UNRWA to establish trust fund for community-based organizations – UNRWA press release

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UNRWA to establish a trust fund for Community Based Organizations

Amman – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jordan intends to establish a project in Wihdat camp in Amman, the proceeds of which will be used to support the activities of Community Based Centres.

In her visit to the project’s site in Wihdat camp this morning, UNRWA Commissioner-General Ms. Karen Koning AbuZayd announced that a trust fund will be constructed to generate income to support the activities of all Women Programme Centres and Community-based Rehabilitation Centres in Jordan. Expressing appreciation for the efforts made by the Department of Palestinian Affairs (DPA), AbuZayd said: “We are grateful for the contribution the Department of Palestinian Affairs has made to this promising new project. Cooperation among UNRWA, host authorities and the refugee community on this project is an excellent example of successful partnering.”

While in Wihdat, the Commissioner-General also visited the Agency’s girls’ compound, which will be replaced with a new building to be constructed thanks to the German government’s generous contribution of € 1.1 million (approximately $ 1.3 million). Ms. AbuZayd and Ms. Maryam Bayati, of the German embassy in Amman, reviewed the blueprints of the new building which will accomdate 1,794 students currently studying in cramped conditions on a double-shift basis. The Commissioner-General thanked the German government for funding the construction and equiping of the new building, which will greatly improve the girls’ learning environment.

The Commissioner General had begun her tour of Wihdat camp with a visit to an Agency girls’ school where she met with a group of 20 boys and girls who are members of the student parliament. Recently formed, the group represents 130,000 girls and boys studying at 177 Agency-run schools in Jordan.

Following the Wihdat tour, Ms. AbuZayd called on the UNDP building in Amman and had a brief meeting with the members of the UN Country Team in Jordan.

The Commissioner-General had started her visit to Jordan on Sunday 5 November with a meeting with Jordan’s Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit who expressed the Jordanian Government’s appreciation of UNRWA’s role in the region and the need for UNRWA to increase its budget allocations for Jordan.

Ms. AbuZayd voiced UNRWA’s appreciation for the continued support the Agency receives from the Jordanian Government, praising the close cooperation existing between the Jordan Field management and DPA.

Also on Sunday, the Commissioner-General visited Zarqa camp where she joined a cleanliness campaign organized jointly with the local community and local government offices. The Commissioner-General started her visit to Zarqa at the office of the camp improvement committee where shields were distributed to her, the Director of UNRWA Operations in Jordan and the Director General of DPA.  Walking through the narrow camp pathways, Ms. AbuZayd visited an UNRWA school where she and the accompanying party planted trees in the school yard.

Later in the day, the Commissioner General visited Amir Hassan quarters where she inspected a new health centre constructed through a contribution from the U.S. government; and visited a rented school building in Jabal Taj in Amman. She also visited UNRWA’s Field Office in Amman where she met with staff representatives.

Ms. AbuZayd had arrived in Amman on Saturday 4 November on her way back to Gaza from New York where she presented her annual report before the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) at the annual debate on the work of UNRWA.

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For more information call Matar Saqer on +962-795- 605 553