Pakistan announces contribution for Palestinian refugees

NEW YORK: Pakistan told the United Nations Tuesday that the international community must continue to stand by the Palestinian people, says a press release received here today from UN. Speaking in the General Assembly’s special pledging event for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN, Maleeha Lodhi announced the country’s voluntary contribution to UNRWA that was commensurate to the contribution made last year.

This, she said, was reaffirmation of Pakistan’s unwavering and longstanding commitment to its Palestinian brothers and sisters. The Pakistani envoy stressed that predictable and sustainable financing was essential to maintain the integrity of the Agency’s relief activities for Palestinian people.

She recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s address to the recent OIC Summit in the holy city of Makkah, in which he reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support to the Palestinian cause including the establishment of a two-state solution with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of an independent Palestinian State.

“There is no other pathway to peace, she added Ambassador Lodhi noted that amid all their trials and tribulations, Palestinian refugees had been reassured in their hopes by the constant presence of UNRWA.”

“The over five million Palestinian refugees”, the Pakistan envoy emphasized, “are not just a statistic – they are human beings”. “Their eyes glow with hopes, aspirations and dreams of a peaceful and prosperous tomorrow”, she added.

She described the role of UNRWA as both imperative and laudable, and urged other member states to join efforts to support the work of this important relief agency.

This, she highlighted, was all the more important as the prospects for a just settlement for the Palestinian issue appeared to have become more distant.

Ambassador Lodhi concluded by expressing the hope that a new dawn of Palestinian statehood would emerge sooner rather than later, when Palestinian refugees could finally return to their homes, and UNRWA would no longer be needed.

“Till that time”, she reiterated “Pakistan remains committed to the cause of Palestine and the important work of UNRWA. “