H. E. Mr. Nabil Fahmy stresses imperative of closing UNRWA’s funding gap in meeting with Acting Commissioner-General

His Excellency Mr. Nabil Fahmy, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, received Mr. Christian Saunders, Acting Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at the General Secretariat headquarters on 6 September.

Mr. Saunders briefed the Secretary-General on the political and financial challenges facing the Agency.

The official spokesperson said that, during the meeting, the Secretary-General underscored the central role played by UNRWA across its five fields of operation, stressing that there is no substitute for the Agency in providing health and education services to millions of Palestinian refugees.

He affirmed that the occupying Power’s efforts to undermine UNRWA’s role in the occupied Palestinian territory seek to liquidate the refugee issue and deny Palestinians their human right to access essential services.

His Excellency Mr. Fahmy called on donor countries to work to close UNRWA’s funding gap, noting that its widening shortfall is leading to reductions in the services provided by the Agency.

He stressed the need to preserve UNRWA’s mandate, established by a United Nations resolution in 1949, and to counter all efforts aimed at undermining the Agency’s credibility and casting doubt on the impartiality of the humanitarian mission it carries out.

The official spokesperson added that the Acting Commissioner-General of UNRWA is expected to deliver brief remarks before the League Council at the Ministerial Level, which is scheduled to convene on 7 September at the General Secretariat headquarters.