Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi on Sunday said Pakistan has made an enhanced contribution to the cash-strapped United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
UNRAW is entrusted to assist more than five million registered Palestinian refugees in the war-ravaged state.
“The people of Pakistan have always stood with their Palestinian brothers and sisters,” the Pakistani envoy to UN said.
Ambassador Lodhi added that Islamabad’s contribution to the cause was being increased on the instructions of the government of Pakistan, and in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
She further said, “This assistance will help UNRWA continue its relief efforts on the ground and keep the schools and clinics open that it runs in Palestinian refugee camps.”
In a video message, the UNRWA's Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl appreciated Pakistan's support for the Palestinian refugees.
In September this year, the United States cut aid to the Palestinians for programmes supporting conflict resolution with Israelis, affecting more than five million people who rely on its schools, healthcare, and social services.
The portion of the money involving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip was being redirected to programmes between Jewish and Arab Israelis.
The US will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation,” the US State Department said in a statement, adding it was not willing to “shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden” for the UNRWA.
The statement had further called the UNRWA an “irredeemably flawed operation” and criticised other countrie
