Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs Mobilize Support to Renew UNRWA’s Mandate

 UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl met with students and faculty at UNRWA schools in Amman on Sunday, September 1, 2019. (EPA)
UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl met with students and faculty at UNRWA schools in Amman on Sunday, September 1, 2019. (EPA)
TT

Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs Mobilize Support to Renew UNRWA’s Mandate

 UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl met with students and faculty at UNRWA schools in Amman on Sunday, September 1, 2019. (EPA)
UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl met with students and faculty at UNRWA schools in Amman on Sunday, September 1, 2019. (EPA)

An emergency meeting was held Tuesday at the Arab League’s headquarters to discuss renewing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s (UNRWA) mandate and its financial crisis.

Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs in Arab Host Countries’ conference has called for mobilizing Arab support to ensure that UNRWA continues to carry out its tasks. Attendees discussed means of supporting the renewal of UNRWA's mandate for the next three years.

This comes in line with the Palestinian Liberation Organization's (PLO) plan of action to support the renewal of the agency’s mandate as the voting process approaches in light of the US-Israeli effort to cancel or change the mandate.

The emergency meeting condemned “the targeting and suspicion campaign against UNRWA, especially by the US administration, and rejected any manipulation in defining the Palestinian refugees’ status.”

It called on the Arab League’s General Secretariat, its missions abroad and the Arab ambassadors’ councils to continue their efforts in activating diplomatic and political channels of communication with world countries to urge them to vote in favor of renewing the agency’s mandate.

It also called on Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium to cancel their decisions to postpone their financial support to UNRWA, demanding the three countries not to link allegations of corruption cases that have not yet been proven with stopping or suspending financial aid to the UN agency.

In addition, the meeting stressed strengthening the monitoring, accounting and oversight mechanisms as the agency is part of the UN, especially with the positive evaluations by the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) and the UN oversight and audit committees.

Participants underlined the significance of Arab presence at UNRWA’s ministerial-level Pledging Conference, which will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 74th session, urging Arab countries to contribute to overcome the financial deficit that is estimated at $120 million.

Attendees agreed on the need for urgent action at the UN General Assembly to support the renewal of UNRWA's mandate on November 15 and reject any attempt to end its mandate or manipulate the status of a Palestinian refugee and condemn efforts to systematically target and distort this status.



Trump's Syria Policy Dominates Opening of 'Astana 22' Talks

The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia and Iran meet in New York in September. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia and Iran meet in New York in September. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
TT

Trump's Syria Policy Dominates Opening of 'Astana 22' Talks

The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia and Iran meet in New York in September. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia and Iran meet in New York in September. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

The 22nd round of the Astana peace talks on Syria kicked off in Kazakhstan’s capital on Monday. The talks, held over two days, brought together Syria’s government, opposition and guarantor states Russia, Iran and Türkiye, with observers from Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and the UN.

The talks, initiated by Russia and supported by Türkiye and Iran, will focus on key issues such as the potential shifts in US policy toward Syria under President-elect Donald Trump, according to Russian presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

The talks will also address regional tensions, including the spread of the Gaza conflict into Lebanon, ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Syria and concerns over the risk of the regional conflict expanding further.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov stressed the importance of meeting before the end of the year to set priorities for Syria and the region.

This comes after the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed a “secret” Russian-Syrian agreement to limit the movement of Hezbollah, Iranian forces and Iranian-backed militias in Syria.

As well as the Syrian conflict, the talks will cover issues such as prisoner releases, missing persons, humanitarian conditions, international support for peace efforts, Syria’s reconstruction and the return of refugees.

The current round of talks will focus on the political and military situation around Syria.

Lavrentiev said Russia will do everything possible to prevent the Gaza conflict from spreading to Syria.

Potential changes in US policy toward Syria under Trump are a major topic for discussion among the ceasefire guarantors, he added. Russia will focus on concrete actions and proposals, rather than just statements, especially as expectations grow that Trump will follow through on his pledge to withdraw US troops from Syria.

This move could shift the balance of power and affect the actions of various parties. The withdrawal is a key demand for Russia, Iran and Türkiye, the three guarantor states of the Astana process.