CAIRO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed on Monday Cairo's support to the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees for its pivotal role to support and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.
Shoukry made the comments during his meeting in Cairo with Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
During the meeting, Shoukry presented the financial challenges facing the agency that undermine the UNRWA's capabilities of fulfilling its humanitarian commitment toward nearly 5.4 million Palestinian refugees, Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.
Shoukry voiced Cairo's concern over the challenges facing the work of the UNRWA, while emphasizing that the organization is one of the most important tools that facilitate the living condition of the Palestinian people, according to the statement.
Krähenbühl, for his part, thanked Egypt for its support during its chairmanship of UNRWA's Advisory Committee in 2017 and the extensive contacts by the Egyptian diplomacy with international donors to help bridge the funding gap of UNRWA, the statement said.
Krähenbühl also expressed his appreciation for the Egyptian efforts exerted to reach a truce in Gaza and to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and pledged to continue coordination and consultation with Cairo to overcome the funding challenges facing the agency.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Statement Department announced that the United States will end all funding to the UNRWA, describing the relief agency as "irredeemably flawed."
As the oldest and largest relief organization, UNRWA was established in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development.
Its services include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, camp improvement and microcredit.
