Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy on Sunday stressed the importance of closing the funding gap facing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warning that shortfalls were forcing it to reduce essential services.
Fahmy made the remarks during a meeting at the Arab League headquarters with Christian Saunders, acting commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), who briefed him on the agency’s political and financial challenges, the league’s spokesman said.
Fahmy underscored UNRWA’s central role across its five areas of operation, saying there was no alternative to the agency in providing healthcare and education to millions of Palestinian refugees.
He accused Israel of seeking to undermine UNRWA’s role in the occupied Palestinian territories in an effort to eliminate the refugee issue and deny Palestinians their right to humanitarian services.
Fahmy called on donor countries to help bridge the agency’s financial shortfall and urged the preservation of its mandate, established by a 1949 UN resolution.
He also called for efforts to counter attempts to undermine UNRWA’s credibility and question the neutrality of its humanitarian mission.
Saunders is expected to address a meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the league’s headquarters on Monday, the spokesman said.
