{"id":198558,"date":"2016-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=198558"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:37:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:37:26","slug":"auto-insert-198558","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-198558\/","title":{"rendered":"±¬ÁÏÍøRWA Commissioner-General makes first visit to India – ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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±¬ÁÏÍøRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL MAKES FIRST VISIT TO INDIA<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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01 September 2016<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (±¬ÁÏÍøRWA), Pierre Krähenbühl, carried out his first official trip to India this week in order to build stronger relations between the Agency and India.<\/p><\/div>\n

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From 28 to 31 August, the Commissioner-General met with several senior government officials at the Ministry of External Affairs, in particular Shri M. J. Akbar, the Minister of State for External Affairs, and Sujata Mehta, Secretary (West). Also in attendance were Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York; Satbir Singh, Joint Secretary of the West Asia and North Africa Division; and Rudendra Tandon from the ±¬ÁÏÍø Political Division.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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In these meetings, the Commissioner-General expressed appreciation for Indian support to ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA and conveyed his determination to strengthen engagement with India, a country which has strong historical ties with the Middle East and links to the issue of Palestine. He sought the views of Indian officials on attempts to improve the situation of Palestine refugees and address the root causes of conflict through diplomatic means.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Commissioner-General also had several speaking engagements with research centres and universities. He addressed the scholars and students from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and met with professors from the Centre for West Asian Studies. He also participated in a discussion with several experts and researchers organized by the Observer Research Foundation and in a session hosted by the University Jamia Millia Islamia with its professors and students.<\/p><\/div>\n

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These conferences offered an opportunity to develop a better understanding of India's views on the Middle East and to highlight the challenges and expectations of Palestine refugees, in particular in Gaza and Syria, as well as the Agency’s role and contribution to human development, mainly through education.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Upon concluding his visit, Mr. Krähenbühl stated: “I am deeply encouraged by the meetings held in Delhi and the strong expressions of respect for ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA’s work. The commitment by the Government of India to increasing forms of partnership with the Agency is very much appreciated. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is determined to build on this in coming years to improve its response to the critical needs of Palestine refugees.”<\/p><\/div>\n

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BACKGRO±¬ÁÏÍøD INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA Programme Budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall,  projected for 2016 to stand at US$ 96.5 million. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s Programme Budget. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.<\/p><\/div>\n

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±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.<\/p><\/div>\n

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For more information, please contact:<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Christopher Gunness<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Spokesperson, Director of Advocacy & Strategic Communications<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mobile: <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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+972 (0)54 240 2659<\/p><\/div>\n

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Office: <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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+972 (0)2 589 0267<\/p><\/div>\n

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c.gunness@unrwa.org<\/u><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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Sami Mshasha<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Chief of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mobile: <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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+972 (0)54 216 8295<\/p><\/div>\n

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Office: <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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+972 (0)2 589 0724<\/p><\/div>\n

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s.mshasha@unrwa.org<\/u><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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http:\/\/www.unrwa.org\/newsroom\/press-releases\/unrwa-commissioner-general-makes-first-visit-india<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

±¬ÁÏÍøRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL MAKES FIRST VISIT TO INDIA 01 September 2016 The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (±¬ÁÏÍøRWA), Pierre Krähenbühl, carried out his first official trip to India this week in order to build stronger relations between the Agency and India. From 28 to 31 […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[882],"document-category":[2437,1329],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945],"entity":[5343,1985,1729],"document-language":[6544,6542],"class_list":["post-198558","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-india","document-category-arabic-text","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","entity-palestine-plo-palestinian-authority","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-arabic","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/198558","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\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/198558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=198558"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=198558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}