{"id":236712,"date":"2020-07-04T15:57:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T19:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=236712"},"modified":"2021-05-14T16:43:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:43:19","slug":"advisory-commission-meets-virtually-shows-support-to-unrwa-unrwa-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/advisory-commission-meets-virtually-shows-support-to-unrwa-unrwa-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Advisory Commission Meets Virtually, Shows Support to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA – Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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04 July 2020<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Advisory<\/a><\/p>\n

Advisory commission meets virtually, shows support to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Advisory Commission (AdCom) on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA) met virtually by teleconferencing on 1-2 July. Discussions focused on the ability of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA to continue delivering on its mandate despite worrying regional and global developments, and despite its continued funding challenges.<\/p>\n

Participants showed great support for the Agency, particularly in their reaction to the progress that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA made to strengthen its organizational effectiveness and increase transparency, efficiency and accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone present at the meeting of the AdCom wants Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA to succeed in providing protection and assistance to Palestine refugees,\u201d said Philippe Lazzarini, the Agency\u2019s Commissioner-General. \u201cWe now must continue to ensure that we have adequate funding to match that expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palestine refugees are facing increased uncertainty in the run-up to an announced Israeli annexation of the West Bank, a massive economic crisis created by COVID-19, an economic freefall in Lebanon, an ongoing conflict in Syria and a blockade entering its fourteenth year in Gaza. These mammoth challenges have pushed an already vulnerable population further into despair, something that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is fully cognizant of. The challenges increase the reliance of Palestine refugees on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA, which is seen as one of few steady, reliable and predictable elements in a highly volatile region.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team and I have shared with the Advisory Commission our concerns about the rapidly deteriorating daily life of Palestine refugees in our five fields of operations,\u201d said Mr. Lazzarini. \u201cWe have also shared our view that a strong and predictable Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA can greatly contribute to maintaining a lifeline for 5.6 million people who look at the Agency as a source of stability and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Advisory Commission is tasked with advising and assisting the Commissioner-General of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA in carrying out the Agency\u2019s mandate. The two-day meeting also included updates about specific areas that witnessed progress, such as a more gender-balanced recruitment process, an increase in women in senior leadership positions, advances in internal mechanisms allow for more robust oversight and management of disputes.<\/p>\n

The Commissioner-General reiterated his urgent call for all partners to continue their support to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA and implored that members of the Advisory Commission help him broaden the Agency\u2019s donor base and ensure multiyear funding rather than annual funding, as a way to help longer term planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also concerned with where we stand with our programme budget, the budget that allows core services such as health education and social services to continue without interruption,\u201d added Mr. Lazzarini. \u201cIf we do reach the level of funding that we need for all our core programmes, I will have to go back to this Advisory Commission for guidance on the programmes that the Agency must prioritize over others. For now, when I am asked whether Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA schools will open in September, my answer is yes. I will do everything I can to allow half a million girls and boys go back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Advisory Commission meets twice a year, usually in June and November, to discuss issues of importance to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA, striving to reach consensus and provide advice and assistance to the Commissioner-General of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA. Members and Observers meet more regularly through the Sub-Committee of the Advisory Commission, where they aim to assist the Advisory Commission in fulfilment of its guidance to the Commissioner-General.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

04 July 2020 Advisory commission meets virtually, shows support to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA The Advisory Commission (AdCom) on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA) met virtually by teleconferencing on 1-2 July. Discussions focused on the ability of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA to continue delivering on its mandate despite worrying regional and […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"template-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-236712","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/236712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/236712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=236712"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=236712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}