Palestine Refugees - Press Conference | United Nations Sep 27, 2024 UNWRA... On the polio vaccination campaign, coordinated with Israel, he said, “if there is a will, we can make it happen.” The campaign, he said, “was a complex operation” involving the Israeli government and various UN agencies, “but the one who administered the vaccine to the children below the age of ten, was primarily UNRWA

Press Conference by the deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, H.E. Mr. Mr. Ayman Safadi, and the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, following the UNRWA Ministerial Side Event. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini today (26 Sep) said one million children below the age of 18 in Gaza are “living in the rubble, deeply traumatised,” among them, 600,000 school age children who “have already missed a full year” of education. 

Lazzarini said, “we should not make a mistake. These are not just attacks against UNRWA, they are attacks against the broader United Nations system, they are attacks against the broader international community. They aim first at stripping Palestinians from the refugee statue, but secondly also they aim at weakening or putting an end to the aspiration of the Palestinian for self-determination.” He said, “there are relentless efforts to outlaw UNRWA, to dismantle UNRWA, to eliminate UNRWA. We heard even at the beginning of the war that it became almost a war objective to get rid of UNRWA. 

Now, let's be clear. It has nothing to do with neutrality breaches.” The Commissioner General explained that the agency “has a system which are much more robust than the average of any other agency operating in the region. But because of our footprint, because of the complex political environment, because of the emotional divide, also preventing in the region, much more needs to be undertaken and we have agreed on that. And today we are regularly reporting back to the donors. 

On the polio vaccination campaign, coordinated with Israel, he said, “if there is a will, we can make it happen.” The campaign, he said, “was a complex operation” involving the Israeli government and various UN agencies, “but the one who administered the vaccine to the children below the age of ten, was primarily UNRWA. 

 Lazzarini said, “I think it is shortsighted and naive to believe that if you get rid of UNRWA or dismantle UNRWA you will have no refugees anymore. UNRWA’s mandate is to provide these human development activities. Even if we stop providing these activities, even you should shut down all the school and all the and a primary health centre. You will still have Palestinian refugees. The provision of the services and the statute are two different issues.”