DPA director highlights importance of UNRWA's role

AMMAN — The Department of Palestinian Affairs (DPA) on Sunday organised a coordination meeting for Palestinian refugee host countries to unify their positions during the UNRWA Advisory Committee meetings, which will be held on Monday and Tuesday in Amman.

DPA Director General Rafiq Khirfan highlighted UNRWA's significant political role, which was evident during last September's ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

He added that UNRWA has a "clear role" in achieving the security and stability of the region, stressing the importance of mobilising political support to vote for the renewal of its mandate in the United Nations General Assembly.

Khirfan stressed that Jordan, with its Hashemite leadership, will never give up custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites, which received support from Arab leaders during the recently held Arab summit in Algiers.

Khirfan pointed out that the recurrent financial crisis facing UNRWA and its repercussions on Palestinian refugees require mobilising financial support from donor countries. He noted that the agency should take into account the Palestinian refugees' natural demographic increase and their growing needs during the preparation of the budget.

The meeting discussed several issues, mainly the chairmanship of the Advisory Committee, the financial situation of UNRWA and the medium-term strategy and budget estimates for the agency. It also included the latest updates to the registration and archiving project, among other topics that surfaced in the meeting.