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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, and Swedish Minister for International Cooperation and Development Peter Erickson chaired an international ministerial conference for donors in support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Attended by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, foreign ministers and representatives of 75 countries and regional and international organizations, financial pledges of $139 million were announced in the meeting.

In a speech during the conference, Safadi said that "UNRWA should continue to provide its services to the Palestinian refugees until their case is resolved in a way that guarantees their right to return and compensation in accordance with the international legitimacy resolutions, especially Resolution 194 and within the framework of a comprehensive solution to the conflict ending the occupation that began in 1967 on the basis of the two-state solution."

He added that any decline in the agency''s services would exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people, stressing that "we are meeting at a time when Israel''s decision to annex a third of the occupied West Bank in a clear violation of international law that threatens all opportunities to achieve a just and comprehensive peace."

Safadi warned that the agency''s failure to obtain the support it needs will deprive refugee children of their right to education and the sick of their right to treatment.

Safadi thanked the representatives of the 75 countries and organizations who participated in the conference for their commitment to support the right of more than five million Palestinian refugees to live in dignity and for their support for a just peace.

Safadi also confirmed the Kingdom’s support for the agency’s new Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, in his noble and difficult mission.

This is the fourth international conference organized by Jordan and Sweden to support the agency financially, in addition to two strategic ministerial conferences aimed at mobilizing political support for the agency and renewing its mandate, and these joint efforts with other partners paid off the full fiscal deficit in 2018, which amounted to $446 million, and also reduced in 2019 to $55 million.