Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan Tarek Adel headed on Tuesday the meeting of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), held in Dead sea. In his speech, Adel said that Egypt's participation in the meeting came to emphasize a number of points, which include necessity of maintaining the activities of the UNRWA, work on the continuation of the UNRWA's mandate, and existing structures, to find successful ways to meet the deficit of the agency's budget, and to allow the secretariat of the UNRWA to move forward to implement required reforms to rationalize expenditures. He also said that Egypt is keen to express its appreciation for the efforts of several states, regarding their additional voluntary contributions to the agency's budget, during this critical phase. Ambassador Adel refereed to the humanitarian nature of the UNRWA's functions for serving the Palestinian refugees. He also referred to the impossibility of linking the continued funding with any political purposes or interests. He also warned against the consequences of halting the agency's activities, in reference to the agreements signed between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, in particular the Oslo Agreement of 1993 and the Cairo Agreement of 1994, by which both affirmed the resolution of final status of issues regarding “Jerusalem, refugees, water, and borders,” by direct negotiations between the parties in the conflict. The ambassador also addressed the important role played by the UNRWA in maintaining social stability for the benefit of 1.3 million beneficiaries of its health, education, and living services in the Palestinian camps in the Gaza Strip, The UNRWA that was founded in December 1949, works on providing assistance and protection for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees, to help them achieve their full potential in human development.
