UNRWA

Thank you, Karen.

You know, this is one event I wish I wasn’t at.

I wish there was no need for UNRWA... I wish there was no anniversary to mark…and I wish that there were not 4.6 million Palestinian refugees in need of humanitarian aid.

But, you and I know, the reality is very different.

Theirs is a life interrupted...a life half lived.

Hours wasted at checkpoints… …another work day lost…another pay cheque cancelled.

Worried about what the family will eat… weighing up how far food will stretch…praying for an aid parcel.

Ayman is a soft-spoken 14-year old boy from Jabalia City, Gaza. His family is poor, as his father has been unemployed since March 2006. Ayman’s parents have already sold almost all their furniture to pay for food and schooling for their children. Recently, after collecting a governmental food handout, Ayman’s father had to sell the milk to get the money for the journey back home.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Amman) The Ma’an campaign was launched today under the Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with UNICEF to reduce violence in all public and UNRWA schools in Jordan. Following this week’s high-level meeting held by the National Alliance Group presided over by Her Majesty Queen Rania, the Ma’an campaign is committed to make classrooms a safer place for learning by encouraging teachers to adopt and maintain non-violent disciplinary practices.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” ... Article one, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” … Article three, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Over the past 41 years, the people of Gaza have been living under occupation. Over the past 18 months, they have been living under siege. And for the past 10 days, the people of Gaza have been subject to a cruel and continuous military attack.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- New York) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, on Thursday, commended the efforts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, at the inauguration ceremony commemorating the agency’s 60th anniversary.

“UNRWA’s presence reminds the Palestinian people that they are not alone; that in their darkest hours, an international aid agency stands by their side,” said Her Majesty.

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department-Amman) Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met with the Advisory Commission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at an extraordinary session, Tuesday, to highlight the seriousness of the financial crisis of the agency and appeal to the international community to increase their funding.
 

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Istanbul) During a meeting hosted by Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah said the donor community should channel all their efforts through UNRWA to make sure that Gazans get the aid they need.

Queen Rania joined Syria's Asma Assad, Qatar's Sheikha Mozah, Lebanon's Wafaa Sleiman, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's daughter, Aisha, the Pakistani prime minister's wife and other prominent figures to appeal for an end to the two-week old conflict in the Gaza Strip.