Qatar Participates in Special Session of Arab Foreign Ministers to Discuss UNRWA Crisis

Qatar Participates in Special Session of Arab Foreign Ministers to Discuss UNRWA Crisis

Cairo / Information Office / September 11  

The meeting of Arab League foreign ministers to discuss the lack of financial support threatening the United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was held Tuesday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League, which is prior to the meeting of the Council of the Arab League at its 150th session on the ministerial level, chaired by Sudan, with the participation of Arab ministers of foreign affairs or their representatives and the presence of the Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The State of Qatar is participating in this meeting with a delegation headed by HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi.

The meeting is held at the request of the Kingdom of Jordan to discuss the repercussions of the severe financial shortage faced by UNRWA in its various areas of operation.

UNRWA's serious fiscal deficit threatens not to provide its humanitarian and educational services to more than five million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation.

The special session aims to emphasize the importance of providing the Agency with financial, moral and political support to ensure that it continues to discharge its responsibilities towards Palestinian refugees.

In May, the State of Qatar signed an agreement with UNRWA, in the presence of HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Under the signed agreement, the State of Qatar will donate USD 50 million to protect Palestinian refugees' access to basic education in 2018. The donation will be used immediately to sustain the Agency's educational services in all five UNRWA regions: Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Syria, and Lebanon, during the period between June and October 2018.

The State of Qatar is one of the biggest donors to the Agency in 2018. Qatar's donation will also enable the continuation of the provision of UNRWA services in the region during this period of financial crisis and political turmoil.