{"id":294627,"date":"2024-03-25T15:35:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T19:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=294627"},"modified":"2024-03-25T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T19:35:20","slug":"secretary-generals-press-encounter-25mar24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/secretary-generals-press-encounter-25mar24\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary-General’s press encounter at Wihdat Palestine Refugee Camp, Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"

25 March 2024<\/span><\/p>\n

Assalam alaikum.<\/p>\n

I am extremely pleased to be here at the Wihdat Camp for Palestine refugees.<\/p>\n

We are at a centre dedicated to the wellbeing of Palestine refugees.\u00a0 So allow me to begin with an invitation to join me in a moment of silence in tribute to our United Nations colleagues and all others who have been killed in this conflict.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p>\n

I am on a Ramadan solidarity visit to Jordan to meet Palestine refugees being served by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a hot topic these days \u2013 but one fundamental thing is often being lost in the debate:\u00a0 people.<\/p>\n

The real people Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA serves — and the real difference that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is making in their lives.<\/p>\n

Jordan is home to 2.4 million Palestine refugees, the largest number in the region.
\nAnd today I heard some of their stories and saw a glimpse of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA\u2019s exceptional work.<\/p>\n

I had the privilege to visit a health centre \u2013 where young mothers and their children are receiving high-quality primary health care, where labs perform state of the art medical tests, where a pharmacy is dispensing life-saving medication to patients at no charge.<\/p>\n

I sat in on science and English language classes at a girls school.<\/p>\n

I saw young women in a science lab learning and experimenting principles from Archimedes.<\/p>\n

I visited a class teaching English along with the values of human rights and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n

I also met with 6 truly inspiring young student parliamentarian leaders, including 3 students from Gaza.<\/p>\n

It was a heart-warming visit in heart-breaking times.<\/p>\n

Here in Jordan, but also in Syria, in Lebanon \u2013 and, of course, in the occupied West Bank and Gaza — Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a lifeline of hope and dignity.<\/p>\n

Providing education for over half a million girls and boys;<\/p>\n

Health care for around 2 million people;<\/p>\n

Extending job opportunities and community and family support.
\nAnd ensuring a social safety net for nearly half a million of the poorest Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Beyond and behind those facts, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is profoundly contributing in ways that can\u2019t be measured on a graph — advancing social cohesion, promoting stability and building peace.<\/p>\n

Imagine if all of this was taken away.<\/p>\n

It would be cruel and incomprehensible \u2013 especially as we honour the 171 women and men of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA who have been killed in Gaza \u2013 the largest number of deaths of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ staff in our history.<\/p>\n

As our work continues in the face of big obstacles, I am determined to ensure that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA abides by the values of the United Nations in all its actions.<\/p>\n

And so taking into account recent unacceptable events, an independent review is well underway to strengthen and improve Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA, and I look forward to its recommendations.<\/p>\n

We must strive to keep the one-of-a-kind services that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA provides flowing because that keeps hope flowing.<\/p>\n

In a darkening world, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is the one ray of light for millions of people.<\/p>\n

I see that hope here.<\/p>\n

Now more than ever, we must not take away that hope. I trust that working all together, we will be able to mobilize the international community to make sure that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA will be able to provide their essential services to Palestine refugees here in Jordan and in all other areas where Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is active.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 March 2024 Assalam alaikum. I am extremely pleased to be here at the Wihdat Camp for Palestine refugees. We are at a centre dedicated to the wellbeing of Palestine refugees.\u00a0 So allow me to begin with an invitation to join me in a moment of silence in tribute to our United Nations colleagues and […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[909],"document-category":[2565,1699,2637],"document-source":[5352,1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,2441,2533,2153,1745,6891],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-294627","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-jordan","document-category-press-briefing","document-category-press-conference","document-category-remarks","document-source-secretary-general","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-education-and-culture","document-subject-health","document-subject-refugee-camps","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","document-subject-unrwa","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294627","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":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294647,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294627\/revisions\/294647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=294627"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=294627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}