New York – Information Office - November 16

The State of Qatar reiterated its continued support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in order to enable it to fulfill its "indispensable" mandate, stressing the importance of the support of the international community and donors to the UN agency.

This came in the statement of the State of Qatar before the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee on Agenda Item: UNRWA, delivered by Shamma Saqr Al Muraikhi, member of the delegation of the State of Qatar taking part in the work of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

Al Muraikhi highlighted that the contributions of the State of Qatar during the past eight years through Qatar Fund For Development and the Reconstruction of Gaza Committee exceeded one billion dollars, in addition to its contributions to the civil society institutions.

She noted that the Qatari support has had a tangible impact, highlighted by various UN reports, in addressing urgent and long-term needs in areas include electrical power supply, infrastructure enhancement, housing repair and construction, as well as financing job opportunities that contribute to the recovery of the economy and the achievement of prosperity, adding that these factors contribute to establishing stability and to creating create an environment conducive to peace.

In framework of Qatar's keenness to demonstrate its responsibility and to share the financial burden, and in compliance with the General Assembly's call in resolutions 73/92, 73/93 and 73/94, the State of Qatar has increased its contribution to the Agency's core resources with a multi-year pledge of $ 8 million annually, in addition to the contribution it had announced last year to provide a $ 50 million support to the Agency's activities and programs, which was a key factor in ensuring that schools are opened without delay, Al Muraikhi said.

She also highlighted the State of Qatar's accession to the Advisory Committee of UNRWA under resolution 73/92, noting that the State of Qatar has sought to join the Committee because of its keenness to contribute effectively to providing various types of support to the Palestinian people and the UNRWA, which is one of the largest, oldest and most important United Nations agencies.

Al Muraikhi said that the UNRWA continues to play a vital role in alleviating the plight of the Palestinian refugees and providing them with protection and support in the face of the challenges they face, noting that those challenges will continue as long as their plight persists until a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian cause, including the right of return of refugees in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948, is reached.

She stressed that the vital role of the UNRWA is particularly important in light of the instability in the Middle East, calling for ensuring sustainable funding for the Agency in order to enable it to provide services without interruption in a predictable manner and to fulfill its mandate under relevant General Assembly resolutions.

She point to the UNRWA's annual report which showed that the difficulties of the chronic funding gap continue to affect the Agency's program budget and threaten its operational activities and the effectiveness of its core services, despite the measures adopted to rationalize expenditure, increase efficiency and improve the use of available resources.

In this regard, she referred to the June 2019 report of the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) which noted in the comprehensive evaluation of UNRWA during the period 2017-2018 its efficiency and resilience and its achievement of humanitarian and development results in a challenging and resource-constrained environment.

She said that the Agency's activities provide minimum basic services in the areas of basic health care, basic and secondary education, food, shelter, relief and social services to more than five million registered Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, to enjoy basic human rights, human development and an adequate standard of living.

Member of the Qatari delegation participating in the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, Shamma Saqr Al Muraikhi, extended thanks to the UNRWA Officer-In-Charge Christian Saunders for his briefing, commending the great efforts made by all the staff of the UN Agency to ensure the provision of vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees under very difficult circumstances.