<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n From Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSwitzerland is the guardian of international humanitarian law and the repository of the Geneva Conventions, with a long honorable record in assisting victims of war around the world, without distinction.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Monday, the country\u2019s lower house of parliament, the National Council, has an opportunity to underscore Switzerland\u2019s storied commitment to humanitarianism amid the unprecedented crisis in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n \u201cI urge members of the National Council to do the right thing by rejecting attempts to cut funding for Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA, just as their counterparts in the upper house, the Council of States, have done.<\/p>\n \u201cGaza is locked in the most severe humanitarian crisis in its history and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a lifeline for the population.<\/p>\n \u201cÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is sheltering almost 1.4 million people in its buildings in Gaza, they have nowhere else to go. These people had sought safety under the flag of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ \u2013 the flag that symbolizes our shared humanitarian values. For a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Agency that has already lost a record 136\u00a0staff in this conflict, it would be a major blow to have the country that leads on humanitarian values abruptly withdraw its support.<\/p>\n \u201cHunger, thirst, and disease are tightening their grip inexorably, while relentless bombardments claim ever more civilian victims, and aid deliveries fall far short of the spiraling needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA, the humanitarian operation in Gaza will collapse, with consequences that can extend beyond Gaza, into the region and possibly further.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result of Monday\u2019s National Council vote will send an important signal to other donor countries about the continued relevance of humanitarian values, and the leadership of Switzerland, my country, in promoting them globally.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fran\u00e7ais 17 December 2023 From Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini \u201cSwitzerland is the guardian of international humanitarian law and the repository of the Geneva Conventions, with a long honorable record in assisting victims of war around the world, without distinction. \u201cOn Monday, the country\u2019s lower house of parliament, the National Council, has an opportunity to […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[1152],"document-category":[1338],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1829,6650,2005,5200,6845],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-291744","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-switzerland","document-category-statement","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-funding-needs","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-humanitarian-relief","document-subject-protection-of-civilians","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291744","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\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291767,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291744\/revisions\/291767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=291744"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=291744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}