Schools for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children across Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria re-opened last weekend. This was possible thanks to the work of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) which runs schools for over 500.000 Palestine refugee children, and thanks to the many nations around the world who support and fund UNRWA’s activities. The EU and its Member States are collectively the largest contributors to UNRWA’s budget. In a statement issued last Saturday, EU Spokesperson expressed the European Union’s pride “to support UNRWA’s work in providing essential services to Palestine refugees”.

 “Education is a fundamental part of the development of a viable Palestinian state, as are also hospitals and other basic services to which UNRWA’s activities make an essential contribution”, the statement says. “Our collective efforts, in the international community, to provide humanitarian and development assistance to Palestinians, in particular the younger generation, are inseparable part of our efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution and a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This is why the EU will continue its assistance to the Palestinians, including its support to UNRWA’s activities, while we will also continue our efforts to reach a two-state solution – a solution that will include the issue of refugees, which is a final status issue that only the two parties can resolve through negotiations, with the support of the international community.”

“The EU and its Member States, and many others in the international community, including many Arab states, have pledged their support to the continuity of the work that UNRWA is doing”, the statement concluded.

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Press release

UNRWA