The Director of Affairs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Jordan Mr. Mohamed Adar wishes to express the Agency’s deep appreciation for the government of Jordan for its decision to exempt the Agency from the costs of school textbooks amounting to around JD1.3m.

The government’s decision took into consideration the current financial challenges UNRWA is facing and for that UNRWA sincerely thanks the government for its steadfast support to UNRWA’s work, regionally and globally, and in particular to the Agency’s programmes and services in the Kingdom of which the latest was this generous exemption for the school year 2019/2020. 

I also wish to highlight that this decision isn’t the first from the government of Jordan as it has always demonstrated generous support both to UNRWA and to Palestine refugees across the kingdom. We are grateful to the Government and people of Jordan as this exemption is essential for the Agency to ensure the provision of undisrupted educational services to Palestine refugees in Jordan.

This decision will help UNRWA to ensure distribution of textbooks to all of its students, numbering more than 123,000 in 169 schools across Jordan, and will enable UNRWA to continue providing quality education to its beneficiaries and fulfil its mandate.