New York, April 2 (Petra)-Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a meeting attended by the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on efforts to provide the necessary financial and political support to the agency.

Safadi, Guterres, and Lazzarini agreed on the need to act "effectively" and jointly to ensure the provision of the financial support needed by UNRWA, which is suffering from a financial crisis that hinders its capability to provide its vital services to Palestinian refugees, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Safadi thanked Guterres for his efforts to support the agency and its role.

During the meeting, Safadi stressed UNRWA's "vital" role to support Palestinian refugees, stressing the Kingdom's continued work with international and regional partners to mobilize political and financial support for the agency to enable it to continue providing its vital services to refugees in accordance with its UN mandate.

In addition, Safadi said the agency should continue to provide its services in accordance with its UN mandate until the refugee issue is resolved in the context of a comprehensive settlement to the Middle East conflict on the basis of the two-state solution.

This solution should guarantee the refugees' right to return and compensation, in accordance with international law, Safadi pointed out.