By WAM
Abu Dhabi : Ambassador Peter Ford, representative of general commissioner of United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinians in Near East (UNRWA), has hailed the humanitarian efforts exerted by the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charity Foundation to help the Palestinian refugees in Gaza through supporting the operations of UNRWA.
The remarks were made during a visit paid by Ford to the head office of Sheikh Khalifa Foundation in Abu Dhabi, where he was received by Mohammed Hajji Khoori, executive director of the foundation and other officials.
Khoori said at the meeting that HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, presidential affairs minister and board chairman of the foundation, issued instructions in the last board meeting on the need for establishing coordination with international humanitarian organisations, indicating that Sheikh Mansour called for adopting the best world-class practices to occupy top position in the humanitarian work.
“Based on those instructions the Sheikh Khalifa foundation signed an agreement with UNRAWA to ease flow of food aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza”, he added.
On his part, Ford said that the purpose of his visit was to boost cooperation between UNRWA and the Sheikh Khalifa Foundation to help in dealing with humanitarian issues worldwide, indicating that the conditions in Palestine require double efforts from UNRWA or any humanitarian organisation.
Earlier, UNRWA commended the assistance rendered by the UAE and the Khalifa Foundation to the Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA is a relief and human development agency, providing education, healthcare, social services and emergency aid to over 4.5 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. UNRWA is by far the largest UN operation in the Middle East, with over 28,000 staff, almost all of them refugees themselves, working directly to benefit their communities – as teachers, doctors, nurses or social workers.