Staff report: CAIRO, September 11, 2018 - Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri Tuesday confirmed the need to draw up a medium-term and long-term work plan to preserve the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East. Minister Shoukri was addressing the special session held by the Arab foreign ministers in the Cairo-based Arab League on the crisis facing UNRWA ahead of the 150th ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the level of Arab foreign ministers. FM Shoukri warned that the weakening of the agency would lead to extremism and instability in the region. He pointed out that Arab countries had undertaken the responsibility of supporting the agency. However, the top Egyptian diplomat highlighted the need for a short-term and long-term work plan to preserve UNRWA role. Minister Shoukri asserted that with the new round of the United Nations General Assembly approaching, the focus should be on maintaining the same basic conditions that the UNRWA had been relying on since its establishment and on the good management of the international agency. He confirmed that this meeting was being held at a perfect time to discuss an issue that had a profound effect and was a main factor in reaching a final solution to the Palestinian cause because UNRWA was undertaking key humanitarian and political tasks. Minister Shoukri also highlighted that the crisis and its consequences would have a direct effect on Arab countries hosting refugees. The 150th round of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers, which started in Cairo Tuesday, was being attended by 18 Arab foreign ministers. The ministers discussed the development of the situation in the region; especially the updates on the Palestinian cause which is passing through a dangerous stage, the challenges facing Arab national security, ways of combating terrorism and the development of the conflicts in a number of Arab countries, especially Syria, Libya and Yemen. The Arab foreign ministers held a closed consultative session ahead of the launch of the 150th round of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level. The consulting session is meant to coordinate stances on issues on the agenda of the new round of the Arab League Council which will be held under the chairmanship of Sudan. The ministers also said Tuesday they regretted Washington's decision to suspend funding of UNRWA and warned of the humanitarian consequences for five million refugees assisted by the agency. UNRWA was established after the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948 to aid the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes. Today, it provides education, health care and social services to some 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The agency is also a major employer in the Palestinian areas. The US on August 31 cut roughly $300 million in assistance for UNRWA.
