Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi discussed on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, with the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Christian Saunders the "firm" partnership between the Kingdom and the Agency in efforts to drum up support for the relief organization.

In the consultative meeting, the FM and Saunders also discussed steps to develop a joint work program to contact international donors to ensure that the necessary funding is provided for the Agency's budget for the coming year to enable it to continue providing its vital services to Palestinian refugees.

Safadi and Saunders reviewed the Agency's financial situation in 2019 and ways to bridge the remaining deficit from this year's budget.

Safadi stressed the need to provide the necessary support to bridge the current deficit, hoping that the remaining financing will be paid from the support that has been pledged so that the Agency can provide its services.

Saunders appreciated Jordan's efforts to mobilize international support for the Agency in implementation of His Majesty King Abdullah II's directives.

In his speech yesterday at Global Refugee Forum held in Geneva, Safadi thanked the friendly and brotherly countries for their support to UNRWA.

He called on the international community to continue to enable the agency to serve more than five million Palestinian refugees, according to its UN mandate, which the General Assembly has voted this month in favor of renewing it by an overwhelming majority of 169 votes against two votings against renewal.

In another meeting, mobilizing support to UNRWA figured high during Safadi's discussions with Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag on the sidelines of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva today.

Safadi thanked the Dutch Minister for her country's fulfillment to disburse the aid it had announced to the Agency after Amsterdam had previously frozen due to an investigation into administrative violations raised on the Agency's work and ended up confirming that there are no financial violations in the UNRWA work.

He appreciated the Netherlands' commitment to support UNRWA and its mandate.

Safadi and Kaag said the two countries will continue to work to develop bilateral relations, especially in the economic and investment fields, and support development programs in the Kingdom.

The two ministers also discussed developments in the region, at the forefront is the Palestinian issue, efforts to solve the Syrian crisis and cooperation in facing the burdens of the Syrian refugee crisis.