Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (center) arriving at the Rome conference. (WAFA Images / Maan Khalifa) 

ROME, March 15, 2018 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called on Thursday for increasing support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to address the financial crisis it has been facing as a result of the unexpected US cut in aid subsidies to the agency.

Speaking at the extraordinary conference to support UNRWA in Rome, Hamdallah said the financial commitments to be made during the conference will serve as a constituent part of aid to relieve the agency, which has been facing a financial crisis in recent months due in part to the cumulative decrease of funding.

He warned about the “multiple risks that this financial crisis will have for Palestinian refugees and for host countries, stability in the region and prospects for a just and lasting peace.”

“We reject the false and provocative allegations that support for UNRWA has caused a kind of dependency and prolonged the issue of the Palestinian refugees. This support, in line with international humanitarian law, has helped to alleviate the suffering of refugees, prevented further exacerbation of their conditions in host communities and prevented further regional instability,” Hamdallah remarked during the conference.

The Prime Minister thanked countries and organizations that have provided extra funding for the agency starting from the beginning of this year, which he said has spared UNRWA of an unexpected interruption of services to the Palestinian refugees.

The Rome conference kicked off on Thursday at the headquarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome at the initiative of Jordan and with cooperation from Egypt and Sweden and in the presence of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in addition to ministers and representatives from 90 countries.

M.N./M.K.