New York - Media & Communication Dept. - November 08

The State of Qatar stressed on the importance of supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) by the international community along with donors, reaffirming its constant support to help UNRWA perform its mandate which is indispensable in light of this critical circumstance in the history of the Palestinian cause.

This came during the statement of the State of Qatar delivered by member of the State of Qatar's delegation Ali Al Kubaisi in the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly before the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Al Kubaisi stressed that there is a unanimity pertaining to the fact that there is neither viable, nor practical alternative for UNRWA in light of the current complex regional and international circumstances, pointing out that UNRWA effectively contributes to alleviating the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees.

He called on the United Nations General Assembly to renew UNRWA's mandate to undertake it role, albeit shortage of its resources, pending attainment of just, comprehensive and permanent settlement to the Palestinian cause represented in the two-state solution, under which the state of Palestine is established within the borders of June 4,1967, with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital, including the right of the refugees to return, in accordance with the international law and the relevant UN resolutions, especially the resolution of the general assembly No. 194 of 1948.

He pointed out that UNRWA faces an existential dilemma, because it suffers from a chronic shortage of the ample volunteering funding from the member states due to the lack of international will, which rendered UNRWA incapable of predicting the majority of funding it should obtain that affects the programmed budget for the agency and threatens its operational activities and the essential service effectiveness, notwithstanding the measures enforced to rationalize the expenditure, raise the efficiency and optimize the utilization of the available resources.

He said that the State of Qatar has recently raised the level of its donation for the essential resources of the agency, indicating that Qatar was the first Arab country that had signed a multi-year agreement with UNRWA to support its key resources in 2018.

He noted the announcement of Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) last November of a total donation with $18 million in support of UNRWA essential resources during two years. It also contributed $7 million for UNRWA emergency program in Syria, including cash assistance, education, health and vocational training.

In this context, he reminded that the State of Qatar has joined the membership of UNRWA Advisory Commission since 2018 under the resolution 73/92 stemming from its keenness to effectively contribute to providing multiple support to the Palestinian people and supporting UNRWA which is one of the largest and ancient UN agencies.

The member of the State of Qatar's delegation expressed the state's commendation for the efforts exerted by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and his team at the level of service afforded to the Palestinian refugees.