Mr. Chair;
We wish to thank the Chair of the Committee, the Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations in New York, for his presentation of the report and for his painstaking task in conducting our work during the period under review today.
The report on the work of the Committee presented today reflects the extraordinary work carried out during this period, the difficulties encountered and the goals and objectives for the future.
The Committee's work has been enormous in its exchanges with representatives from governments and international institutions, all of whom have supplied very useful information and expressed support for our work.
This report, which covers a critical period for the Palestinian population (from September 2nd, 2021 to August 31st, 2022), makes it clear that too many are the challenges that still remain. A marked policy of annexation of the occupied territories by Israel is revealed. This brings about a myriad of actions aimed at strengthening that well-known policy of annexation, which continues and in fact intensifies, including the occupation of the Palestinian territory; the confiscation of Palestinian land and property, as well as the illegal construction and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, a key factor in human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, such as restrictions on freedom of movement, demolition of Palestinian houses and property, settler violence, confiscation of property and subsequent impunity.
Other serious violations include forced displacement, as well as colonizing and illegal policies and practices, and collective punishments against the Palestinian people.
Chapter VII of this report, Conclusions and Recommendations, makes clear reference to the need to boost and increase the international community´s actions in order to prevent continuation of grave violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people from being perpetrated. Specifically, this chapter calls for action.
Our delegation wishes to reiterate the importance that the Palestinian question be addressed by the United Nations system beyond the formal debates planned for this issue, especially when other serious situations arise on the ground that warrant it, and that it continue to be considered a priority as it is vital for international peace and security.
Mr. Chairman,
In analyzing the issue we are discussing today, there is no doubt that for the millions of Palestinian refugees registered in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East" (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the lack of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the one hand, and the absence of the necessary funds and the resulting financial shortfalls to address the established care programs, causes widespread concern and fear about their future.
UNRWA Commissioner General's report dated May 31, 2022 shows the critical funding situation of the Agency in 2021, which caused a liability of US$ 62 million to be carried forward to the 2022 program budget and this year the Agency continues to face chronic underfunding, US$ 100 million, which again jeopardizes the provision of essential services to millions of Palestinian Refugees. In spite of that, this Agency is working painstakingly to ensure education for nearly 540,000 refugee students, primary health care services through 140 health care centers that provided over 7 million consultations in 2021, continued poverty alleviation strategies, including support to nearly 400,000 of the refugees and delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to millions of refugees, just to name a few.
The work carried out on the ground is laudable and deserves that tribute be paid to the staff of the "United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East" (UNRWA), who have been able to do so much with few resources.
Attempts by UNRWA's former largest contributor to make the Agency disappear have failed and are now history. UNRWA is still standing and the Palestinian refugees are still being cared for.
It is now up to us to make every effort to ensure that the Agency's work carries on. On the one hand, to give the necessary coverage to UNRWA, that is, to renew its mandate, as we should do in one of the resolutions that we will adopt in the next months in the Fourth Committee, so that it may continue to fulfill the noble and necessary tasks that we have entrusted to it.
On the other hand, we call on UN Member States to show political will in order to ensure more sufficient, predictable and sustained funding for UNRWA for the duration of its mandate.
Mr. Chairman,
We reaffirm our full support for the accession of Palestine as a full member of this Organization and we also call upon the Security Council to speak out in this regard. If it fails to do so, the General Assembly should act with full determination to rule on the case.
Thank you very much