OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen
Jeddah (UNA-OIC) – Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen commended, during a telephone call on Monday with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, the important role play by the agency to serve Palestine refugees.
The two sides discussed the arrangements for the virtual donors’ conference, scheduled to take place in New York on 23 June, at the invitation of the foreign ministers of Jordan and Sweden.
The OIC chief expressed his hope that countries as well as regional and international financial institutions will pledge their financial contributions so that the UN agency can continue providing services to Palestine refugees.
Al-Othaimeen reaffirmed the OIC’s keen interest to enhance coordination, consultation and partnership with UNRWA in line with the relevant resolutions of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers. He added that the OIC continued to urge member states to provide more financial assistance to UNRWA to enable it to continue offering its basic services to Palestinian refugees until the settlement of their cause in accordance with the relevant international legitmacy resolutions.
The Secretary General also underlined the OIC efforts to establish a development waqf to support Palestinian refugees, and contribute to the promotion of UNRWA’s role in enhancing the resilience of Palestinian refugees with pride and dignity.
On his part, Lazzarini expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Secretary General in supporting UNRWA. He stressed agency’s keen interest to enhance communication and cooperation with the OIC. He also praised the support extended by OIC member states for UNRWA’s various activities in the areas of humanitarian relief, development and social protection.
It is worth noting that OIC member states accord special attention to UN Palestine Refugee Agency, where Saudi Arabia, Chair of the Islamic Summit, announced a donation of $50 million to UNRWA 2019 main budget. The agency confirmed that in 2018 the Kingdom became the third largest donor with a donation of $160 million.
AB/UNA-OIC
