UN – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, on Wednesday, urged the international community to do utmost to support and sustain the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in its work.
Ban made the call at a meeting he held in New York on the sustainability of UNRWA.
He said the current deficit of 81 million dollars must be overcome as a matter of priority for 2016.
“The budget uncertainties are a costly distraction.
“They play with the fate of people who are already living on the edge. They add a needless extra layer of suffering and anguish.
“It is far more financially responsible to put UNRWA on a sustainable footing. This is not only good management, it will also allow people to better plan their lives under the intense stress that they already endure each and every day.
“In practical terms what would sustainability mean?,” he said.
Speaking further, “It would mean Palestine refugees never having to question whether UNRWA schools would be open; never doubting whether crucial medical services would be available; or whether the food would be on the table for dinner.
“Let us never forget the human consequences if we let Palestine refugees down: more young people driven into despair; an increased risk of extremism; more poverty, loss of hope and dignity and a Middle East region even more riven by conflict.”
Ban said he counts on the support of the international community as the UN continue the search for a just and lasting solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine in conformity with international law and UN resolutions.
The unresolved plight of Palestine refugees, a community of 5.2 million people, he said is a great source of pain to him.
In today’s precarious Middle East, he said, Palestine refugees are especially vulnerable.
He said the places where they reside are either overwhelmed by conflict or heavily stretched by the spillover effects from neighbouring areas.
“It is against this unstable background that UNRWA and its 30,000 staff provide vital human development and emergency relief services to Palestine refugees.
“It is vital, first and foremost, to the refugees themselves, in providing education, health, social services, protection, dignity and a chance in life.
“It is also vital because UNRWA plays a stabilising role in supporting Palestine refugees in a volatile region.
“Who would support Palestine refugees, a poor, vulnerable but remarkably resilient community in the absence of UNRWA?
“There is no doubt that sustaining UNRWA’s operations for Palestine refugees is in our collective interest,” he said..
He said barely nine months after his appeal to the General Assembly for UNRWA support, the Agency is again in dire need of resources.
“Of course this is not a one-way conversation.
“Donors have supported UNRWA over many years and need to be confident that it continues to operate efficiently and effectively, and that tough measures are being taken to deepen efficiency.
Ban said he will never forget visit visit to Gaza shortly after the end of the devastating conflict in the summer of 2014.
He said he saw first-hand how UNRWA’s 252 schools went from providing quality education to 240,000 children, to offering sanctuary to 300,000 displaced in Gaza.
“I encourage you to reflect on the human dimension of Palestine refugees – their hopes, dreams, and quest for justice and dignity.
“As my report to the World Humanitarian Summit states, there is One Humanity and we share a collective responsibility to protect, support and sustain that humanity,” he added.
UNRWA, he said, has been a pioneer in providing Education in Emergencies, a key theme of the humanitarian summit and has developed innovative distance learning techniques and “safe spaces” to ensure education for Palestine refugee girls and boys.
UNRWA, he also said rebuilding Palestine refugee homes and communities shattered by the conflict in Gaza and will be asked to do the same in Syria whenever the conflict ends there. (NAN)