Franz Fayot is seen with aid workers from the CARE non-governmental organisation at a community centre they run in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Photo: MAEE

Franz Fayot is seen with aid workers from the CARE non-governmental organisation at a community centre they run in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Photo: MAEE

Minister of cooperation and humanitarian action Franz Fayot was in Jordan for two days this week to visit UN agencies and NGOs working with refugees that the grand duchy is supporting in the country.

Refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, represent 36% of the population of Jordan.

Fayot met with his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Shraideh and also signed a new strategic partnership framework with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), represented by its commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini.

The new partnership has a budget of €12.3m, for a period of three years (2022-2024). Fayot stressed that the UNRWA is an important partner of Luxembourg in the Middle East: “I look forward to strengthening the continued support of Luxembourg humanitarian action for the critical work UNWRA is doing in the field of protection of the rights of Palestinian refugees.”

As well as the UNRWA Luxembourg is providing support for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme, as well as non-governmental organisations CARE and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

During his two days in Jordan, Fayot also visited a school and health centre at the new Amman camp for Palestinian refugees, and the Azraq refugee camp, run by the UNHCR. This camp incorporates a supermarket operated by the WFP that uses blockchain technology for transactions, as well as a community projects run by CARE and the Norwegian Refugee Council.