to UNRWA and what is needed. This year is different. Yes, we face a profound funding gap. But Palestinians are also seeing widening gaps across the board; gaps in respect for international humanitarian law; gaps in recognition of universal human rights and dignity for all. And, for Palestinians in Gaza, not just a gap -- but a total breakdown in law and order.”
He stressed that the horror in Gaza has not spared UNRWA colleagues; 194 UNRWA staff members have been killed; the highest staff death toll in UN history.
Guterres affirmed that UNRWA staff are continuing to deliver UNRWA’s mandate in desperate circumstances in Gaza – while striving to deliver in an increasingly challenging situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria – championing human development and human rights.
“My appeal to everyone is this: Protect UNRWA, protect UNRWA staff, and protect UNRWA’s mandate -- including through funding. Let me be clear: there is no alternative to UNRWA.”
He said: “I urge you to act – and act now. act to instill hope in a place where it is in short supply; act to uphold the mandate of this General Assembly to sustain UNRWA; act in solidarity with Palestine Refugees and all the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly, Dennis Francis, said in a speech he delivered at the opening of the conference that considering the essential services delivered by UNRWA and its staff, ‘it should deeply alarm us all that UNRWA is currently standing on the precipice of financial collapse.’
He affirmed that since its establishment in 1949, UNRWA has embodied the best of fieldwork for decades – earning a reputation as a beacon of hope in a region routinely beset by turmoil.
He stressed that the Agency UNRWA provides protection for 5.9 million registered refugees – including vulnerable groups such as women, children, and persons with disabilities.
The agency also administers 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps – addressing the dire humanitarian needs of over 1.6 million people across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, he added.
He said the crisis facing UNWRA has been exacerbated by increasingly persistent attacks on the Agency’s reputation and integrity.
“In these extraordinary times, where UNRWA’s very existence is in jeopardy, we must acknowledge that this Pledging Conference cannot proceed on the basis of "business as usual."
“Therefore, I address the global public directly: Now, more than ever, UNRWA needs your support,” he said.
He stressed that this conference is not merely about funding, nor about the survival of an Agency, stating: “It is about people and the survival of Palestine refugees – especially the children – across the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.”
T.R.
