REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has called on Indonesia to increase its contribution as the agency is facing a funding shortfall of 37 million USD until the end of the year, an UNRWA spokesperson has said.
"If funds are not forthcoming, we will not be able to pay the salaries of teachers, medical personnel, social workers and other staff in December, which will bring our operations to a standstill," Esther Kuish Laroche, the chief of UNRWAs Donor Relations Division, said in her keynote speech at the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Thursday.
She noted that the Indonesian government had, in 2012, increased its contribution to UNRWA from 20 thousand USD to 100 thousand USD.
"We are grateful for that. On this day of solidarity, I would like to call upon your generosity to further increase Indonesias support. I look forward to seeing our relationship deepen and grow further," Esther Kuish, who is based in Jerusalem, added, while praising Indonesia for its solidarity with the Palestinians for several decades.
She said the Palestinian refugee population had grown from 750,000 to more than five million people living across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank. "Your solidarity is needed now more than ever before," she added.
Chairman of the Indonesia-Palestine Friendship Initiative Din Syamsuddin presented a symbolic contribution of 400 million IDR to Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Fariz Mehdawi at the event.
"Previously, Muhammadiyah provided donations of 2 billion IDR or 200 thousand USD. This time, the amount is 400 million IDR," Din Syamsuddin, who is also the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, said.
Ambassador Mehdawi thanked Muhammadiyah, the Indonesian people and the government for their continued support to Palestine. He said the plight of refugees was about human dignity, not about food or shelter.
On the peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel, he remarked: "We can negotiate for another 100 years, and there will be no solution. What we need is international will to implement the resolutions on Palestine."
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