Palestine Economy Portal.

Head of the Refugee Affairs Department Ahmed Abu Houli said that the meetings of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will start on Monday in Jordan with the participation of nearly 30 permanent members of the Advisory Committee and representatives of Arab countries hosting refugees. Palestinians, UNRWA donor countries, the European Community and the League of Arab States.

"The Advisory Committee will meet for two days to discuss various issues related to UNRWA's activities and programs, its services to Palestine refugees, its fundraising strategy and its reform program, in addition to following up on the recommendations of the previous Advisory Committee and the extent of its response," Abu Houli said in a press release.

He pointed out that the meeting tackles the challenges facing UNRWA's work, its financial situation, plans to deal with the accumulated financial deficit, estimated at $ 89 million, in addition to focusing on progress in meeting funding needs in 2019 and plans to implement the strategy for resource mobilization In 2020, continued efforts to put UNRWA on an appropriate, sustainable and predictable funding path as well as to discuss the draft 2020 budget.

He explained that the meetings of the Advisory Committee are held at a pivotal stage in which UNRWA faces a financial deficit of $ 89 million, which will affect the nature of its services to Palestine refugees, which poses a challenge to them and the host countries, and that the Palestinian delegation will work to urge donor countries to cover the financial deficit faced by them. UNRWA, by contributing additional funding, or expediting the disbursement of pledges made at the Pledging Conference for Senior Donors in New York last September, as well as supporting a general vote at the General Assembly level on the draft resolution extending the mandate of UNRWA "in the first of December, which has received the support of 170 Member States of the United Nations voted in favor of the resolution in the initial vote on the Fourth Committee level.

Abu Houli stressed that the delegation of Palestine will stress the need for the UNRWA budget for 2020 to take into account the natural increase in the number of refugees and the increasing needs of the refugee community, without resorting to reducing them as happened in 2018-2019.

He pointed out that a coordination meeting of the Arab host countries in the presence of the Arab League will precede the meetings of the Advisory Committee will be held on Sunday at the headquarters of the Department of Palestinian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jordanian expatriate affairs; to discuss issues on the agenda of the Advisory Committee meetings.