Indonesia Committed to Increasing Aid for Palestine

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Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi has expressed commitment of the Indonesian Government to increase humanitarian assistance to Palestine this year.

The Minister made the statement during a virtual meeting of Extraordinary Ministerial Pledging Conference for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East)— a UN agency handling Palestinian refugees— convened on Tuesday (23/6).

This commitment itself is a manifestation of Indonesia’s concern over the suffering of the Palestinian people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the threat of expanding Israel’s annexation.

It is planned that Indonesia’s humanitarian assistance will be distributed directly to the Palestinian Government and also through the UNRWA and the ICRC (International Committee for Red Cross).

On that occasion, Retno also reaffirmed Indonesia’s political support for the Palestinian struggle for a full and sovereign independence. In this case, support for the UNRWA also means support for the struggle of the Palestinian people.

Prior to the conference, Retno also had a virtual communication with the new Commissioner General of UNRWA Filippe Lazarini to express support for the UNRWA’s revitalization efforts and underlined the importance of an accountable and efficient UNRWA.

For the record, the UNRWA’s Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference was attended by Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Ambassadors from 60 countries, as well as the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UNRWA Commissioner General Filippe Lazarini.

The main objective of the conference is to strengthen political support for the struggle of the Palestinian people and to raise funds for the UNRWA.

The UNRWA is a UN agency founded 70 years ago and currently handles 5.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The UNRWA’s services include education, health facilitation, emergency assistance, micro finance, protection, development and various other social services.

At the UN General Assembly session in December 2019, Indonesia – together with 168 other UN member countries – expressed support for the extension of the UNRWA mandate until 2023. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs/EN)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas