Commissioner-General of the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees Karen Koning Abuzayd to visit Finland

Press release 132/2006
11 May, 2006

COMMISSIONER-GENERAL OF THE UN RELIEF AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES KAREN KONING ABUZAYD TO VISIT FINLAND

Commissioner-General of the UN Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees Karen Koning AbuZayd will visit Finland on 17 May as part of a Nordic tour. During her visit AbuZayd will meet President of the Republic Tarja Halonen, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki, parliament members and representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The UNRWA, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, founded in 1949, provides assistance to approximately 4.3 million Palestinian refugees registered by the Agency in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. About a third of them are living in refugee camps maintained by the UNRWA. Unlike other UN agencies, the UNRWA is itself responsible for providing all its services and does not channel its assistance through local authorities.

Education accounts for 60 percent of the UNRWA's programme budget. Health care services account for 20 percent of the budget, and the rest of the funds go to different social and emergency services.

Finland considers improvement of the living conditions of the Palestinian population and Palestine refugees as essential for the stabilisation of the region. Finland has been supporting UNRWA's operation regularly since 1962. In 2005 Finnish contribution was 3.6 million euros, and this year, so far, Finland has granted 2.5 million euros to the UNRWA from the humanitarian aid budget included in the development cooperation allocations. After Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, the UN agencies, including the UNRWA, are considered important in channelling assistance to the Palestinians.

AbuZayd's visit to Finland is part of the Commissioner-General's normal exchange of information with the donator countries. The discussions will be related to the UNRWA's financing situation, activities and challenges. AbuZayd's predecessor, Commissioner-General Peter Hansen visited Finland in May 2003.

Additional information: Director Ulla-Maija Finskas, Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +359 9 1605 6225, and UNRWA Spokesman Johan Eriksson, tel. +972 542402632