Jordan, Sweden seek further funding for UNRWA

Jordan, Sweden seek further funding for UNRWA

AMMAN: Jordan and Sweden have co-chaired a ministerial meeting focused on developing policies and strategies to ensure the sustainability of financing the UN Relief and Works Agency’s programs. Jordan’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, Ayman Safadi, together with Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde, chaired Thursday’s ministerial meeting to support UNRWA, with the participation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reported the Jordan News Agency. UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, foreign ministers and representatives of 40 countries and international organizations attended the meeting that discussed the best sustainable means to finance the agency’s programs to enable it to provide vital services to Palestinian refugees, said a ministry statement published by Jordan News Agency. The meeting further discussed mobilizing support for the vote in the UN General Assembly to renew UNRWA’s mandate next December. Guterres stressed the important role of UNRWA in enhancing stability in the Middle East, calling for adequate funding for the agency. He noted that the organization still needs more than $100 million. He said without its vital services, there would be no education for children or shelter for families. He added that support for UNRWA is a moral responsibility, and that any disruption of its