OIC to establish endowment fund for Palestine

ISLAMABAD: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will establish an endowment fund to ensure sustained funding for Palestinian refugees.

This was stated by OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen in his remarks at the end of 46th Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi.

He urged the international community to fulfill its commitments regarding Palestine issue and Palestinian refugees.

In September 2018, Germany said it will provide additional funding for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency and had appealed to other EU members to do the same following a cut in US aid.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been struggling to balance its books since the United States announced in January 2018 it was cutting its annual funding by $300 million (260 million euros).

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had said in a letter to European Union colleagues that the agency was a “key factor for stability” in the Middle East whose breakdown could entail an “uncontrollable chain reaction”.

Maas did not say how much money Germany would give in addition to 81 million euros it has already provided so far this year, but appealed to the EU to jointly support the agency to make up the deficit.