Statement by Ms Tanja Fajon Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia at the UNRWA Pledging Conference

Thank you,
Thank you very much, Mr President.

Mr Secretary General,
Mr Commissioner General,

I want to start by expressing my condolences over the death of 193 UNRWA staff members. We mourn their lives, which were dedicated to public service and to assisting people in Gaza. Today, my statement is focused on the stories that UNRWA has written so far and our opportunity to write many more.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are meeting today to celebrate the work of an organization that has helped generations of Palestinian refugees. It did not merely help them to survive. It helped them to thrive. UNRWA students were reaching for the stars: becoming a NASA engineer, a published author or a doctor. During their summer games organized by UNRWA, children in Gaza broke several Guinness records.

UNRWA is about creating better lives for people beyond the State of Palestine. People like Alia, who works as a phone operator at a vocational center in Amman and as an Arabic teacher, overcoming the challenges of living with blindness. Or Hanan from Damascus, who launched her enterprise in war-torn Syria after receiving a microloan from UNRWA.

To fully understand the role of the Agency, one must hear about the countless stories it has helped to write for decades. These are accounts of individual successes of Palestinian refugees but also the stories of this Organization and its membership. It is an everyday contribution of the collective membership towards creating opportunities on the ground.

We often repeat: UNRWA is a lifeline for generations of Palestine refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It is part of the social fabric in its areas of operation and a factor of stability for the region, which faces a multitude of tensions at this moment. Slovenia believes that UNRWA itself, as a pillar of stability, must be further strengthened to address these challenges.

I am therefore proud to announce Slovenia’s latest contribution to the work of the Agency in the amount of 1 million EUR. This donation brings our this year’s contributions to 30 times our average annual support to the Agency. We call on other donors, old and new, small and large, to come forward. I hope, Commissioner-General, that our contributions today will help the Agency continue writing stories of success, especially in the area of education.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In light of the mounting challenges faced by UNRWA – financial, operational, and political – we must stand united. We are perplexed by the hostile operational environment in which UNRWA staff are working. We are deeply alarmed by the Israeli legislative proposals and evacuation orders targeting UNRWA. We condemn the violent protests and arsons at their headquarters.

Colleagues, we are talking about a UN Agency, our Agency. I therefore want to express my personal appreciation to over 110 countries who have joined the shared commitments on UNRWA formally presented this morning and initiated by Jordan, Kuwait and my own country, Slovenia. In multilateralism, success can only be achieved with unity portrayed by the countries who joined the initiative. As an expression of strong and united political support, these commitments will serve as a guide in our cooperation with the Agency.

I want to thank both the Secretary-General and Commissioner-General for their prompt reactions to the allegations against UNRWA staff in January this year. We appreciate the swift establishment of relevant mechanisms, including the independent review led by Catherine Colonna, the ongoing investigation, and the internal UNRWA proceedings culminating in an Action Plan to ensure UNRWA’s full adherence to the principles of neutrality and independence.

In Slovenia, we have a saying: in distress, you know your friends. And I assure you, we are a friend of UNRWA. We view UNRWA as an Agency that embodies the historical responsibility of the collective membership of the United Nations. The work of the agency is mandated by the UN General Assembly, representing a commitment to a just resolution of the Palestinian refugee question. We envision a future where both our friends, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security through a two-state solution.

Thank you, and thank you Commissioner-General, for your dedicated work in these tough times.

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