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Honourable Ministers,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour to join you at this Ministerial Meeting on UNRWA.

Allow me to recognize the organizers, Brazil, Jordan, and Spain, for bringing Member States together around the Agency’s work.

Let us recall that the General Assembly established UNRWA through resolution 302 (IV) in 1949 to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees. It began operations on 1 May 1950.

Today, nearly six million registered Palestine refugees fall under UNRWA’s mandate across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Its work includes critical primary health care; support for women, girls and communities; and education for more than half a million children across over 700 schools.

All the while, it bears the weight of growing needs across a region in turmoil; its capacity strained further by insufficient and unpredictable resources.

Excellencies,

We must do more.

This must first and foremost include support for a political solution.

The humanitarian crisis ultimately stems from a political conflict; I invite member states to build on last year’s High-Level International Conference on the Two-State Solution and the New York Declaration.

The General Assembly has expressed a broad commitment to creating a credible political path towards two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

We must translate that commitment into action, including through the implementation of Security Council resolution 2803 (2025) and all relevant UN resolutions.

Second, humanitarian access is non-negotiable.

It is required under international humanitarian law, and it is essential to preserving human life and dignity.

In Gaza alone, UNRWA provides critical health care and learning services to hundreds of thousands of people. Without UNRWA, these services, and the people who depend upon them, would be placed at even greater risk, which is not imaginable.

Yet the conditions in which the Agency is being asked to operate remain dangerous.

And UNRWA personnel have paid a high price.

The Agency has recorded a staggering 393 colleagues killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.

These were colleagues serving communities in extraordinary circumstances. Humanitarian workers must never pay the ultimate price simply for doing their jobs anywhere.

I commend Commissioner-General ad interim Christian Saunders and the entire UNRWA team for delivering against incredible odds.

Third, we must give UNRWA the resources it needs to fulfil its mandate.

At the Pledging Conference in June, the Agency reported that it faces a $100 million shortfall for 2026.

Already this year, UNRWA has been forced to reduce service-delivery hours by 20 per cent, with corresponding salary reductions for most of its Palestinian staff.

Colleagues,

When UNRWA’s resources are cut, there are immediate consequences for the people it serves: reduced health care, education, water and sanitation services, and greater pressure on families and communities already struggling to survive.

I call upon Member States to provide urgent financial support to the Agency so it can maintain basic education, health care, water distribution and waste management services.

And I commend those Member States that have stepped forward with additional support.

Excellencies,

We have a moral, legal and practical responsibility to sustain the work of UNRWA.

Morally, because of the millions of people it serves.

Legally, because of our responsibilities under the Charter, international law, international humanitarian law, and the mandate established by this General Assembly.

And practically because of the stabilizing role UNRWA plays, not only in Palestine, but across the region.

In Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, as in Gaza and the West Bank, millions of Palestine refugees continue to depend upon its services.

So let us recommit today to ensuring that UNRWA can continue to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to it by this Assembly.

Thank you.