Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid on Tuesday expressed concerns over the funding crisis faced by the 'United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East' (UNRWA).
Speaking at the Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference held by the UNRWA, titled 'A strong UNRWA in a Challenging World – Mobilising Collective Action', Minister Shahid stated that the agency's funding crisis has severe impacts on Palestinian refugees.
However, he declared that UNRWA's perseverance in the face of "multi-faced challenges", inclusive of its COVID-19 response, was a testament to its resilience.
Honoured to participate in the Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference for @UNRWA “A strong UNRWA in a challenging world - Mobilizing Collective Action”. We must work together and support UNRWA’s efforts in providing healthcare and education for #PalestineRefugees. pic.twitter.com/L58tIxNeXh
— Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) June 23, 2020
Furthermore, the minister called on the international community to pledge financial support to the agency to promote and protect the human rights and freedoms of the Palestine people.
He also reiterated Maldives' long-standing position of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while acknowledging UNRWA's progress in providing over 5.5 million Palestinian refugees with basic healthcare and education.
The meeting was co-chaired by the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom, Ayman Safadi and Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, Peter Eriksson.
Established in 1949, the UNRWA held the pledge meeting to mobilize political and financial support to meet resource requirements for 2020. Several United Nations (UN) Member States pledged generous amounts to aid UNRWA.
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