Amman - "Jerusalem" dot com - Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees " UNRWA ", Philip Lazzarini, said that in the absence of any political horizon and a real solution, the future of Palestine refugees stands at a crossroads.

This came during his speech before the high-level ministerial meeting hosted by Jordan and Sweden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

"We are here today, because we all agree that UNRWA plays a distinguished role in advancing the rights and well-being of millions of Palestine refugees, and in recognition of our Agency's vital contribution to regional stability," he said.

"We all believe that in the absence of a real political solution, UNRWA is the indispensable option of the international community for Palestine refugees," he added, noting that the agency has been facing an existential financial threat for a very long time.

The Commissioner-General continued: Today's meeting seeks to define a path that will ultimately achieve the Agency's financial sustainability, which would take into account the three conflicting pressures facing the Agency, which are the General Assembly's expectations of UNRWA to provide many government-like services to those who are the most suffering communities in the region, the chronic lack of adequate funding from Member States, and the inability to change the scope of service delivery due to the deep-seated perception within the communities we serve that weakening UNRWA is further weakening the right of Palestine refugees.

He pointed out that over the past decade, UNRWA has worked on exploring various ways to address the chronic funding shortfall, noting that it has intensified its fund-raising efforts and worked to expand the donor base, and has sought to absorb funding shortfalls through efficient work and through severe austerity measures.

La Zarrini expressed his hope that the meeting would lead to a new initiative to find sustainable solutions to finance the Agency's work, and to translate support for mandate tasks into matching financial resources, which required political will.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General renewed the call for increasing public financial support for UNRWA by assigning international financial institutions, increasing public financial contributions from countries to the United Nations in general, and increasing the sharing of financial burdens.

He said: Today it is crucial that the international community not leave the Palestine refugees alone. It is time to move forward, turn words into action and prove to Palestine refugees what it means that we are committed to protecting and advancing their rights.