Oslo,
As delivered -
Foreign Minister Barthe Eide,
Prime Minister Mustapha,
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
In just two weeks, two laws aimed at ending UNRWA's operations in the occupied Palestinian territory will enter into force.
Full implementation of the laws will ban UNRWA from operating in the "sovereign territory of Israel" and ban contact between Israeli authorities and the Agency.
The "sovereign territory of Israel" implies, for the Government of Israel, occupied East Jerusalem, in contradiction to international law and related resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly.
The no-contact policy will effectively end deconfliction for the safe movement in Gaza.
It will also deny international staff visas to enter and work in the occupied Palestinian territory.
These staff will be compelled to withdraw under protest.
We will however stay and deliver.
UNRWA's local staff will remain and continue to provide emergency assistance and, where possible, education and primary healthcare.
However, continuing to work will come at considerable personal risk for our Palestinian colleagues.
This is due to the exceptionally hostile operating environment created by the Government of Israel's disregard for international law and fierce disinformation campaign against the Agency.
The Government of Israel has invested significant financial and diplomatic resources in campaigns that portray UNRWA as a terrorist organisation, and our staff as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers.
The absurdity of these claims does not diminish the threat they pose to our staff, who are increasingly intimidated and harassed by the Israeli authorities.
The inability to work safely, with full respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, will undermine the effectiveness of UNRWA's operations and the trust of our donors.
The Agency's collapse - whether immediate or gradual - will only compound the immense suffering in Gaza.
UNRWA and its personnel and services are woven tightly into the social fabric of Gaza.
The disintegration of the Agency will intensify the breakdown of social order.
In the West Bank, the weakening of UNRWA will fuel even greater instability.
Across the occupied Palestinian territory, dismantling UNRWA outside a political process will irreversibly harm the lives and future of Palestinians.
It will obliterate their trust in the international community and any political process it shepherds.
For how can we, the international community, explain to Palestinians that a United Nations Agency is prevented by national legislation from saving lives and providing basic services?
For how can we explain that a mandate entrusted by the General Assembly can be revoked by a national parliament?
Dear colleagues,
A clear choice lies before us.
We can allow UNRWA to implode as a consequence of the Knesset legislation and the suspension of funding by key donors.
Or we can allow the Agency to progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political process, ensuring adequate funding for essential services such as education and primary healthcare.
The Global Alliance initiative rightly champions an orderly political transition.
By safeguarding UNRWA's role as a provider of public-like services - specifically education and primary health - during a political transition, we are preparing the ground for empowered Palestinian institutions to take ownership of these services.
I must reiterate here that UNRWA's mandate was always meant to be temporary.
It was foreseen at the Agency's establishment that it would eventually handover its services to a Palestinian administration; and that its workforce of teachers, doctors and nurses would form the backbone of a future Palestinian civil service.
Despite the numerous changes brought by the decades since UNRWA's establishment, this commitment remains unchanged.
During the past months, my health and education teams have been liaising closely with their counterparts in Ramallah to determine how to meet the growing needs of people in the occupied Palestinian territory.
UNRWA is the largest provider of primary healthcare in Gaza, and the second-largest provider in the West Bank.
The Agency has helped to maintain the delivery of health services and to strengthen the health system in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Even today, in Gaza, UNRWA still conducts approximately 17,000 health consultations each day.
UNRWA and the Ministry of Health in Ramallah are now focusing on reinforcing cooperation in key areas such as non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, as well as mental health and psychosocial support.
UNRWA also has a pivotal role to play in education.
In Gaza today, 660,000 girls and boys are living in the rubble, learning nothing more than how to survive.
They have already lost more than two years of learning.
Absent a full-fledged State, only UNRWA has the capacity to bring these children back to learning.
Palestinians value education highly.
It is a source of tremendous pride, and the only asset from which they have not been dispossessed.
If we fail to resume education in Gaza, and to preserve it in the West Bank, we will sacrifice an entire generation of Palestinian children.
This will have profound consequences for the future of the Palestinian people, and a Palestinian State.
UNRWA is committed to continue working with the Ministry of Education to ensure that the right to education is a reality for every child in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In Gaza, we will prioritize bringing children back to basic education through mechanisms such as temporary learning spaces.
In the next two years, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and UNRWA will jointly develop a comprehensive capacity-building strategy that emphasizes teacher training as well as integrating mental health and psychosocial support into educational activities.
Over the next three to five years, our partnership will focus on rebuilding educational infrastructure in Gaza, and harmonising administrative systems for enrolment, certification, and quality assurance.
This staggered approach will ensure the seamless transition of UNRWA education capacities to prepared Palestinian institutions.
Dear colleagues,
The challenges that confront us are daunting.
I am convinced that we can only prevail by holding to the principles of multilateralism and the rules-based international order.
UNRWA is a powerful tool to ensure a viable political transition.
I therefore urge you to do your utmost to shield the Agency from the political attacks and financial challenges that threaten to abruptly end its lifesaving work.
Though we have very little time left, we cannot afford to fail Palestinian aspirations.
Thank you.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
