Commissioner-General of UNRWA to visit Finland

Press release 167/2010
31 May 2010

Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), visits Finland on 2-3 June. During his visit Grandi meets Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen for discussions on the Finnish support to UNRWA and the Palestinian territories.

While in Finland, Grandi also has meetings with Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb and President Martti Ahtisaari. He also visits a session of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament. In addition, the Commissioner-General’s programme includes a meeting with civil society organizations and analysts.

Finland supports UNRWA from the budget of humanitarian assistance with an average of 4,5 million euro annually. Finland has also supported the UNRWA Summer Games for the children of Gaza from the development co-operation budget.

UNRWA assists 4,7 million Palestine refugees, providing basic services such as education and health care, operating in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Grandi has been engaged in refugee and humanitarian work for the past 26 years, 22 of which have been with the United Nations. Grandi’s predecessor Karen AbuZayd visited Finland in November 2009.

Further information: Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of the Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6225, mobile tel. +358 400 431 921, [email protected], Hanna Saarni, Press Attaché to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 9 1605 5358, mobile tel. +358 400 739 82